Residents press mayor and council over NDA, transparency on "Project Milo"

Several residents used the public‑comment period to press the mayor and council for more transparency after learning the administration had signed a nondisclosure agreement tied to a prospective project the city has discussed as "Project Milo." Cory Verherst told council he reviewed meeting minutes and found no record showing the NDA had been placed before the body: "You did everything behind closed doors," Verherst said, demanding the email be produced in public records.

Mayor replied that council had been notified by email on Jan. 16, 2025 and that public records requests about the data center are being handled by Debbie Madeline in the Mayor’s Office, with the law director instructing council members to bring paper copies of any communications to the office. Resident Sara Lee pressed the timeline, saying research on data‑center impacts has been available since about 2019 and asked how much time officials had before signing the NDA; the mayor said the process took weeks because the law director reviewed it.

Margie Johnson asked whether refusing to sign the NDA would have prevented the company from coming; the mayor said the city did not know and that no proposal had been filed. The law director, Mark Villano, emphasized the city is receiving public records requests related to the data center and that Mrs. Madeline is coordinating responses.