LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Saying "this train needs to slow down," Oldham County's judge-executive announced Thursday that the developer of a proposed data center has agreed to postpone a meeting planned for later this month.
David Voegele said in a Facebook post Western Hospitality Partners won't proceed with an April 16 meeting of the county's Technical Review Committee, which was set to discuss the project made public last week.
Voegele said the development team will host a series of public meetings to give people more information.
Western Hospitality Partners – Kentucky LLC, a New Jersey-based company that registered in Kentucky last August, filed a request for a conditional use permit for the property March 19. The land is now zoned for agricultural and residential uses; if approved, the permit would allow a data center there.
The project calls for eight warehouse-style buildings on a 267-acre campus less than 3 miles north of La Grange. The complex would house computer servers and other equipment used to quickly process troves of digital information.
The organizers of “Project Lincoln” promise an infusion of jobs and tax revenue for the county just north of Louisville that includes an anticipated $4 billion economic impact and hundreds of direct and spinoff positions. They claim Oldham County’s school system, public services and general fund all stand to benefit from the arrival of the massive complex that would house computer servers and other equipment used to quickly process troves of digital information.
Meanwhile, emails obtained in a public records request and reviewed by WDRB indicate that the Oldham Chamber & Economic Development agency was involved in the data center project before its public announcement.
Opposition to the data center project hascropped up online, and Voegele acknowledged in an interview Wednesday that he has received a number of emails about the proposal. And in his Facebook post Thursday, Voegele said he wants other sites for the campus known as "Project Lincoln" to be reevaluated.
Much of the public pushback has centered over whether the largely rural site is appropriate for a data center.
"A properly located data center has the potential to provide significant tax relief and other benefits for all the residents of our county," Voegele said.
Western Hospitality retained Kentucky-based Commonwealth Economics Partners for an economic impact study, which shows the project is expected to create 176 jobs with an annual average salary of $83,000. The study predicts that the project would deliver $51 million in local tax revenue to Oldham County annually once fully operational, although that figure does not factor in any economic incentives.
The study concludes that water and energy demands "are not expected to pose issues, as both the local water utility and Kentucky Utilities have confirmed their capacity to meet the increased demand."
RunSwitch Public Relations, the Louisville-based firm handling communications for the project, hasn't responded to WDRB’s questions asking for more information about Western Hospitality Partners and their track record on data center projects, including how many they have developed and are pursuing.
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