Columbia County chair candidates discuss data centers, growth, traffic at library forum
Columbia County chair candidates Cambrey Wood and Alison Couch debated data center development, growth and traffic at a public forum. Couch defended a 3,000-acre data center approved for the Appling-Harlem area and opposed another project near Pumpkin Center, while Wood criticized the tax incentives and the county’s expected financial return.
Democrat Cambrey Wood and Republican Alison Couch, candidates for Columbia County chair, discussed data center development and broader growth issues at a forum held at the Columbia County Library. Couch, who previously served as an Appling-Harlem commissioner, said she supported the White Oak data center in an industrial park and helped develop the county’s data center zoning ordinance.
Couch opposed a separate project in Pumpkin Center because of its proximity to a neighborhood and said the county does not need additional data centers beyond those already approved. Wood also criticized the project and argued that tax incentives would leave billions of dollars on the table over 25 years, providing too little benefit to residents. The candidates also debated traffic, infrastructure and how to manage residential growth in the county.