As mentioned last week, petitions are now being circulated to change Emporia’s method of government after the City Commission approved several procedural steps that could facilitate a data center in Emporia.
Two petitions are being floated specifically on government changes. One would end the current City Commission form of government. The other would start a City Council with four wards and an at-large position. If both petitions are submitted to the Lyon County Clerk’s Office, get validated and are approved during an election, the four non-at-large City Council members would have to live in their respective wards.
The final petition deals with positions on city boards. Currently appointed by the City Commission, the petition would have special elections to fill open positions.
The petitions are the second phase of a campaign that was initially limited to opposing a proposed data center. One petition aimed at halting high-impact data centers has been validated by the County Clerk’s Office. A second, designed to stop battery energy storage systems commonly associated with data centers, is in the validation process. Lyon County Election Officer Amie Jones says that process has been slow, due to ongoing work on the primary election and the annual work on the county’s tax rolls.
The second round of petitions follows the City Commission’s unanimous decisions to approve new policies for large-volume water and wastewater use, as well as a new zoning policy for digital infrastructure. Commissioners also approved the rezoning of 11 tracts of land to be potentially used for a data center and the application of the Digital Infrastructure Overlay to the rezoned land.
