The Burgin City Council voted 3-2 Thursday to advance an ordinance to annex land from the county where a developer has proposed a hyperscale data center.
The meeting did not allow public comment, but was full of residents vocally expressing their opposition to the move and cheering the two council members who tried to stop its progress.
The council approved a motion to give a first reading to the ordinance, which would add enough farm land to double the size of Burgin, which has a population of roughly 1,000.
Councilman Sindicat Dunn unsuccessfully attempted to amend the ordinance to add a moratorium on any data center development until the city comes to an agreement with the Mercer County Planning and Zoning Commission.
Councilman Scott McCoy, who supports the annexation ordinance, said Burgin does not have any planning and zoning commission, but could reach a “developer’s agreement” with any future data center company.
“There is a vehicle for the city to have input into any development of this nature, it's called a developer's agreement,” McCoy said. “That is something that is common practice. That is something that can be taken to the stakeholders and the constituents, and there can be discussion that follows. We can discuss water usage. We can discuss light. We can discuss noise. We can discuss any of those additional items.”
Councilwoman Melinda Wofford asked for the motion to be withdrawn or voted down, saying the developer cannot be trusted with so little information and no regulations in place.
“I just really have concerns that there's no, there's not going to be any kind of regulation over this. And I'm not speaking for myself. I'm speaking for the constituents, the folks that elected me,” Wofford said, the cheers from the packed room.
Dunn and Wofford were the only two votes against the motion to give the ordinance its first reading, as well as the subsequent motion to schedule a second reading for the ordinance in 10 days, when it could become law.
The sudden speed of the annexation ordinance comes after Mercer County government has been hesitant to change their zoning rules, as residents packed public meetings to voice their opposition to data centers. Residents feared the massive and energy-guzzling facilities in their rural farmland could lead to forms of pollution and increase their energy bills.
One of the locals attending the meeting in opposition was Billy Rankin, the president and CEO of Shaker Village, the historical landmark destination of the 19th century settlement that would be just two miles from the data center property.
“You have history, natural resources and a lot of tourism here with Shaker Village and Herrington Lake, and we think that a data center is really incongruent with all of those factors, and this would be an inappropriate place for one,” Rankin said.
He also criticized the annexation process of the Burgin council, saying the developer appears to be attempting to escape county regulations before it even shares any information about the project with the community.
“Making an end around planning and zoning regulations for something that this county has never had built in it that substantially has such an impact, that should be a major red flag — not just for the community, but for the public officials,” Rankin said. “It certainly gives the appearance of the developer or the people that are making the most profit off of this being the drivers, rather than the voters and the community members here.”
The Burgin City Council plans to meet again on July 20 for the second reading of the annexation ordinance, where it could receive final approval. The Mercer County Planning and Zoning Commission is holding a public hearing on data centers on July 23.
