As word about a proposed data center project in Pekin spread through Tazewell County last week, county residents reached out to county board chairman Brett Grimm and county board members.
Most wanted to know if the county board had a say on if the data center is built on 321 of the 1,000-acre Lutticken Farm property owned by Pekin.
The answer to the question was provided Wednesday by Deputy Chief Assistant State's Attorney Mike Holly, who was asked by Grimm to speak to the board during its monthly meeting.
Holly said state law gives Pekin full authority over the planned project because it would be located in Pekin.
"We couldn't prevent Pekin from purchasing [the Lutticken Farm] property, or annexing the land into the city," Holly said. "Pekin will determine the fate of the project."
What a county board member can do, however, according to Holly, is speak to Pekin officials as an individual or advocate for constituents.
"That's where your authority ends," he said.
The Tazewell County Data Center Opposition group, a Facebook group formed last week, has about 2,500 members.
The group carries the county name because the impacts of the data center could affect other county communities besides Pekin.
"If you represent places like North Pekin, Marquette Heights and Groveland, you need to be involved," Pekin resident Matthew Johnson told board members.
The site of the proposed data center is vacant land between State Route 98 [also known as Edgewater Drive] and Sheridan Road on the north side of Pekin.
New York City-based Western Hospitality Partners [WHP] has offered $4.5 million for the area where it wants to build the data center.
An overflow crowd of data center opponents filled the Pekin City Council meeting room Monday.
Speakers from the group expressed concerns about environmental issues, rising utility rates and noise pollution, and doubts about the positive economic impact the data center would have on the city's finances.
Many of the same concerns were reflected in a letter sent to WHP from the city last week.
Pekin has scheduled a town hall meeting March 24 on the data center project.
The meeting will be at Pekin Community High School. The time has not been set.
A data center houses computers that help meet the world's digital demands.
