The Fort Meade City Commission will make one of the most consequential decisions in the city’s history at its meeting March 10.
The commission will consider a development agreement for a 4.4 million-square-foot data center. Stonebridge, a company based in Maryland, has proposed building the facility on 1,300 acres in northern Fort Meade, on a former phosphate mine just west of State Road 17.
Many Fort Meade residents have expressed opposition to the data center for months, speaking at commission meetings and at a town hall that Stonebridge hosted Jan. 29. Residents have raised various concerns: electricity and water demands, air and water pollution, noise intrusion and a loss of Fort Meade’s rural feel.
Stonebridge executives addressed the concerns at their town hall, held at Fort Meade Middle-Senior High School. They said the facility will draw directly from Duke Energy’s power grid, not from Fort Meade’s municipal supply.
The data center will employ a closed-loop cooling system and will require only 50,000 gallons of water a day, Stonebridge executives said.
Fort Meade Mayor Jared Williams hosted a town hall on Feb. 9, telling residents that he was listening closely to their concerns.
Stonebridge wants to begin construction this year and expects to have the first of four buildings operating by early 2028.
The company says the data center would create 456 jobs when fully operational, with an average salary of more than $100,000. Some Fort Meade citizens have questioned whether many residents would qualify for the positions.
The facility would generate about $100 million a year in property taxes to Fort Meade, plus $13 million a year in municipal public service taxes and about $7 million in franchise taxes through Duke Energy, a Stonebridge executive said.
The meeting occurs at a time when opposition to data centers has surged around the country.
In another agenda item, the commission will consider an ordinance granting Duke Energy access to streets and utility rights of way in Fort Meade. That is related to the electricity supply for the data center.
The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Fort Meade Community Center, 10 Third St. SW.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Fort Meade Commission will vote on the massive proposed data center
Reporting by Gary White, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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