KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.
—
Neighbors near a proposed $1 billion data center in Osawatomie, Kansas, say changes to the public comment process ahead of a developer question-and-answer session this week are leaving them feeling shut out.
City officials say the new format is meant to give more residents a chance to be heard.
Alcove Development will have a presentation on the proposed project and take questions at a special Osawatomie City Council meeting Thursday, June 25, 2026.
The meeting will be held at the gymnasium at Osawatomie Middle School, 428 Pacific Avenue.
The format includes several changes residents should know about before attending:
- Public comments are limited to 3 minutes. Speakers must sign up in advance by emailing their name and address to citymanager@osawatomieks.org by 12 p.m. Wednesday, June 24, 2026. Priority will be given to Osawatomie residents, though all are welcome to sign up and speak as time allows.
- Questions for the Alcove Development team must also be submitted in advance. Residents should email their name, address, and question to citymanager@osawatomieks.org by 12 p.m. Wednesday, June 24, 2026. Submitted questions will be organized by category and read aloud during the Q&A portion by the mayor or another member of the governing body.
Donna Ingram, who lives near the proposed project site, is a county resident, and opposes the data center.
She said the process has been frustrating to watch.
"Watching this process play out is disheartening," Ingram said.
Ingram said she wants to see specific numbers showing how residents and the county would benefit from the project.
"The concern is this small, rural area of a lot of retirees and people will turn into a giant Fairfax on steroids," Ingram explained.
Ingram said a town hall that was promised never materialized, and she does not consider Thursday's meeting to be a substitute. The developer will speak and share a presentation during the city of Osawatomie's regular city council meeting.
"A town hall was promised that didn't come to fruition." she said. "I don't believe it's the definition. This is a city council meeting. We're the ones that are gonna live next to it. We're the ones that live in the path of the infrastructure."
The new rules — which give city residents priority to speak and require questions to be submitted in advance — drew sharp criticism from Ingram, who said the timing of the changes is not lost on her.
"For me, that's muzzling, that's censoring and muzzling," Ingram added.
City Manager Bret Glendening pushed back on that characterization, saying the format change was not driven by Alcove's appearance at the meeting.
"The format is changing, not because Alcove is showing up, but because the format needs to be changed," Glendening said in an email on Monday. "To date, MOST of the public comment has come from the same individuals living in the county (some of whom don't live anywhere close to the project), and our governing body wants to hear from the residents of the city."
Glendening said public comment time was shortened from 5 minutes to 3 minutes to allow more people to speak, and he said the change would remain in place going forward.
KSHB 41 has attended and reported on numerous city council meetings involving data center proposals, and other nearby communities have not limited public comment, often going late into the night.
Glendening also addressed the question of who should have the most say in the project's future, noting that city residents pay both city and county property taxes, while county residents do not pay city property taxes.
"So, who should have more say in this matter? The residents who are paying more than 30% more annually in property taxes to maintain public infrastructure in both the city AND the county, or those county residents who don't want their country scenery to change?" Glendening wrote in the email. "Half of the subject property has been zoned industrial for more than 20 years. Should we turn down the largest economic development prospect because a handful of people are against change?"
Mayor Nick Hampson, in an email, said the city is still giving all residents an opportunity to participate.
"We have been and will continue to hear from the residents that are in the county and closest to this project," he said. "They also can submit questions and continue to speak at the meetings."
Mayor Hampson said he received complaints from city residents who felt they were not getting a chance to speak.
"I hope that we can have a productive town hall meeting," he said in an earlier June interview with Gamboa.
Project Catalyst is a proposal by Alcove Development to build a data center in Osawatomie.
Developers and city leaders have said the project, valued at $1 billion, would provide significant property tax relief to city residents.
The proposal has drawn months of public opposition, primarily from county residents living near the project site, who have raised concerns about the impact on the area's rural character and quality of life.
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.
—
