The Cass County Board of Commissioners and the Cass County Planning Commission are planning a joint informational session on data centers to help local government leaders better prepare for such developments.
Cass County marketing manager Ambrosia Neldon tells us there have been questions about a potential project in the northern part of the county, and although the county doesn’t have oversight of data centers, it does have the expertise to offer insight to locals.
“Because our local municipalities have had a lot of experience in dealing with other contentious issues like solar farms and marijuana and things like that, they looked up to the next level of government and said, what do we do? What resources do you have? So this is our response,” Neldon said.
Neldon says the meeting set for next month will be a chance for municipal leaders to get answers to big questions so they can better serve their residents.
“We understand that each township is unique and has to make its own decisions based on the needs of its residents and the lands that they have. So we’re just giving them resources in order to develop whatever framework it is that they think is necessary for their community.”
Although the session is intended for government officials, it will be open to the public. It will be led by Dr. Sarah Mills of the University of Michigan, an expert in energy policy and land use planning in rural communities.
“She’s like the expert in the whole state. She’s traveling around the state giving presentations like these, and I had the opportunity to sit in a webinar through the Michigan Association of Planners with her last week and I got a little taste of what this is going to be like. So I think she’s going to give some education as far as what data centers are, what data centers aren’t, and how there’s a whole variety of scale and scope.”
Neldon says as data centers get more attention around Michigan and the rest of the country, Cass County wants to get in front of the issue.
“We want to prepare our local officials with the information they need to respond to the questions they’re getting from their residents. I think this is a very hot button issue right now that a lot of people are really upset about. So hopefully we’ll be able to do some myth busting or confirming.”
The session will be at 5 p.m. on March 26 in the Cass County Commission Chambers with a livestream available. Government officials interested in attending can register right here.
