Harmony boards hold roundtable to shape data center Community Benefit Agreement

On April 1, 2026, the City of Harmony convened a joint planning session of the City Council, Economic Development Authority, and Planning and Zoning Commission at the Harmony Community Center to gather community input on a Community Benefit Agreement for a draft Data Center Ordinance. Contracted facilitator Katrina Hurley explained the meeting "was framed not as a decision-making meeting, but as an input-gathering workshop," designed to surface priorities rather than debate ordinance text line-by-line.

Participants rotated through six focused tables—Community Relationship and Trust; Community Benefits and Local Investment; Community Experience and Quality of Life; Communication and Transparency; Complaint Response and Accountability; and Long-Term Commitment and Community Protection. Recurring themes across tables included a demand for visible, ongoing community engagement; tangible and lasting local investments; a simple city-run complaint process with escalation options; and enforceable long-term obligations tied to ownership changes or expansions. The roundtable notes recorded a central instruction for decision-makers: "respect your constituents." The materials gathered will be compiled to inform further drafting of the Community Benefit Agreement and the Conditional Use Permit process.