There is still a little more than two weeks to go before it is known if data center developments will be permitted in the City of Emporia, depending on how voters side on special questions 2 and 3 on the November 3rd general election ballot.
However, should voters decide a data center project could move forward, the City of Emporia has now laid out the guidelines that any end user or developer would have to adhere to in order to bring such a project to the community.
Friday afternoon, the city released its series of guidelines to the public, which covered nine different areas:
1. Project Description
2. Financial Security
3. Employment Security
4. Community Benefits
5. Utility Costs
6. Property Values
7. Construction
8. Public Engagement
9. Additional Agreement Terms
The full breakdown of each listed item is available below. Following the release of the guidelines, KVOE News spoke with Emporia City Manager Trey Cocking and asked if the issuance of the guidelines, two weeks before the general election, was not a premature decision, as there is a possibility that data centers and related equipment could be banned in the community for a decade.
Cocking says, “As we’ve seen a lot of community discussion, it was important for the commissioners and myself to get out this information ahead of time.”
Absent from the list of guidelines was any section specifically related to environmental impacts. Cocking says that was not an oversight, as there are other policies already in place that cover that issue, specifically the Digital Infrastructure Overlay approved earlier this summer, which is currently tied up in litigation following a recently brought lawsuit.
Noting the ongoing litigation, Cocking stated he could not comment on that process at this time, but restated the city is confident they have covered all areas of concern in one document or another to the best of their ability. That said, Cocking noted the guidelines will be an evolving document that is subject to change should the need arise.
Cocking, as well as Emporia Mayor Becky Smith and City Commissioner Tammi Ogle, will join KVOE’s Talk of Emporia for the monthly Q&A segment at 11:06 Tuesday morning. City commissioners will also be reviewing the guidelines during their next regular meeting scheduled for Wednesday.
The full guidelines are available below
