Officials in Mason County, Kentucky have approved an agreement with social media giant, Meta, paving the way for a 2.2 gigawatt data center near Maysville.
The Mason County Fiscal Court voted Tuesday to approve a series of items related to the project, including a development and community revenue agreement with a Meta subsidiary known as Chrisham LLC, which is purchasing roughly 2,900 acres of land for the data center. The identity of the company was shrouded by non-disclosure agreements until this week.
Mason County Judge Executive Owen McNeill said the agreement will bring roughly $80 million in revenue for the county in its first five years, along with a number of other benefits.
"Initial investment will be $15 billion, 2,000 construction and trades jobs, [and a] guaranteed minimum of 400 high-paying, career making, youth-retaining jobs," he said.
The proposal has been in the works for roughly two years and has drawn controversy, including a lawsuit and outcry from at least some residents. Those include people living in a mobile home park who will likely have to relocate for the data center. Some of them said this summer they'll struggle to find another living situation and fear becoming homeless.
"I'm so, so stressed out," mobile home park resident, Lisa Helphanstine, told WVXU in August. "I have no idea what I'm going to do. I know I'm going to have to move."
McNeill revealed at the Oct. 13 meeting that a historic cemetery will also have to be relocated to make way for the project. He said the landowners who are selling to Meta didn't realize the cemetery was there and it was only discovered through the use of LIDAR technology. McNeill said the relocation will be done with the input of descendants of those buried in the cemetery, if possible, and will include making it more accessible.
Attorney Jim Parsons has been representing Mason County in negotiations with Meta. He told the fiscal court Oct. 13 the deal requires a 40-year, $800 billion bond initiative from the county. But, he said, the enormous number is misleading, and the county won't be on the hook for that sum. The bond deal is part of a lease-back arrangement in which the county would hold the deed to the project while Meta takes responsibility for costs and ownership.
Parsons said Meta is expected to spend about $10 billion per phase on the data center project. It isn't clear how many phases are planned.
"The bond resolution itself makes it very clear this is not the debt of the county," Parsons said. "It also indicates that the company pays all costs associated with it."
Other elements of the deal include an estimated $130 million in payments to improve water, roadway and safety infrastructure in the county — some of that money due upon start of construction. Other payments to the county and school district will add up to tens of millions of dollars, McNeill told the fiscal court.
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