Conway meeting draws crowd demanding answers on proposed AI data center near Lollie Road

Conway residents recently packed a city council meeting, demanding answers about a proposed billion-dollar AI data center slated for construction near Lollie Road. The meeting, which was capped at 80 attendees, saw many residents voice concerns over the project's transparency, its demands on local infrastructure, and the tax incentives tied to the development.

Jeremy Rice, a resident living 500 feet from the proposed site, highlighted that he has been asking questions about the project for over a year without receiving satisfactory answers. The roughly 300,000-square-foot data center campus is tied to an unnamed Fortune 100 company and would be built on land recently zoned for heavy industrial use. Concerns were raised about the significant power and cooling infrastructure needed, with Conway Corp, the city's power and water provider, currently assessing its capacity to support the project. Conway Corp indicated it plans to use treated wastewater for cooling, not drinking water.

A Memorandum of Understanding for the project includes a 65% tax abatement for 30 years for the undisclosed company, in exchange for investment and approximately 50 jobs. Residents questioned the benefits to Conway, while city officials noted that, like all major economic development projects, this one is still speculative due to economic conditions and power availability, which could lead to delays.