Concerns raised over possible data center

Name: Concerns raised over possible data center
Uploaded: 2026-05-14T03:46:23.000Z
Duration: 2 min 20 s
Description: Residents in Salix, Iowa, raised concerns at a town hall meeting about a possible data center development on 900 acres of recently annexed agricultural land. While city officials confirmed no rezoning applications have been filed for a data center, residents are pushing for the topic to be added to the next city council agenda for discussion.

News Clip2:20KCAU-TV Sioux City·Salix, Woodbury County, IA·5/14/2026

Residents in Salix, Iowa, raised concerns at a town hall meeting about a possible data center development on 900 acres of recently annexed agricultural land. While city officials confirmed no rezoning applications have been filed for a data center, residents are pushing for the topic to be added to the next city council agenda for discussion.

zoningoppositiongovernment

Gov: Salix City Council, John Hines, Kevin Nelson

Residents of Salix, Iowa, expressed significant concerns at a recent town hall meeting regarding the potential development of a data center on 900 acres of land recently annexed by the city. Despite the large turnout and public interest, city officials, including City Attorney John Hines and Mayor Kevin Nelson, stated that no applications for rezoning or development related to a data center have been submitted for the annexed property, which currently remains zoned for agricultural use.

Mayor Nelson confirmed that the city council unanimously approved six or seven voluntary annexation requests in March, and the properties remain under agricultural zoning. However, due to the absence of the data center topic on the evening's agenda, council members were legally unable to discuss the speculative project, leaving many attendees unsatisfied.

One concerned resident vocalized frustration, stating, "We're all dancing around this here. Are they building the data center next to us out here or not? I want to know." Residents ultimately requested that the potential data center development be officially placed on the agenda for the next City Council meeting, scheduled for the second Wednesday of each month, indicating ongoing community engagement on the issue.