KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa has extensively covered topics in Osawatomie and Miami County, including the data center project. Mayor Nick Hampson agreed to speak with Gamboa following last week's announcement from Alcove Development. The full interview is posted below. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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Last week, Alcove Development issued a press release that Project Catalyst — a major data center proposal in Osawatomie, Kansas — would "move forward."
Mayor Nick Hampson told KSHB 41 Miami County reporter Ryan Gamboa he saw that press release for the first time on Friday morning.
"The first line said, 'We’re moving forward with the project.' I’ve been talking with residents daily about this. A lot of residents felt like that meant it’s a done deal, the data center is going in," Hampson explained. "To me, it means that we’re moving forward in the project to start doing the negotiations and to see what kind of benefits this project can have to the city, what type of mitigation we can do for the noise and sound levels that comes from these data centers, the water usage, tax abatements, just everything."
Gamboa first reported on the data center project back in February. He even received the first renderings and released them to the public through a Kansas Open Records Act request.
About five months later, Hampson made his first statement regarding the project proposal.
Earlier this year, Osawatomie entered a predevelopment agreement with Lawrence-based Alcove Development, which has never developed a data center. According to its website, the company primarily focuses on housing projects.
Public records show the site named in the preliminary development agreement would be a 600,000-square-foot campus. Upon potential completion, it would have between 60 and 90 full-time employees. Construction on the project would bring in up to 350 jobs.
The city of Osawatomie agreed to a three-year contract that gives Alcove Development priority for surveying the land for a data center project with the exclusive right to develop.
Come July, the developer will begin sending payments for the purchase of the property over that three-year period, with a six-month grace period to survey the property to determine if it's fit for the project.
The developer can back out at any time.
Hampson's issue with Friday's press release is the language. He said the release is confusing the public; no formal applications have been filed to begin any sort of public hearing process.
"No, we have no applications, no permits pulled. We signed a preliminary development agreement that gave the developer due diligence to see if this project was viable for them," he said. "But to me, it’s moving forward on to the next phases. Again, there’s no permits filed, no votes between council. There’s been no negotiations even discussed at this point."
Hampson told KSHB 41 the press release was drafted and reviewed by the city's public relations team, touting major wins for the city, county and Osawatomie School District. It also outlined major developments in how the project would take shape, including announcing an air-cooled data center design and the project taking on the cost to develop a power plant.
Gamboa reached out to Alcove Development by email for comment regarding the characterization of the project "moving forward." The company's partner, GW Weld, responded.
"We've completed our initial due diligence and found the site and Project Catalyst are compatible," Weld wrote." Applications are forthcoming, and we look forward to advancing this project in close coordination with the City of Osawatomie."
In the original predevelopment agreement, it was estimated the project would take place on about 115 acres of land the city acquired from the state of Kansas and would be a 150 megawatt campus.
The proposal has since grown to 283 acres and a 500 megawatt multi-phase campus that can scale up in size, according to the original predevelopment agreement.
"We've added a privately owned adjacent piece of land. We'll have an updated site plan release soon to show the full scope of the site," Weld wrote in an email. "The additional land allows us to remove any proposed data hall buildings from the north side of 335th Street and focus on highway adjacent land south of 335th Street."
As for Hampson's stance on the project, he did not outright state he thinks the project is correct for the community.
"I think it’s the project that’s presented itself to Osawatomie right now," he said. "This land has been marketed for the last 20 years for some kind of commercial development, some kind of commercial project. We’ve had some people that came and inquired about it, and for whatever reason, with them, it’s not what they’re looking for."
While the city works to determine if the project is the right fit, weighing the millions in tax revenue Alcove Development states will come into the community, neighbors continue to push back against the proposal.
On Wednesday, Troy Harp, who is leading the charge fighting the data center, began collecting signatures for a petition that would legislatively limit the scale of the data center if the city clerk can certify the petition's signatures.
"When Alcove came out and said, 'This is gonna be 500MW or larger, scalable,' our suspicions were confirmed. Also confirmed they’ll have to build a natural gas power plant to build this thing as well," Harp said. "This is why this petition is so important for this community. It's so small, the resources are so limited, and it’s just something that’s not the right fit for this town."
Harp first interviewed with KSHB 41 last week ahead of a contentious city council meeting, where folks turned out to express their concerns. The data center was not on the agenda.
Harp lives adjacent to the proposed data center site.
"I never really had a home. I kind of moved constantly as a child. My goal was to have one home for my kids to come back always," Harp said last week. "This is not only important for me, but there are so many people in this area that will be affected by this, people in the city that will be affected by this."
Harp has lived in his home along Osawatomie Road since 2002. He moved from Olathe to live a quiet life with his family. As a proud father of two recent college graduates, he fears his boys won't have a place to come home to if a data center is built behind his property.
Harp and his son spoke during public comment, which was limited to one hour and five minutes per speaker. The duo, alongside others, expressed concerns about water, the environment, noise and light pollution, and undelivered jobs.
The city auditorium was packed with people who turned out to hear what their neighbors had to say.
Lee Brewer, who lives in Osawatomie, expressed his concern with KSHB 41 News ahead of the meeting.
"I think we need a new city council after this," Brewer said. "If we end up with a data center, it’s gonna hurt us so bad. I think we need a new city council."
Gamboa asked Hampson about the folks in town who would attempt to unseat him and his council colleagues.
"If that’s what the community chooses and that’s the direction they go, Ryan, that’s the direction the community goes. That’s not necessarily what I want," Hampson said. "I believe if we were to blindly turn opportunities down that are presenting themselves to us, that would be just as good a reason to vote us out."
Even famed "Yellowstone" actor and Miami County resident Mo Brings Plenty turned out to share his concerns in public comment.
"If these data centers are so safe, then why are the people that are investing in them putting them so far away from themselves?" Brings Plenty said.
Gamboa also took to Facebook to ask residents what questions they would like him to ask the mayor.
Zach Strong replied to Gamboa's post, "What does this Data Center mean for the local and county wide farmers that have made this community what it is? What does this mean for their future? How will it affect them?"
Hampson responded that the benefit would be potential property tax relief.
Another man, who wished to stay unnamed at the petition gathering on Wednesday, wanted Gamboa to ask Hampson, "If you have signed an NDA (nondisclosure agreement) and if he planned to? If he does, would he tell the citizens that he did, and if anyone else in city offices have done it?"
"Yeah, I would tell you if I signed an NDA," Hampson said. "I have not signed an NDA, and I have no intentions of signing an NDA."
The final question Gamboa asked Hampson before the interview came from Harp.
"Why this town?" he asked.
"I see the developer [has] probably seen the needs our town has for the benefit, for the financial benefit, for the growth benefit," Hampson said. "Other than why specifically Osawatomie, I couldn't tell you why Osawatomie was chosen by Alcove and their people as a potential spot for a data center. I don't know. They chose us, and we're entertaining the prospect of doing it."
Harp and his team of volunteers have already collected near 90% of the signatures needed, but they intend to work to collect 1,000 by the end of the week.
The group is gathering in John Brown Park under an awning from 12–8 p.m. For your signature to qualify, you must live within the city limits of Osawatomie, Kansas.
Hampson also said the city is still nailing down a date for a public town hall on the project.
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