Salix City Council Votes Down Data Center Moratorium
The Salix, Iowa City Council voted down a one-year moratorium on data centers, despite public support. This decision relates to a potential data center project involving MidAmerican Energy and Google on 900 annexed acres. The city is also facing a legal challenge from Woodbury County regarding the annexation, and the land requires rezoning for the project to proceed.
The Salix City Council in Iowa recently rejected a proposed one-year moratorium on data center development, with the measure failing on a 3-2 vote. This decision comes after the city had previously annexed 900 acres of farmland for a potential data center project involving Google and MidAmerican Energy. Council Member Denise Burkhart, who initially supported the moratorium, changed her vote after Google was identified as the potential customer.
Tensions escalated during the meeting following the vote, prompting Mayor Kevin Nelson to call for order. The meeting itself had been delayed by a week due to death and terroristic threats received by city officials on social media. Adding to the complexity, Salix is currently facing a legal challenge from Woodbury County concerning the city's annexation of the nearly 900 acres, and the annexed land would still require rezoning before any data center development could proceed.