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Member Webb urges moratorium on data centers; public commenters cite resource and contamination concerns
Summary
Member Chuck Webb urged Mahaska County to adopt a moratorium on data center construction to allow study of electricity and water use; meeting participants suggested consulting Jefferson County and raised concerns that data centers could contaminate local resources.
Member Chuck Webb raised concerns about proposed data centers during public comment at the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors meeting May 26, urging the board to consider a moratorium on new data centers while the county studies their projected electricity and water demands.
Webb told the board he has consulted with other counties about data center proposals and suggested any developer seeking to build in Mahaska County should be required to provide an estimate of planned electricity and water use and to file a report to the county every three months. Scott Vaughan suggested the board reach out to Jefferson County, which has already been discussing data-center issues, as a point of reference.
John Bandstra, who told the board an airport meeting was held May 14, said data centers "contaminate the area and resources around them," a claim the transcript records but that the board did not substantively challenge or verify during the meeting. Chair Mark Groenendyk also relayed earlier remarks from a recent SCRAA Board meeting that Shawn Metcalf had mentioned the possibility of litigation related to the SCRAA Board's dissolution; Groenendyk said there was no indication the City of Pella plans legal action and the county was waiting to learn whether Metcalf would move forward.
The board did not take formal action on Webb's moratorium suggestion at the May 26 meeting. No regulatory proposal, ordinance text, or staff directive to pursue a moratorium appears in the transcript; next steps were not recorded.
