KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Cass County in Missouri and Miami County in Kansas. He also covers agricultural topics. Neighbors in Gardner reached out to Ryan to share their story. If you have a concern you'd like to share send an email to Ryan.Gamboa@kshb.com. Ryan would love to follow up with you. Share your story idea with Ryan.
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There was quite the gathering Wednesday afternoon outside Morning Grange near West 191st Street and South Clare Road in Gardner.
This comes after the city of Gardner announced a pair of information listening sessions for a hyperscale data center proposal.
"One big building like that will probably eventually lead to another one," said 60-year Gardner resident Phil Boan. "It’s just not what we signed up for, that’s not what I want for my grandkids to grow up in. I know it’s not what my parents set out for."
There are four generations of Boan family members near the intersection. Phil's daughter, Nacole, helped organize a gathering of about 30 friends and neighbors to show support for one another as they prepare for another data center battle in rural Johnson County.
"What this demonstrates is the power of the rural community of neighbors looking out for neighbors," Nacole Boan said.
Gardner City Administrator Jim Pruetting told KSHB 41 News Reporter Ryan Gamboa the city is reviewing an application and comment stage of the proposed development.
"At this point, it is premature to determine whether the development is or is not right for Gardner," Pruetting wrote in an email.
According to Beale Infrastructure's website, there's a landing page for the proposed data center development.
"The project is expected to become one of Johnson Countyʼs most significant private investments, strengthening the local tax base while placing relatively limited demand on public services," the website states.
The hyperscale data center campus would include a long-term build out, with up to 16 data halls across multiple buildings on approximately 300 acres of land.
According to the company's website, Evergy will provide energy services.
Beale Infrastructure touts that this project would be among the largest private infrastructure investments in Johnson County.
For neighbors that live nearby, any tax benefits and economic developments this project could bring is not what they're looking for.
"There is nothing that will benefit us, if that data center is there. There is nothing," Cari Hamilton, a cattle rancher who lives across the street from the proposed site. "As a rancher, as a woman of Kansas Agriculture, there is not benefit to that building, to that site being in front of us, none."
The concerns neighbors brought up Wednesday weren't far off from what KSHB 41 has heard in other communities — noise and light pollution, impacts to utility bills, a decrease in property values and dangers to school children.
While Evergy will be responsible for providing this project's energy, KSHB 41 News Reporter Isabella Ledonne, shed light on an energy tariff Evergy created to ensure minimal users won't be impacted by heavy energy users. Evergy also stated that utility rates have not increased in Missouri and Kansas to rates increases in other states.
"Evergy prices in Kansas and Missouri have been stable in recent years. Evergy rates today are about 4.8% percent higher than in 2017 (an increase of well less than 1% a year), compared to an increase in inflation of about 29% during the past eight years," the Evergy spokesperson said in an email.
Neighbors still fear they'll lose what they've built in their community for generations and what the next generation will be left to live with.
"When people move here, they become part of the community," Phil Boan said. "The progess that we want out here, or maybe we expected, would be housing or maybe things like that, not an industrial-type growth."
About a month ago, KSHB 41 News Reporter Ryan Gamboa consistently reported on a data center battle in Spring Hill, Kansas. Pushback from KSHB 41's reporting and neighbors forced the city to rethink the development consideration.
"It started off as a small tornado and we've built it into a huge one," Lindsay Museousky, a Spring Hill neighbor told Gamboa in March. "I'm begging strangers, they're not comfortable being on camera. Well, neither am I, but if you want this, we have to fight together."
This Gardner data center proposal may have nothing to do with the city of Spring Hill, but the Gardner proposal is a 10-minute drive west from where the Spring Hill proposal was located.
"It's so scary," Hamilton said.
"These kinds of developments can be stopped, we have seen success right down the road in communities just like ours, the make-up is the exact same. It’s not too late to use that voice to do that," Nacole Boan added.
KSHB 41 reached out to the developer with a list of questions.
Beale Infrastructure said renderings for the site are still in progress and will be presented at the May 26 Planning Commission meeting. It's unclear what the funding mechanism will be for the entire project.
"The Gardner Data Center Project is still in the early planning phases. As planned, the data center will create enormous economic activity, and provide transformative funding to local schools – without adding demand on existing municipal services," the spokesperson wrote in an email. "Beale will fund all required infrastructure upgrades necessary for the project, including all roadway, water and electrical infrastructure improvements."
The Beale spokesperson went on to add, "Our development philosophy at Beale is 'Community First.' We strive to work with local leaders and community stakeholders to identify organizations where our support can make a meaningful difference, and we have already started working with local groups on partnerships."
Beale Infrastructure will hold one in-person informational session on Wednesday, May 13 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Wheatridge Middle School in Gardner.
An additional virtual meeting will be held on Friday, May 15, at 10:00 am.
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