Aldermen say they were misled by city staff
By Laurie Bassett
PECULIAR – Following a public hearing during which 13 community members voiced their opposition to a proposed data center on the northern edge of the city, the Peculiar Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Monday evening to remove data centers as a permitted use in the I-1 Light Industrial Zoning District.
This was on the heels of a Planning Commission meeting last week that ended in a tie (3-3) vote, which sent it back to the BOA with no recommendation for their final decision. That meeting also had 13 speakers, but a couple gave a more favorable view on data centers.
Emotions were running high in both meetings, but the Planning Commission was decidedly more contentious – with shouting, accusations of misconduct, and opponents taking videos of each other. The Board of Aldermen meeting had a more conciliatory feel from both sides.
One of the most notable speeches came from Patti DiPardo Livergood, who lives directly across the street from the location for the proposed data center. She shared how she became a widow and wanted to sell her home, but no one would even consider buying it with the threat of a data center across the street, and she had to take it off the market. She accused the staff of misleading the elected officials about the project.
Most stunningly, she stated, while fighting back tears, that City Administrator Mickey Ary had contacted her employer, a congressman in Washington, D.C., to complain about her speaking against the data center project in previous public meetings. Her Facebook page shows that she works for Mark Alford. She interpreted this action as an attempted threat to her livelihood. Ary didn’t deny the accusation.
During her description of these events, someone in the crowd shouted, “Shame on you, Mickey!”
The next speaker, Tim Wiseman, also acknowledged the issue of city officials being misled by staff. He said, “The aldermen were presented with something that was too good to be true, and it was.”
“It doesn’t take many words to tell the truth,” said Otto Sontheimer. “We should do everything we can at this point to stiff-arm data centers. We don’t know enough about them yet. This (the decision) is easy. It doesn’t have to be this hard.”
He also said, “We’ve got to put the animosity behind us and let go of the ill will.”
Chad Buck encouraged the aldermen to “repeal and start over”. He said it’s about legislation and doing it right through a comprehensive plan approach.
Following the vote, Alderman Robert Wells read a prepared statement, saying that staff had misled the elected officials, not explaining the true nature of data centers, falsely comparing them to computer manufacturing, and leaving out information about the water and power requirements. He read portions of the City Administrator’s job description from City Code and said that staff failed to fulfill these duties and to disclose all the information.
Alderman John Shatto apologized to the audience, saying that he and other board members were misled by people they trusted. He also apologized to his friends and family for the disruptions that this has caused to their daily lives.
The Board went into closed session to discuss litigation.