County schedules Sept. 3 listening session on industrial and data-center development

Morrow County staff outlined plans for a public listening session on industrial and data-center development to be held Sept. 3, 2026 at the Sage Center in Boardman. The session is intended to present permitting, zoning and long-range planning information and to give residents an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback.

"We were looking to do a listening session on 09/03/2026 up at the Sage Center in Boardman," Matt (county staff) said, describing a two-phase meeting with charrette-style information stations and a panel discussion. Staff said representatives from county planning, the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD), the Port of Morrow and invited private stakeholders such as AWS and the Oregon Data Center Advisory Committee would be asked to participate.

Commissioners pressed staff on tax exemptions, incentives and how success would be measured. One presenter noted that property tax exemptions and payments in lieu are likely to be a primary public concern. "If there's any public shows up here, that this exemptions are gonna be the 1st question," the Presenter said, urging staff to include tax-assessor information on panels. Staff said they would prepare a report on participants, facilitator costs and anticipated financial impacts ahead of an August meeting to finalize plans.

Next steps: staff will finalize invitations, secure a third-party facilitator, produce outreach materials and return to the commission with a participant list and a budgetary impact assessment by the next regular meeting.