Tazewell County is putting together an ordinance that will spell out the rules and regulations for data centers proposed to be built on county property.
The ordinance isn't expected to go to the county board for at least two months, but the board's land use committee got an earful this week about a nearby county's proposed data center ordinance, put together in response to a request to build a $15 billion data center in the county.
Data centers have been a major source of controversy in Pekin, where city officials entertained a proposal for a data center, before rejecting the plan after residents spoke out against the plan.
Allan Green, Logan County's zoning officer and a Mackinaw resident, spoke to the committee.
Among Green's topics of discussion were a one-year data center moratorium passed by the Logan County Board that was later ruled illegal by the county's state's attorney because rules weren't followed; a raucous meeting at the Logan County Courthouse in Lincoln that required police to be called; and resignations of elected officials.
"Many of the restrictions in our proposed ordinance are in response to public concerns," Green said.
"Get ready to hear some of the wildest things you've ever heard as you proceed. And some wild numbers. We've been promised $65 million annually in property tax revenue from a data center project."
One bit of advice Green passed on to Tazewell County was to set the application fee for a data center as high as possible.
