Salix, Iowa Council Clears Path for Google Data Center
The Salix City Council voted to rescind any data-center moratorium and approved an agreement with Google for a potential data center. Google will fund up to $150,000 in independent studies of impacts on water, wastewater, traffic, noise and wildlife, while Woodbury County is challenging Salix's annexation of the proposed site.
The Salix City Council voted 3-2 to clarify that no moratorium on data-center construction remains in effect and then approved a memorandum of understanding with Google. Under the agreement, Google will reimburse the city for independent advisers studying the potential project's effects on water and wastewater systems, traffic, noise, and threatened and endangered species, with payments capped at $150,000. Google also said it would not draw cooling water from the Dakota Aquifer.
The proposed facility remains speculative. No rezoning or development application had been filed, and the landowners had not sold the nearly 900-acre annexed site to Google, MidAmerican Energy or another party. Woodbury County is seeking judicial review of Salix's annexation, while residents have raised concerns about electricity and water consumption, noise, and environmental pollution. Salix intends to develop its own data-center ordinance as it considers the project's next steps.