County continuing work on data center moratorium, talks details
GEOFFREY WOEHLK/THE FORUM
Nodaway County Administration Center building
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The Nodaway County Commission is continuing to work through language on a data center moratorium and likely won’t know more until next week, the commissioners said Tuesday.
During the commission’s regular public comment period on Tuesday morning, Presiding Commissioner Bill Walker said he understands that people are getting anxious about the moratorium. But he stressed the county is trying to get the language right to ensure the moratorium isn’t immediately challenged and overturned in court if it’s put in place.
South District Commissioner Scott Walk said that the moratorium must be more specific than simply a blanket delay on any data center projects.
“You can’t put a moratorium in just to slow them down or just to stop them for a while — that’s not legal, and they will take you to court right away for that,” Walk said.
The aim of a moratorium would be to get all the information needed to make an informed decision on whether to move forward with a development agreement, the two commissioners present at Tuesday’s meeting said. Getting more specific numbers on water usage would be one example, Walker said.
“Right now, I don’t think there’s an answer on water at all,” he said. “Zero.”
During a moratorium period, the commission would work with its attorney for this matter, Travis Elliott, to get those answers either independently or from the developer of the White Cloud Acres project, Scale Microgrids. After the commissioners have the specific information outlined in the moratorium, they would decide whether to move forward with a development agreement for the project.
The first draft of a development agreement proposed by Scale is still with Elliott, Walker said, and the commission has not yet seen it. He said he doesn’t anticipate seeing a copy until at least next week.
Although turnout has been high at every commission meeting the past several weeks — about a dozen on Tuesday morning — mostly from residents opposed to the data center, Walker has said that the commission has heard from plenty of constituents who are strongly in favor of the project.
Chris Turpin, speaking as a private citizen during Tuesday’s meeting, said he hopes the commissioners keep the positive economic effects in mind. Scale has estimated that with a 10-year, 50-percent abatement on personal and real property taxes, the project would produce more than $1.1 billion in revenues for taxing districts in the county over 35 years, including more than $337 million over the first five years.
“Not saying it’s gonna be perfect, nothing’s perfect,” Turpin said. “But also, I’m kind of in a house divided, people on both sides of this. A generation of kids who are like ‘No, I’m against this,’ but yet, they’re hypocritical and they’re the first ones on their phone using AI and looking up stuff. (It’s a) service we all want, but we don’t want it at our back door.”
Walker said the county will meet with Elliott again on Thursday afternoon about the moratorium language and so will likely not have any new information until the following meeting on Tuesday, July 14.
