Hobart’s No Data Center group received another setback on Wednesday from city officials.
The Hobart Board of Public Works and Safety unanimously affirmed a fill permit request approved by the Hobart Plan Commission at its Feb. 5 meeting.
The motion to affirm the fill permit, made by Hobart Clerk-Treasurer Deborah Longer, in effect denied appeals filed by 15 Hobart residents.
Several of the residents who filed the appeals, including Barbara Koteles, quickly left the meeting room right after hearing the decision.
Koteles said she was disappointed but not surprised by the board of works’ decision since so far the majority of city officials, including the plan commission, have voted in favor of going forward with a data center.
“I knew our appeal would be denied…We keep finding ways to fight back,” Koteles said.
Jennifer McQuade, another one of the 15 to file an appeal, said she was disappointed with the decision and that the board didn’t address any of the residents’ concerns.
She said she had asked, in her appeal, for soil and water testing to be conducted at the site so a baseline could be made for future reference.
“There are tests the city can require,” McQuade said.
The fill permit request approved by the Plan Commission at its Feb. 5 meeting was for 605 acres eyed by Amazon for a future data center referred to as Hobart Tech Park.
The property, zoned M-1, is located south of 61st Avenue, east of Colorado Street and north of 68th Avenue.
Longer, in her motion, said she wanted all 15 appeals to be included.
“I’d like to take them all together,” Longer said.
Her motion was to affirm the fill permit request related to all the filings after having considered all the evidence presented, including: in writing and on the record, in the written findings from the plan commission meeting, in the minutes from the plan commission meeting, attending the plan commission meeting, and considering municipal code 15104, which has to do with the fill permit.
Each individual who filed an appeal will receive a written statement, city officials said on Wednesday.
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 who spoke at the March 4 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.
The approval on Feb. 5 of the fill permit allows the moving of dirt only on the property, 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.
Four Hobart homeowners received their first legal setback on Feb. 18 when a Lake Superior Court Civil Division judge denied a request from the residents.
The four in their lawsuit challenged the city of Hobart’s designation of 725 acres as an Economic Revitalization Area (ERA) with property tax abatements.
The property, presently farmland, is located at 61st Avenue and Colorado Street, and the designations are connected to the proposed Amazon data center development.
In yet another lawsuit, Lake Superior Court Judge Bruce Parent is expected to issue a ruling sometime next week on an injunction also filed by a group of residents.
The residents filed the motion for preliminary injunction, citing violations of local law and due process.
The Hobart City Council, at its Jan. 7 meeting, approved resolutions, including a contribution of $47 million to the city, allowing Amazon Data Services to proceed with its data center plans at 61st Avenue and Colorado Street.
That check for $47 million had been received by the city and will be invested, both Longer and Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun said.
Huddlestun has called the $47 million upfront cash “record-breaking” and said the cash is crucial to the city in part because of Senate Enrolled Act 1, the state law that cut property taxes.
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
