Shalersville Township Board of Trustees hosts Bitdeer for public forum
The Shalersville Township Board of Trustees hosted Bitdeer for a public forum to discuss plans for an AI data center. Residents expressed skepticism while Bitdeer detailed benefits, noise mitigation, and utility plans. The Township previously placed a six-month moratorium on data center construction and changed zoning to require conditional use for such facilities, which was recently extended.
The Shalersville Township Board of Trustees convened a public forum where representatives from Bitdeer, a global infrastructure and data center company, presented their proposal for an artificial intelligence data center in Shalersville. Prior to the presentation, Trustee Ron Kotkowski moved to establish a citizen's advisory committee for the project, with himself as chairperson. Board Chairman Frank Ruehr Jr. noted that the Board had previously reclassified data centers as a conditional use and implemented a six-month moratorium on their construction in November 2025, which the Zoning Commission recently recommended extending for another six months to gather more information.
Bitdeer Chairman Paul Hanson highlighted the company's $300 million investment in a Massillon data center, which created over 50 local jobs, and projected 150-200 jobs for the Shalersville facility. Attorney Lenny Asaro of Taft Stettinius & Hollister, representing Bitdeer, affirmed the company's commitment to comply with Shalersville Township's zoning conditions, emphasizing that Bitdeer would bear all infrastructure and public utility upgrade costs. Brendan Kline, Vice President of Design at Geis Companies, detailed a two-phase development plan, including two initial 53,000-square-foot technology centers south of Beck Road, with a focus on noise mitigation and landscaping. Engineer Kevin Noble of Scheeser Buckley Mayfield outlined the data center's closed-loop water cooling system, estimating a daily water usage of 3,000 gallons, comparable to a school. Jeremy Scahns, Bitdeer Project Manager, presented research on electromagnetic fields (EMF) at their Massillon facility, showing readings well below safety limits.
Tony Clark, President of Great Oaks Engineered Solutions, reiterated that Bitdeer would cover all infrastructure costs, including transmission lines, without impacting taxpayer or ratepayer electric bills, which are regulated by PJM Interconnection and the Public Utilities Commissions of Ohio. He assured that the facility would have fully redundant backup generators. Eric Heis, Bitdeer Associate Director of Public Affairs, cited community benefits from the Massillon facility, including job creation and STEM partnerships. He emphasized that Bitdeer was not seeking state or community incentives and would contribute to local tax revenues. The Board is set to reconvene on July 7 for its next meeting after two hours of questions from a skeptical audience of Portage County residents.