MILTON As the City of Milton considers a moratorium on data center development, members of its common council want to seek more information on what that pause could mean for a community.
The common council sent a resolution Tuesday to its plan commission that, if ultimately enacted, would institute a moratorium for at least 18 months. The city initially had a draft resolution of 12 months on the agenda Tuesday.
It is yet to be determined when the plan commission will have it on an agenda. That body met Tuesday afternoon met prior to the common councils session, and next convenes Aug. 4. A public hearing will follow after the plan commission considers the resolution as-forwarded.
City Administrator Paul Hensch said a resolution was more of a yield sign than a hard stop as the city does more research.
The city will consider possible environmental, economic, health and safety impacts in the next 18 months to see if amendments need to be made to its zoning code, comprehensive plan or other regulations.
It was purely a preventative measure, not a reactionary measure, Hensch said.
Alderperson Ken Smith told The 69蹤獲 that it was time for a moratorium resolution because we dont know what we dont know.
There hasnt been enough action on the state level for safeguards, Smith said. Im not saying never. We just dont know.
Rock County has had multiple data center sites proposed, some of which have drawn ire from residents of the municipalities where they were considered.
The City of Janesville has engaged in talks with Colorado-based brownfield redevelopment firm Viridian Partners for a potential data center on the site of the former General Motors site, once one of Rock Countys largest employment hubs prior to the plants closure in 2008. The towns of Turtle and Beloit have been in talks with California-based developer Panattoni on a proposed data center dubbed Project Cornmaze on hundreds of acres off of Highway 51.
Milton Council President Derek Henze told The 69蹤獲 that with prevalent discussion around the county, he and others on the council saw there was relevant homework to do.
Were making sure we have a more proactive understanding of what is happening with these data centers, he said.
Henze added the resolution might be a moot point as the city is not trying to solicit a data center and there are no developers seeking land to develop in the city.
County officials have been under fire since the public became aware of Project Cornmaze, a proposed two-million-square-foot data center between Janesville and Beloit. Multiple county officials signed non-disclosure agreements after discussions with Delaware-based Cambrin LLC
I have not signed any NDAs related to data centers and I havent signed any NDAs in my career, Hensch said.
Smith told council members he would like to see a section in an ordinance on NDAs saying that if there is one entity trying to do one thing in one place, I dont understand that.