On Wednesday evening, Oct. 8, over 100 people gathered at the Old Mill Museum and Banquet Hall in Dundee for a special Dundee Township Boad meeting regarding a proposed data center, a facility that houses computer servers, networking equipment, and storage systems used to process, store, and manage data. In this case, the data center would be used for processing information for AI through the use of large language training models.
Representatives from Cloverleaf, the company that proposed the data center to the village and township, gave a presentation covering what a data center is, the site they’re looking at for it, and addressing some of the common concerns residents have expressed on social media.
After the presentation, the floor was opened up for public comment. Each person was given four minutes to speak, the public comment portion of the meeting went on for about an hour and a half.
Some people came up in support of the data center, saying that it would bring needed jobs to the community.
“I show support for the (data center) in my backyard just as I show support for the one in yours,” said Terry Short, business development worker for IBEW Local 8 in Rossford, Ohio.
Most of those who spoke, however, were against it, citing environmental concerns, noise pollution, spikes in electricity costs, and transparency from the board about the project.
“(These people) want to know what’s going on,” said Dundee resident Linda Graham. “They want to know how many meetings you’ve already had with the people that just did the presentation.”
“I am here to take a stand because of my grandchildren,” she added. “I do not want this town ruined.”
“I’m concerned about this, like everybody else, and there are a lot of pros and cons, but for me, it seems like the cons are winning,” said Donna Adams of Dundee Township.
“As far as the jobs are concerned, the 250 plus jobs, they say; how long are they going to last?” asked Dundee resident David Magnus.
“Their jobs are going to be two years maybe, and they’re going to be gone,” he added. “And with them will go whatever money they brought into this community.”
“Dundee is growing,” said Lisa Hitchingham, a chemical process engineer from Dundee. “The wastewater treatment plant can’t keep up with just the community, and I’m concerned about even an office building’s additional load getting sent to the plant.”
Others raised concerns that the township board didn’t seem to have as many questions on the project as those speaking during public comment.
“We’re showing up to multiple meetings a week, and we’ve got more questions and more notes than other people that should be way more invested as our elected officials,” said Dundee resident Adrian Smallwood.
Lisa Ost, treasurer for the Dundee Township Board, shared this concern. Before Wednesday, she thought that the meeting was going to be a question and answer session with Cloverleaf representatives to clear up information, but was informed it had changed that afternoon.
“It feels like a complete lack of transparency when I, the township treasurer, have to find out information regarding the township’s business over social media and not through the proper channels,” she said.
“The transparancy is frustrating, or the lackthereof, I should say,” said the township’s clerk, Karla Ziesmer.
Trustee Ken Jaworski spoke on the lack of questions at the meeting.
“That’s because we have spent the last weeks and months asking questions almost on a daily basis and trying to get answers on your behalf,” he said.
“We’re working hard to make sure that we are listening to you people, and we are going to take all of this into the ways that’s legally capable of controlling what’s happening,” said township supervisor Roger Lewis.
Cloverleaf’s chief development officer Aaron Bilyeu said he appreciated the community coming to the meeting and sharing their concerns, and that the company plans to find new ways of keeping the community informed about the project and answering its questions.
“I think there was pretty strong sentiment tonight that clear communication from the township would be appreciated,” he said. “So we will be working with the township to help promote that.”
Cloverleaf wants to build the data center on the southeast corner of Day and Ann Arbor Road, which according to Bilyeu is zoned as industrial land. They are also looking at additional land south of Hatter Road that could be included in the campus.
— Contact reporter Connor Veenstra at CVeenstra@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Dundee Township and village residents speak out against proposed data center
Reporting by Connor Veenstra, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
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