Pitt County Residents Request Data Center Moratorium; County to Review Ordinance

During a Pitt County Board of Commissioners meeting, residents voiced significant concerns regarding data center development, advocating for a moratorium on new facilities within the county. Hunter Reynolds specifically cited potential issues such as water pollution and increased electrical costs, pointing to incidents like power outages in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, attributed to data centers. Reynolds also questioned the ethical implications of using local resources to support AI development reliant on these facilities.

In response to growing interest, County Manager Janis Gallagher stated that county staff had intended to review the existing ordinance for modular data processing centers at the same meeting. However, this review was postponed due to the absence of Commissioner Melvin McLawhorn, who had requested the discussion, and is now scheduled for October.

While data center discussions were prominent during the public input section, the main agenda item of the meeting involved the authorization for a new $47.7 million county administration building. Architect John Farkas of JKF Architecture presented detailed plans and bid estimates for the 82,740-square-foot structure, with an optimistic outlook on the current construction bid market. The project aims to start soliciting bids around October 10 and has a tentative completion date of early July 2028. Commissioners Mary Perkins-Williams, Benji Holloman, Mark Smith, Gary Weaver, Ann Floyd Huggins, and Mac Manning approved the motion to proceed with soliciting construction proposals.