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Putnam commissioners adopt 72-hour transparency policy for data-center inquiries amid calls for moratorium
Summary
After broad public comment raising water, energy and environmental concerns, the board approved a policy requiring staff to forward written notices of any data-center inquiries or site visits to the county administrator within 72 hours, who will share them with commissioners and post notices on the county website while staff continues researching legal and regulatory options.
Following multiple public comments urging a moratorium on data-center development, the Putnam County commission voted to adopt a transparency policy requiring that any written communications, meetings or site visits regarding data-center interest in the county be e‑mailed to the county administrator within 72 hours. The county administrator will forward those notices to each commissioner and the county will post the notices publicly on its website.
Commissioner Josh Alexander (speaker 5) framed the measure as a way to ensure commissioners and the public are promptly informed about prospective data‑center activity. "Any information, location, interest, or otherwise regarding a data center that is shared with our staff or our administration be shared to the commission within 72 hours," Alexander said. Several commissioners, including Commissioner Harvey (speaker 4), supported the measure as an immediate transparency step while staff and the county attorney evaluate whether a moratorium or other zoning changes are legally defensible under recent state legislation.
County Attorney (speaker 10) briefed the board on conflicting recent state statutes and cautioned that a moratorium could raise legal exposure; the attorney said staff is working with other county attorneys to identify defensible options. Commissioners nevertheless directed staff to pursue data collection and code updates, and to return with legal analysis and possible draft regulations in the coming weeks.
