Emporia city commissioners now have something else to consider as they continue determining whether to approve a 1,000-acre data center on the west edge of town.
Members of Emporia Neighbors United went to the City Clerk’s Office on Tuesday, submitting nearly 1,400 signatures of residents — well above the 804 valid signatures needed — wanting to see the data center put to a public vote or halted outright. The signatures, currently unverified, now go to the Lyon County Clerk’s Office for validation; County Clerk Amie Jones says the review will begin once approved by Lyon County Legal Counsel Molly Priest.
Group founder and spokesman Jay Vehige says the petition developed after City Commission and Planning Commission meetings over the last month-plus, using a coordinated but specific approach after conversations with residents in El Dorado and work by legal partners. Vehige says support for the petition is broad.
Vehige says the petition could have been avoided.
Mayor Becky Smith deferred to City Manager Trey Cocking, who declined to comment on the petition specifically but gave KVOE News information on the upcoming processes. While the signature review is underway, and possibly afterward, City Attorney Christina Montgomery will review the petition to make sure it is allowed by the state.
The submitted language: “Shall the following ordinance be adopted? ‘An Ordinance of the City of Emporia, Kansas prohibiting the installation and operation of High Impact Data Centers and Type 2 and Type 3 battery energy storage systems to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents of Emporia, Kansas.’ ” Vehige says the petition is designed to set up two different courses of action by the city.
The petition handoff follows the end of the Emporia Neighbors United boycott against several local businesses if their executives or other administrators either publicly supported the data center or are on city boards that have voted to advance different policy measures that could lead to a new data center, with the overall list including Century 21 Real Estate, Fanestil Meats, Mulready’s Pub, Printing Plus and Roberts-Blue-Barnett Funeral Home. The boycott also called on the Emporia Main Street Board of Directors to replace longtime Director Casey Woods and for businesses to end their affiliation with Main Street while, separately, asking people to vote against the Emporia Recreation Commission’s plan for a new public recreation center and renovations to Lee Beran Rec Center. Vehige says the boycott followed information provided to city leaders and developed after data center opponents were not heard.
Several people objected, saying a boycott was counterproductive — especially after Emporia has lost well over 1,000 jobs since Tyson Foods announced its local operations shutdown in December 2024. Vehige says Emporia Neighbors United listened to concerns and decided to end the boycott Sunday.
From the city perspective, there are two conversation points immediately ahead. First is a data center meeting as organized by Kansas Municipal Utilities on July 15. July 22’s City Commission meeting is currently reserved for potential decisions on large-volume water and wastewater use policies, as well as a rezoning of 11 tracts to potentially foster a data center, a Digital Infrastructure zoning overlay and the possible application of DIO to the 11 tracts of land in question. Emporia Neighbors United is asking residents to attend the July 22 meeting and urge commissioners to stop the data center process.
