Palo to host town hall Tuesday amidst data center questions

The city of Palo, Iowa, is holding a town hall meeting on Tuesday, March 24, at 6:00 p.m. in the Palo Community Center gym. The meeting aims to address community questions regarding Google's intent to annex property into city limits for the construction of a new data center. The property, currently located in unincorporated Linn County, is central to Google's strategy to bypass a newly approved county ordinance. The Linn County Board of Supervisors had spent seven months developing this ordinance, which was finalized in February. It mandates detailed studies on water usage, sourcing, and impact from developers, as well as agreements covering water use, setbacks, lighting, noise limits, traffic, and road use. Board of Supervisors Chair Kirsten Running-Marquardt previously reported that Google indicated a need for 12 million gallons of water per day for cooling servers, which would be drawn from the Cedar River. Palo Mayor Bryan Busch has stated he will not comment on the matter before the meeting but assured residents via Facebook that the city values transparency and direct communication, acknowledging that it is