(photo: Jake Leither / KRWC Radio)
The Monticello City Council this week approved on a 4 to 1 vote, an ordinance that would provide the guidelines for any potential development of a data center within the community.
The vote on an ordinance for a Data Center Planned Unit Development, or DCPUD, comes after many months of meetings and discussions involving the Monticello Planning Commission and City Council, as well as city staff and legal team, to develop the language of the ordinance.
The discussion surrounding a possible data center has frequently been heated, and continued to have many members of the community speak out against the plan, and urge the council to put a halt to movement on an ordinance, and possibly even enact a moratorium preventing action for a set amount of time.
Monday night, a number of citizens spoke, largely against the ordinance, citing a number of concerns. Many residents had concerns with the demands on water, electricity and other infrastructure to the city. Many also voiced concern about the potential health effects, noise, potential negative effects on property values, as well as effects on the environment and wildlife.
Still others questioned why Monticello and its residents should be subjected to becoming, as many who spoke suggested, “guinea pigs,” or “test subjects” of a development that has a very unknown long-term outcome.
The nearly three-hour meeting ended with discussion among council members. Mayor Lloyd Hilgart tried to impress upon those in attendance that it was his opinion that the city has been taking a careful approach…
“I would say basically, we’ve spent at least nine months, maybe ten…working on this ordinance, saying we wouldn’t accept any applications while we were working on the ordinance. I mean, it’s basically been a moratorium by default.”
The mayor also said that any potential developer would have to bear the cost of developing the infrastructure needed, specifically the power needed to operate a data center…
“The State of Minnesota passed a law, all the infrastructure that would be required to bring on new generation has to be 100 percent borne by the data center. That is state law, it was passed last July. In addition to that, if we want to go down the carbon footprint path, because of the rules in Minnesota, the power that’s being brought on line would have to be carbon free. So, more than likely it would be solar, I suppose it could be wind.”
A last minute amendment proposed by Council Member Kip Christianson was added to the ordinance, calling for an increase in setbacks in residential settings to 300 feet with full visual screening, or 700 feet for areas that are not screened.
When the time came for a vote on the ordinance, Council Member Tracy Hinz made the motion to approve…
“I believe this is in the best interest of our city. We need to diversify our tax base. We need to think about opportunities, and I cannot possibly deny an ordinance that allows for future applications and consideration of opportunities. It’s not about any one project, it really isn’t.”
The council then voted 4 to 1 in favor of the amended ordinance, with Council Member Charlotte Gabler weighing in as the lone “no” vote.
Though there are no current formal proposals for a data center, the new ordinance now gives guidelines for any such proposals that would be brought forward.
