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Residents urge Hogansville council to address proposed Hightower Road data center
Summary
At the Dec. 1 council meeting, four residents raised concerns about a proposed data center on Hightower Road — citing lack of information, noise, light pollution, health and environmental risks — and requested broader public input. A city Town Hall is scheduled Dec. 2.
At its Dec. 1 meeting, the Hogansville City Council heard multiple public comments urging officials to provide more information and reconsider plans for a proposed data center on Hightower Road.
The speakers were Ila Burdette, who said she was frustrated by a lack of a formal presentation about the project; Paula Darden, who opposed industrializing a rural residential area and cited noise, continuous generator humming and light pollution; and Cyndie Hutchings, who drew on her experience with a Fayette County data center to warn of health risks and environmental damage and to note that data centers can have relatively short operating lifespans ("10-15 years") compared with long-term environmental impacts. Chance Williams criticized tax breaks that favor large corporations over small businesses and asked the council to amend the city charter to allow some Troup County residents who live outside city limits but are affected by city decisions to vote in city elections.
Why it matters: residents said the proposal could alter the character and livability of Hightower Road and raised questions about environmental and public-health impacts and about whether the public has had adequate opportunity to review plans and impacts. The issue also produced a procedural request — a proposed charter change — that would alter the electorate for municipal offices if pursued.
Assistant Police Chief James Vincent did not contest the public comments but later explained, during a separate agenda item, that surplus equipment sales can yield financial benefit for the city. Assistant City Manager Oasis Nichols had announced on the agenda and in staff reports that the city will host a Town Hall on data centers at the Royal Theater on Dec. 2 at 7:00 p.m.
Next steps: the city has scheduled a Town Hall discussion on data centers for Dec. 2 at the Royal Theater, where residents and staff can speak further. No ordinance, permit decision, zoning action or formal council direction on the Hightower Road proposal was recorded at the Dec. 1 meeting.
