Resident Dana Triber said she and her husband built their dream home in Hobart, but may have to move out of town if plans for a future data center go forward.
Health concerns for Triber, who has multiple sclerosis, are at the top of her list.
Triber told the Hobart Board of Works on Wednesday she is opposed to a data center planned by Amazon for several reasons, including the possibility of contamination of wells, the increased traffic the project will bring and concerns about her health and well-being.
“We will have to leave Hobart…I feel we hit the unlucky lottery,” Triber said.
Triber was one of 15 residents who filed a notice of appeal in regard to a fill permit approved Feb. 5 by the Hobart Plan Commission.
That number includes residents Susan and Vance Thompson, who were the first to file a notice of appeal on Feb. 13.
The other filings, by 14 of the residents, were approved at a special Hobart Plan Commission meeting held on Feb. 26 and forwarded to the public board of works meeting on Wednesday.
Those 14 appeals were filed by: Barbara Koteles, Albina Venegas-Roman, Matt Turner, Dana Triber, Kermit Deel, Maria and Tony McWhorter, Elizabeth and Dominic Gagliardi, Eric Morris/Morris Law Group on behalf of Stone Meadow LLC, Ginger Mikolics/Stone Meadow LLC, Angelits Soriano, Joseph Conn, Jennifer McQuade, Sally and Dick Pavel and Erin Yanz.
The fill permit request approved was for 605 acres eyed by Amazon for a future data center referred to as Hobart Tech Park.
Hobart City Attorney Heather McCarthy, at the end of the meeting on Wednesday, said a decision on all 15 appeals, including that of the Thompsons, would be determined and read at the next board of works meeting.
Those residents who can not attend the meeting will be transmitted the findings, McCarthy said.
Susan Thompson, who came before the board of works on Feb. 18, didn’t mince words when she spoke of her opposition to the proposed data center.
“I think we are being thrown to the wolves, over money,” Thompson said at the earlier meeting.
Thompson, who lives in the 5500 block of East 73rd Avenue, south of the proposed data center, echoed the concerns heard Wednesday, including property values, safety, the status of underground wells and noise pollution.
Elizabeth Gagliardi, who lives in the 6700 block of Lincolnway, was concerned for fellow farmers in the area.
She and her husband, Dominic Gagliardi, operate the Excelsior Equestrian Center in Hobart.
Both she and her husband filed the appeal because of concerns about the possibility of dwindling water supplies.
Gagliardi said city officials have told them that they can tie into city water instead of wells, but the expense would force them and other farms in the area to go out of business.
“Our paradise is 1 1/2 miles away,” Gagliardi said.
Dozens of residents spoke at the packed Hobart High School auditorium on Feb. 5, where the plan commission meeting was held and the fill permit request was approved.
The overwhelming majority at that meeting voiced their disapproval to the plan commission, citing similar concerns to those of Susan Thompson and those who spoke at Wednesday’s board of works meeting.
The plan commission at its Feb. 5 meeting voted 5-3 to approve the fill permit request from Todd Huntington of Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, who spoke briefly before the vote to answer commission questions.
Those voting against the proposal were members Stuart Allen, Lloyd Emig and Matthew SeDoris.
Those voting for the proposal were Dan Schultz, Mark Kara, Maria Galka, David Vinzant and city engineer and member Alex Metz.
The approval on Feb. 5 of the fill permit allows the moving of dirt only on the property located south of 61st Avenue, east of Colorado Street and north of 69th Avenue, said Maria Galka, who chairs the plan commission and who sits on the board of works.
The next step in the process will include the presentation of a site plan, which will include environmental impact and the presentation of other pertinent studies, plan commission member and City Councilman Mark Kara said after the Feb. 5 meeting.
Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun has called the $47 million upfront cash payment Hobart received late in January “record-breaking.”
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
