On Wednesday, the Menomonie Mayor doubled down on Wisconsin Public Radio and doubled down on his stance on the stoppage of the project.
During last week Monday’s city council meeting, Mayor Randy Knaack announced that he would be drafting a memo alerting Balloonist LLC of the suspension of their data center project.
Initially, the land Balloonist wished to build on had a zoning restriction, and was blocked by community members due to environmental concerns. (RELATED: Crime Stats in Question: Suspects Misclassified as White Across U.S.)
“For now, I’m not willing to negotiate a development agreement or TID district information,” Knaack said at the meeting. “It’s a tough decision, maybe, but on the other hand it’s something I had to do to have faith in myself that I could make good decisions for the city of Menomonie.”
Knaack was met with immediate pushback even from council members who believed that the decision put the deal in jeopardy.
Ward 9 City Council member Sydney Brennan called Knaack’s leadership “deplorable” and “disappointing”, and made a motion to pass a resolution of “no confidence” in Mayor Knaack.
The proponents of the project argue the center provides millions of tax dollars for the cities and possible jobs created. (RELATED: Boston BLM Activist Plans To Plead Guilty Ahead of 27 Counts of Fraud)
The motion could not officially be voted on because it was not in the meeting’s agenda for the day.
Mayor Knaack is citing high uncertainty and legally binding NDA’s during his interview with Wisconsin Public Radio.
“Basically, NDRs and NDAs and things of that nature are pretty common business for cities and general business as it is. But there is a concern that more of the community members wanted to know more about this data center. And we are trying to be as forthright as possible to let the community know what’s going on at City Hall,” said Knaack.
Across the country, local municipalities are pushing back against data centers in their cities and towns, citing increased utility costs and pressure on environmental resources.
