Harrison County CIC discusses data centers, community impact

The Harrison County Community Improvement Corporation met April 14 in a meeting room at the Cadiz Puskarich Library. HCCIC President Dale Arbaugh opened the discussion by noting that communities are raising concerns about data centers and trying to prevent them from locating there.

“Our thoughts have been, we’re not against data centers if they’re going to bring their own infrastructure in and use ground that’s really not developable,” Arbaugh said. “Our approach right now with these projects is, let’s see what we can do with them and if we can bring them to Harrison County and help us out.”

Arbaugh said the group is willing to work with companies that bring in their own power and do not overburden the system.

There also is a proposal to amend the Ohio Constitution, which he noted, to prohibit the construction of a data center under Article II, Section 36a, that “has an aggregate monthly demand or peak load of greater than 25 megawatts, however derived from any energy source, or a combination thereof.” He said there are other stipulations regarding the processing, management and dissemination of electronic data through computer systems and servers.

“I totally agree that I’d hate to see good ground being destroyed by solar panels and/or data centers or stuff like that if there’s other places it can go,” Arbaugh said.

HCCIC’s Dave Wheeler called it a “national thing” and not just an Ohio issue. He referenced a recent CBS Sunday Morning segment about data centers across the country. Wheeler said tech companies say they need the structures to meet the upcoming “AI revolution.”

“We certainly like the capital investment in the community,” Wheeler said. “We certainly like the potential job creation that comes with it, the enhancement in tax base that comes with it.”

But he added that there is a right and wrong place for these centers geographically and said that is the approach being taken.

“We are listening if somebody wants to come and talk to us about it,” he continued. “We’re absolutely listening to it, but we’re just going to kind of navigate that through the election and see what direction this goes.”

In the audience was Bowerston Village Administrator Bart Busby, who told the board the village had been contacted by a company but suggested it might not have been a legitimate contact because the company had not contacted the village since. He asked whether the village has a say in whether a data center would be allowed in the area and told Commissioner Dustin Corder the village did not have a zoning law for that.

“Yeah, then there’s nothing you can do anyway,” Corder told Busby.

Attorney John Tabacchi said it is possible to talk with these companies because they are eager to become part of the community.

“Legit companies really want to become a part of the community and have some say in what’s going on,” Tabacchi said. “And so, just keep that in the back of your mind that you’re not being shut out necessarily because he’ll have to come to you eventually.”