The fight over a proposed $1 billion data center in Urbana isn't over yet. After a packed meeting Tuesday night, the Urbana City Council voted to table its decision on whether to settle with developer Thor Equities or keep fighting in court, Dayton 24/7 Now reported.
The settlement decision was pushed to the council's next meeting, which falls on Election Day, when the data center development is also on the ballot.
How Urbana got here
The debate has gone on for months. Zoning was approved for the data center, the station reports, and then, after hearing community concerns, the city issued an emergency moratorium. Now Urbana faces a lawsuit.
City leaders must decide whether to settle and accept $50 million in payments from the company to cover city needs, or fight the case and potentially pay $115 million in damages to Thor, according to Dayton 24/7 Now. The full, unsigned proposal was attached to the agenda for the Oct. 20 council meeting. A speaker at the meeting described the settlement as including a federal consent decree.
The developer's side
In a statement on Thor Equities' website, Global COO Melissa Gliatta said the company has already invested about $19.6 million in the data center development, the station reported.
"A city council gave unanimous approval to allow data centers and a company responded by committing millions," she said in the statement. "When significant investments are made based on those decisions, consistency and predictability matter."
Residents ask for time
Residents filled the meeting to urge the council to slow down. The city set up a Data Center Moratorium Committee in April, and a committee member asked the council to wait until the group finishes its research. The committee said its findings showed a substantial health burden from pollution, along with added global warming risk.
"Give us time to finish before you decide on a data center," the committee member said.
Another speaker warned that once a federal consent decree is signed, "there's not going to be an easy way to fix this."
'Between a rock and a hard place'
Councilwoman Stephanie Truelove told the crowd the city is "between a rock and a hard place."
"We can table it, but we're probably going to end up with the same damn result," she said, adding that waiting longer would only make things worse.
Still, the motion to table passed. Truelove voted yes along with Councilman Cledis Scott, Councilman Patrick Thackery and Councilwoman Amy Jumper. The measure needed at least four votes, according to the station.
What comes next
All eyes now turn to the council's Election Day meeting, where the settlement question returns while voters weigh in on the data center at the ballot box. Dayton 24/7 Now said it was trying to reach the mayor about what the vote means ahead of the November election.
The station's report did not describe the data center's size, construction schedule or builder.
Why it matters for contractors
Urbana is a case study in how a big data center project can stall after the zoning is in hand. A city approved data centers, a developer started spending money, residents pushed back, a moratorium followed and now the project sits in legal limbo with a settlement, a lawsuit and a ballot question all in play.
For contractors, the lesson is that a zoning approval is no longer a guarantee that a data center will be built on schedule. Firms lining up work on these projects, from site work and utilities to electrical and mechanical, should watch for local opposition, moratoriums and ballot measures, and build that risk into their planning and pricing.
The outcome in Urbana will be closely watched by data center developers and the communities they court across Ohio. Whether the city settles or fights could shape how other towns handle the same choice, and how much work ends up flowing to the trades.