Miami County Commission considers pause on data center construction

By: Ryan Gamboa

KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Ryan has extensively covered issues in Miami County and Osawatomie. If you have a story to share, you can reach out to Ryan. He is happy to hear your voice. Share your story idea with Ryan.

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The ongoing data center discussion in rural Miami County, Kan., has prompted county commissioners to consider a temporary halt on similar projects while they study potential impacts on residents and infrastructure.

Miami County Commission considers pause on data center construction

The debate follows Osawatomie's predevelopment agreement last month with Alcove Development for a 600,000-square-foot, $1 billion data center.

Osawatomie Data Center, Miami County, Kansas — KSHB 41 obtained preliminary renderings of a potential 600,000 square foot, $1 billion data center project in rural Osawatomie, Kansas.

Concerned residents shared their concerns to the Miami County Commission on Wednesday, expressing fears about rising utility costs and quality of life impacts.

"You're gonna see utilities increase with electric and water in a place that's increased already," said Alaric Bogle, a concerned Miami County resident.

For residents like Elizabeth Grosskreutz, a single mother from Osawatomie, every dollar counts when making a grocery list.

She worries about how a data center might squeeze her already tight budget.

"I stretch every penny," Grosskreutz said.

When asked if she could handle an increase in electric bills, Grosskreutz was clear: "No, it would be detrimental."

Grosskreutz said rising electric bills have already hit her family. She fears what might happen to her community if costs continue to climb.

"It dies. Ultimately it dies," Grosskreutz said when asked what happens to the town. "Until the death comes, nobody really sees it coming."

She believes the community lacks the resources to support such a large project, pointing to past water struggles and the need for a grocery store in town.

"Let's focus on getting a grocery store stabilized here before jumping into something like this. It's very risky," Grosskreutz said.

The Osawatomie project would sit on 115 acres north of the town of about 4,000 residents.

The three-year contract gives Alcove Development priority for surveying the land with exclusive development rights.

The city agreed to provide one million gallons of water and 150 megawatts of power per day, along with a 50% property tax abatement for 10 years, which the end user would purchase from the city.

That would ultimately create a revenue stream for the city.

City Manager Bret Glendening has said the project could bring significant property tax relief to residents, as 80% of Osawatomie's current tax revenue comes from residential properties.

The data center would employ 60 to 90 full-time workers once it's built and operating. It's estimated there would be up to 350 construction jobs during the two-year building phase.

However, residents like Jacob Ginsberg worry about utility costs and property values.

"They're willing to sell out people for a data center. Between light pollution, water consumption and electricity, I'm worried about my utility bills," Ginsberg said. "It's gonna be like living next to Chiefs stadium with it being lit up all the time."

Presiding Commissioner George Pretz acknowledged he "knew enough to be dangerous about data centers" and asked his colleagues at Wednesday's commission meeting to consider a moratorium on data centers, solar arrays, wind farms and battery storage facilities in unincorporated areas of the county.

The proposed moratorium, which will be drafted and presented to the commission in the coming weeks, would pause future offers while the county studies regulations and potential impacts on residents.

Pretz said commissioners are trying to determine whether data centers represent "a chance of a lifetime or is it gonna affect our livelihood."

The Miami County, Kansas Commission will consider a moratorium on data centers and other projects in the coming weeks.

"There could be some good aspects, additional valuation, additional property tax and relief on houses having to pay so much property tax, but not knowing everything involved with a data center — I wanted to take a timeout and get better educated and analyze it," Pretz said.

The commissioner said data centers are a hot topic nationwide and statewide, but local governments appear to be on their own to make decisions about these facilities.

"We're listening to the citizens and all their concerns and what they're bringing up. There's pros and cons, we're trying to weight that out," Pretz said.

Questions remain about noise levels, water usage and impacts on the electric grid.

Pretz noted that data centers typically locate where infrastructure already exists.

"I believe data centers have to go where there is infrastructure, where they can get water, where they can get electricity, they have available land," Pretz said. "So, it must be around cities."

City of Osawatomie Solar Site in conjunction with Evergy.

While the county cannot override Osawatomie's decisions as an autonomous city, Pretz said commissioners want to work with all municipalities for the good of the whole county.

Pretz said the county will diver deeper into private property owner's rights to ensure that there's no crossing a line with the moratorium.

Miami County Data Center — Residents in Osawatomie, Kansas are responding to a pre-development agreement for a $1 billion data center.

This includes respecting the city of Osawatomie's right's to govern projects on city-owned land.

"As elected officials, we will always look at everything, but at the same time, we will listen to the citizens and their concerns. It's a real balance," Pretz said.

The moratorium could last a year or two while the county develops proper regulations and zoning codes for data centers, similar to a moratorium placed on solar and wind projects two years ago.

"These are things coming at us and we just gotta prepare and move forward," Pretz explained.

A moratorium could go before the commission in the next two weeks. Residents will be able to share their input.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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Miami County Commission considers pause on data center construction following nearby $1B proposal

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