Consultant tells Linn Valley council closed‑loop cooling, enforceable noise limits can reduce data‑center impacts

Corey Plunk, an industry expert who said he works with Salute and was participating as an independent third party, briefed the Linn Valley City Council on the main technical and community issues associated with data centers. He told the council “The 2 big things that are always brought up are power and water,” and recommended the city require closed‑loop, air‑cooled systems to avoid evaporative cooling towers that consume and discharge water.

Plunk said power is typically addressed at the utility level and developers often build required substations and lines so a data center does not necessarily raise residential electric bills. He cautioned, however, that “the bigger issue…is the noise issue,” urging the council to require third‑party acoustical studies, property‑line decibel limits and “an enforcement mechanism” with penalties so noise problems are fixed rather than tolerated. He also recommended planning for fuel deliveries, site access and fire‑department response capabilities.

Council members asked detailed follow‑ups about contamination, decommissioning and local jobs. On handling glycol and other specialty cooling fluids, Plunk said municipalities commonly require trucked‑off disposal rather than dumping to sewer and suggested codifying those rules. On decommissioning, the mayor said an ordinance can include a decommissioning clause forcing cleanup and site restoration. Plunk estimated operations‑phase hiring roughly “one person per megawatt,” and said many ancillary contractor jobs could be filled locally. The council did not take formal action on data‑center zoning at this meeting; the presentation was framed by the mayor as an informational step in updating the city’s comprehensive plan.