Residents press council on proposed Dummy Line Road data center as officials say project is early in review

Residents and councilors clashed over a proposed data center near Dummy Line Road during a lengthy public-comment period. Daniel Heath, who lives on Dummy Line Road, asked what tools the city could use "to slow, stop, disrupt this project" if residents opposed it. He urged the council to seek alternatives and transparency.

Mayor Day said the project remains in due diligence and the developer has only an option on the land. "As of today, they have not even authorized a power study," the mayor said, adding that a utility study typically takes five to six months and that nothing is imminent. He told residents the city cannot enforce zoning outside municipal limits but can refuse to extend local incentives, and that state-level review via the Public Service Commission will require projects to demonstrate they will pay for any needed power capacity.

Several residents voiced opposition. Chris Whitfield said community costs could outweigh benefits: "We strongly oppose building this data center," he said, citing worries about power and water demand, noise and limited long-term jobs. Another resident described possible noise impacts in nearby homes and warned of property-value losses.

The mayor urged residents to submit written questions and said the developer had agreed to a public meeting after materials and questions are provided. He also said city officials had asked whether alternative industrial sites might be available and that any incentive requests would be decided by the council. No final decisions were made; the council framed next steps as gathering facts, scheduling a public-facing developer meeting and awaiting required utility studies.