Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Blue Stem Datacenter topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents urge independent studies and transparency on proposed 'Blue Stem' data center
Summary
Residents told the Leavenworth County commissioners they lack information and asked for independent studies on noise, air emissions, water use and fiscal impacts before any approval of the Cloverleaf/"Blue Stem" hyperscale data-center proposal.
Public commenters urged the Leavenworth County commissioners on Tuesday to delay any decision about the proposed Cloverleaf "Blue Stem" hyperscale data center until independent technical studies are completed. Linda Sturgeon, who opened the public-comment period, said residents do not have the expertise to separate marketing claims from credible technical answers and asked the county to hire outside experts.
Sturgeon said Cloverleaf has been in business about two years and — she said — is backed by private-equity investors and had pledged $450,000 to support information gathering. "We didn't have the expertise to to know what was fact and what was fiction," she told the commissioners, asking who would answer community questions and what would happen if the company failed to meet promises.
Other residents raised overlapping concerns. Gretchen Mitler, a child-care owner near the proposed site, said children are especially vulnerable to chronic environmental stressors and asked the county to require independent noise, air-quality, water-use, traffic and emergency-response studies before the board considers approval. "Before this project moves forward, parents deserve to know what emissions may be released and what impact it could have on nearby families, schools, and child care facilities," Mitler said.
Several speakers asked how the county would ensure long-term accountability if facilities were abandoned after a tax abatement period. Amy Patton asked, "Do you really think that in 20 years when this tax abatement is over and they're supposed to start paying taxes that these buildings are actually going to still be needed? Who will pay to remove these buildings?" She and others also raised questions about acreage and whether end users could expand beyond currently described footprints.
Planning staff and county officials reminded listeners that the county is under a moratorium on reviewing data-center applications and that no formal application is before the board at this time. County staff reiterated that property owners have rights to apply but said the board would follow the county's comprehensive plan and applicable Kansas statutes when applications are considered.
What happened next: commissioners recorded public comment and continued with other agenda business; they did not take action on any data-center application at the meeting. Several speakers asked the board to require independent hydrogeologic and environmental assessments, continuous monitoring and enforceable operational standards if the county reviews any application.
Why it matters: speakers said the project could affect groundwater, traffic, emergency services, local agriculture and schools for decades and called for fact-based analysis before irreversible land-use decisions are made.
What comes next: the county remains under its stated moratorium on new data-center applications; residents asked the commission to make independent studies a precondition for any future consideration of the Blue Stem/Cloverleaf proposal.
