Shawnee County wants outside help to vet data centers

Shawnee County Commissioners Kevin Cook and Bill Riphahn recently approved a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for an engineering firm. This firm's role will be to provide crucial engineering services for the review of zoning, land use, and development applications specifically for data centers within Shawnee County, Kansas.

Shawnee County Counselor Rich Eckert emphasized the necessity of external expertise, stating that the firm would help determine the appropriateness of data center locations, evaluate technical application details, and ensure compliance with conditional use permits and building codes. Eckert noted that while the county mirrors Topeka's building code, it lacks its own inspectors, a gap the new firm would fill. The selected firm would report directly to the county, acting as their client, with the costs borne by the data center applicants.

The county had previously raised permit fees from $7,000 to $15,000 on July 3, aiming to create a cost recovery structure for applications involving solar facilities, data centers, and energy storage systems. The firm chosen would be prohibited from having current data center clients to prevent conflicts of interest and would also be able to bring in sub-contractors for specialized expertise, such as noise assessments.