Forward Township data center meeting draws state police presence
FORWARD TWP — The nationwide debate over data centers spilled over into Butler County on Thursday night, Oct. 1, as hundreds of Forward Township residents near-unanimously voiced their frustration and anxiety over a proposed data center to be located on a former farm on Prospect Road.
Ultimately, the planning commission voted to table the project after a meeting which lasted over three hours, more than two hours of which was dedicated to public comment.
The meeting on the Misty Hollow Data Center Project was originally scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 25, but was postponed due to a larger-than-expected crowd which exceeded the municipal building’s capacity of 100.
Though this Thursday’s meeting was moved into the nearby maintenance garage, which could fit a maximum of 200, it still wasn’t enough. Dozens of attendees were forced to watch from outside the building and listen through loudspeakers.
A group of protesters against the data center placed a table outside the garage with signs reading, “Screaming, cussing, name-calling, (and) disruption do not help our cause!”
However, that sentiment was ignored as soon as lead developer Allen Sherwood took to the podium. Throughout his lengthy opening statement on the potential benefits of the data center for the Forward Township community, he was repeatedly heckled, jeered and shouted down by attendees, despite repeated warnings by planning commission Chairman Steve Longwell.
Multiple state troopers were on hand at the township building to maintain order.
“I believe Misty Hollow has the potential to be something very significant for Forward Township and Butler County,” Sherwood said. “But none of those potential benefits mean that we should ignore the people who already live here. We want to be responsible and we want to be respectful of this community. That’s why we’re going through this public process.”
Sherwood was followed at the podium by Jason Kubiak, of engineering firm KubiTech, who provided a visual presentation of the overall details of the data center proposal, including power and stormwater requirements. Like Sherwood, Kubiak was also repeatedly heckled.
The public comment portion of the meeting saw a variety of responses from Forward Township residents, though they were unanimously against the data center proposal. Residents cited concerns, including over potential pollution and noise.
