A meeting organized by concerned Montgomery County Citizens against a proposed artificial intelligence data center in Cherryvale is coming up this Sunday.
According to organizer Jennifer Williams, area residents are invited to gather at 6:30 p.m. this Sunday, October 4th at the Cherryvale Community Center to sign a formal protest petition and coordinate public testimony. Because the building was not rented before City Hall closed on Friday, organizers say it will still be held outside in the parking lot.
This gathering will be ahead of the regularly scheduled Montgomery County Commission Meeting at 9 a.m. in the lower level of the Judicial Center in Independence and the Cherryvale City Council meeting at 6 p.m. in city hall.
According to the agenda for the upcoming Cherryvale City Council meeting, there is no proposed action on the agenda regarding a potential data center, although there is a 30-minute executive session scheduled related to attorney-client privilege.
Citizens have expressed concern after discussion at the last Cherryvale City Council meeting with Texas-based broker Bevlaurent regarding a proposed hyperscale data center to be built on a certified site at the Cherryvale Industrial Park north of town. A preliminary proposal would be to use between 1 and 6 million gallons of water a day piped directly from Big Hill Lake.
According to community members organizing the effort, they are demanding “transparency, an independent state hydrological study and an immediate moratorium on data center zoning.”
At the last Cherryvale City Council Meeting, approval was given to begin drafting what terms the city would like in place to regulate issues such as water and power consumption as well as noise with any future center. CLICK HERE to read about the discussion at the last meeting.
