Residents press commissioners to block data centers; board dismisses RISE draft and asks planning commission to write ordinance

Chair RJ opened the evening to public comment and heard hours of testimony from residents who urged the county to block or strictly regulate proposed data-center development at the RISE megapark.

Nolan Mayhill told the board that he had seen a state incentive award for Terra Industry LLC dated Jan. 1, 2026, and said that award showed a project was far enough along to receive formal state tax exemptions. "Early this morning, we were made aware of a formal agreement between the IEDC and Terra Industry LLC from 01/01/2026," Mayhill said, and urged the commissioners to reject the RISE draft ordinance and demand greater protections.

Residents raised multiple concerns during public comment: large water withdrawals and impacts on private wells, permanent site contamination from past munitions production, lack of guarantees for decommissioning and bonding, noise and light pollution, and limited local jobs once construction is complete. Stephanie Simpson, who said she obtained RISE records by FOIA, told the board: "We are paying him $25,000 a month," referring to a consulting arrangement for the RISE executive that she asked the county to review.

After public comment and staff advice on legal procedure, the board voted to dismiss the draft ordinance and resolution the RISE board submitted (ordinance 2026-17 / resolution 2026-10). The vote cleared the way for the Area Plan Commission (APC) to draft a county data-center ordinance under the APC process, which triggers the public-hearing timeline described under state statute. County staff and APC counsel emphasized the APC route will avoid a legally vulnerable moratorium and produce a defensible ordinance.

By agreement the commissioners directed the APC to begin drafting regulations, asked the APC to work with independent technical advisors, and instructed the APC to include enforceable provisions addressing groundwater protection and private-well guarantees, decommissioning bonds, noise standards (including low-frequency concerns), visual screening, light mitigation, emergency-generator rules, disclosure of cooling systems and water consumption limits, independent technical review paid by developers, and performance-based incentives.

Commissioner Peebles agreed to serve as the commission's representative on a working committee the APC will convene; commissioners said they will seek public participation, a representative from the RISE board and a county-council representative. The APC tentatively scheduled time to work on the issue and the county set an executive session on Sept. 15 to consider RISE appointments.

What happens next: the APC will assemble a working group and begin drafting regulation language; the commissioners said they expect the work to be transparent and to include public hearings and independent technical review prior to any final vote.