KANSAS CITY, Mo. — 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.
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A video shared by a viewer shows a resident speaking at the Osawatomie, Kansas, City Council meeting being escorted out by police on Thursday evening.
The video shows a man holding a "Hell No Alcove" sign while commenting on a blighted property that, according to public records, is owned by Pacific Apartments, LLC, operating out of the same address as Alcove Development in Lawrence, Kansas.
Alcove Development is behind the effort to build a $1 billion, 283-acre data center development in Osawatomie's northland property.
The video, shared by a viewer, shows two law enforcement officers approaching the individual, who is Lee Brewer, at the podium, after he begins yelling, as the crowd joins in behind him. Lee Brewer reached out to KSHB 41 News late Thursday night, identifying himself as the person who was escorted out.
Osawatomie, Kansas, Police Chief Dave Stutteville is seen in the video also approaching the man.
KSHB 41 Miami County reporter Ryan Gamboa reached out to the Police Chief and Mayor Nick Hampson for comment late Thursday night and is waiting on a response.
Residents in contact with Gamboa who attended the meeting said it was still in session after 9:30 p.m.
Thursday night's meeting was the city and Alcove Development's attempt to share the potential benefits of a data center for the community.
Gamboa has long covered the data center project in Osawatomie, Kansas, and neighbors have voiced their opposition to the proposed development.
This is the first time Alcove Development has approached the public, but not the first time it has worked with the city of Osawatomie.
In late 2025, Alcove Development approached the city with the project, and weeks later, a pre-development agreement was signed, giving Alcove exclusive rights to the development for three years.
But city council meeting records from 2023 show that the city of Osawatomie entered into a pre-development agreement with Alcove Development to redevelop a property known as Old Swenson School.
Alcove Development had six months to assess the property's condition and determine a course of action for redevelopment, and the overall agreement would last 18 months, according to public records.
The pre-development agreement states that Alcove would consider requesting tax breaks for the project, including using the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.
At the time, the property had sat in disrepair since 2016, according to the records, and was frequently found in violation of city code.
If the redevelopment were to fall through, the city would be on the hook to purchase the property from the developer for $25,000, with the total cost of infrastructure improvements unclear.
KSHB 41 will follow up on the status of this project at a later date.
Earlier this week, Gamboa sat down with Donna Ingram, who doesn't live far from the data center site.
Ingram expressed concerns about the amount of infrastructure that would be built to operate a data center and how it might overtake the land around her home.
She expressed concerns because the City of Osawatomie changed the public comment guidelines of a promise town hall with the developer.
"Watching this process play out is disheartening," Ingram said in an interview on Monday. "A town hall was promised that didn't come to fruition... I don't believe it's the definition. This is a city council meeting. We're the ones who are gonna live next to it. We're the ones that live in the path of the infrastructure."
The city told KSHB 41 in a statement Monday that they changed the format to prioritize the voices of city taxpayers, as county taxpayers have dominated the public comment periods over the past couple of months.
Mayor Nick Hampson also told Gamboa in an earlier interview that he hoped to have a productive "town hall." Instead, the first meeting with the public and the developer of the project was during a formal, regularly scheduled city council meeting.
The city also required residents to submit questions ahead of time, and the city would filter them to the developer, while limiting public comment to 3 minutes.
"We have been and will continue to hear from the residents that are in the county and closest to this project," Hampson told KSHB 41 in an email on Monday.
Residents shared a record to KSHB 41, submitted to the city for a formal investigation into 1009 Pacific Ave. in Osawatomie, which is owned by a company operating out of Alcove Development's address.
The dilapidated property is the site of a former schoolhouse, which sits with broken windows, and other parts of the building breaking down.
The Miami County Republic reported on Thursday that the city launched an investigation into the building.
Residents cite the building's deteriorating condition and potential danger to the public, and lack of property maintenance.
Lee Brewer issued a comment regarding the incident at Thursday night's meeting, stating he was escorted out after the Mayor closed public comment and that he was not on the list.
Brewer told KSHB 41 that he has a time-stamped email of pre-submitted questions ahead of the meeting. KSHB 41 asked Brewer to review the email, and the screenshot shows an email submitted on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, at 10:26 a.m. — over an hour before the submission deadline.
According to the city's website, the rules for speaking at the meeting are outlined as follows:
- 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.
The submission deadline on the city's website was 12 p.m., and email records indicate Brewer submitted within the time frame. He maintains that his email submission was within the time frame to speak at the meeting and that it followed the city's guidelines by submitting his name and address, along with a voter registration card.
"I am severely disappointed in our Mayor and the city council. They told us we were required to send in an email with our questions and our address to prove we were citizens of the town by Wednesday the 24th at noon. I have my email which is timestamped at 10:26 a.m. Wednesday the 24th. They shut me down and first told me I didn't put the email in and then once I was kicked out of there I was told by people coming out that they were told I turned in my email too late. I'm not a math teacher but last time I looked at my clock 10:26 a.m. falls just over an hour and a half before noon. I mean correct me if I'm wrong. I thought because the mayor and I were having decent conversations on Facebook Messenger, whereas I would ask him questions and he would answer to the best of his ability. And I would thank him I thought we were pretty cordial. So to basically call me a liar in front of the entire town on video recording, take away my freedom of speech My first amendment right, and have me removed from a public building was completely wrong I am very disappointed in our city council and mayor. When I approached the podium all I was trying to do was point out that resolution number 1169 in Osawatomie Kansas refers to Alcove development LLC being the owner of the old Swenson School at 1009 Pacific. As I pointed out in these earlier messages to you Alcove has left this building dilapidated in ruins and a danger to our community. Our great city council and mayor seem to have other plans for me being able to speak though."
City manager Bret Glendening submitted a response to Gamboa on Friday morning regarding Thursday night's meeting. Glendening also confirmed the receipt of Brewer's email.
"Mr. Brewer elected not to follow the rules," Glendening wrote in an email. "Everyone was told on the agenda and on social media, the following two things: 1.) If you wish to speak during public comment, email the city and sign up. 2.) If you have questions for the developer, email the questions to the city to get the questions on the list."
Brewer also took it a step further in his email response in the email record that Glendening supplied to KSHB 41, by adding his voter registration card to his email submission.
Glendening goes on to add in his response that Brewer submitted 20 questions, which he claims were identical to another resident's questions.
"Mr. Brewer wanted to make himself the center of attention in order to take that attention away from the development and the opportunity it presents not only for the City of Osawatomie, but Miami County and our school district," Glendening added in his email response.
KSHB 41 reached out to Alcove Development and received a response regarding Thursday's meeting.
We are grateful for the opportunity to present Project Catalyst to the Osawatomie City Council and community Thursday evening. The conversation was an important first step, and we look forward to more engagement as the project moves through the city's application and approval process. We remain committed to open, transparent dialogue with residents and city leadership at every stage.
Project Catalyst represents one of the most significant economic development opportunities in Miami County history. At full build-out, the proposed data center campus would generate $30M+ in annual revenues for the City of Osawatomie, $10M+ for Miami County, and $10M+ for the Osawatomie School District, with minimal demand on city services. The 283-acre site has been designated for industrial development for more than 20 years. If approved, the project would create jobs during construction and permanent jobs in operations and technology upon completion. The dialogue we started Thursday night is just the beginning – we look forward to many more conversations with residents and city leaders.
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