The No Data Centers group was back in full force on Wednesday at the Hobart City Council meeting, including receiving support from Save the Dunes representatives.
The two proposed data centers, to be built off Colorado Street and 61st Avenue, weren’t on the agenda, but the group on Wednesday showed opposition by hoisting No Data Centers signs outside Hobart City Hall and then speaking during the public portion of the meeting.
Jen Fisher, a professor at Indiana University Northwest, voiced environmental concerns in regard to the two proposed data centers.
Fisher, a representative of Save the Dunes, said city officials need to be cautious about approving plans for data centers because of their location near Deep River and other natural sites, including the Indiana Dunes National Park.
She said the proposed data centers could have an effect on a number of things, including water resources, wildlife and even rare plants.
The noise and lights emitted from data centers could hurt wildlife.
“We urge the council to slow down. We will serve in an advisory capacity,” Fisher said.
Save the Dunes, according to the mission statement on the nonprofit organization’s website, serves to engage with the communities of Northwest Indiana to bring broader awareness to complex issues within the dunes and Lake Michigan through presentations, hikes and online engagements.
Sandra Hill, a resident of Union Township, also came in support of the No Data Centers group.
Hill urged city officials not to just look at the dollar signs but to look into the negative effect data centers had in North Dakota, including information she received from a friend who lives in a community there.
She said her friend has had to purchase darkening shades because of the bright lights emitted from the data center there, and contend with loud noise.
Hobart resident Lee Anne Perunko became visibly emotional as she addressed the Hobart City Council with her objections.
“There’s something nefarious going on with these data centers,” Perunko said.
“Why do these developers have to pick on small communities?” Perunko asked, instead suggesting data center developers locate them on the ocean for “all the water they want.”
The No Data Centers group on Nov. 6 packed the Hobart Plan Commission meeting, which was relocated to the city’s 800-seat capacity gymnasium of the PCC Building, 705 E. 4th St.
Dozens of residents voiced their opposition with only a few, including union representatives, pledging support.
The plan commission, at that meeting with a majority voting yes, approved a request by petitioner Todd Leeth for a fill permit request at an 168-acre parcel located south of the 61st Avenue and Arizona Street intersection.
Andy Deneen, an engineer for the Hobart Devco project, said the fill permit approval will allow for earthmoving work at the site of some 1 million cubic yards.
Deneen assured those in attendance, concerned about their water supplies, that wells wouldn’t be affected during the work.
Leeth, an attorney representing Hobart Devco, LLC., is proposing a data center be built at that site.
Leeth, after the meeting, said site plans would likely be presented to city officials “sometime next year.”
In addition to the Hobart Devco proposed data center, Wylie Capital is also seeking to build a data center on 400 acres at the southeast corner of 61st Avenue and Colorado Street.
That site has received final rezoning property, from R-3 to M-1, but petitioners have not yet presented site plans, according to city officials.
Plan Commission meetings are generally held at the Hobart City Hall but because of the anticipated numbers, the request by the group to hold in a larger facility was accepted by Hobart officials.
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
