Protesters against proposed Fort Meade data center gather outside city hall
FORT MEADE, Fla. - There were about a dozen protesters outside Fort Meade City Hall on Thursday ready to show they are not backing down, and they want a proposed data center project to be canceled.
"It's not good," said Kimberly Edmond, a Polk County woman against the project. "It'll create all kinds of health issues. And I just think the data center's a no-go."
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The group was backed up by quite a few cars and trucks driving by honking in support of their mission.
What we know:
The data center will have eight buildings and will be 4.4 million square feet each. The total area for the facility is more than 1,000 acres.
Stonebridge is developing this project, and some are concerned about the noise this massive facility will produce.
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What they're saying:
Raul Alfonso, who only lives 3.5 miles away, is against the project.
"The low-frequency sounds are enough to do damage and drive people away," Alfonso said. "And it is right, it's surrounded on three sides by green zone preservation for wildlife."
Other concerns are environmental and health related. Agustin Lozan also lives in Fort Meade and is against the project.
"They're not thinking about what's really going to happen to people's health and the environment at the end of the day," Lozan said.
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"It's a development that isn't worth the water they're going to use when we're in droughts now," Alfonso said.
The other side:
Fort Meade Mayor Jaret Landon Williams said this project has benefits. The city will still earn property tax revenue despite a time-limited agreement that reduces or eliminates property taxes at the county level.
Current projections sit at $33 million in tax revenue in 2028 once the first building is completed, which increases to $138 million in yearly revenue by 2032 with all eight buildings.
"There are tons of benefits to these tax dollars that will be received from property taxes, etc., to address a lot of the infrastructure challenges that we are having in our beautiful, you know, 175-year-old city," Williams said.
The backstory:
During a presentation last month, developers with Stonebridge tried to ease concerns.
They said they will use a closed-loop system for the data center. The facility only requires potable water for core needs of the building, like bathrooms and kitchens.
Williams said the land is already rezoned to allow this project, and now, the city and the developer are working on a development agreement. There is concern that developers will not complete the buildings in a timely manner to prevent paying taxes on them.
The mayor said any development agreement the city signs will aim to prevent tax loss.
"If and when the data center comes to Fort Meade, is that we're able to hold them to the commitments that they've made," Williams said.
Last month, the developers said a lot of eyes will be on them.
Local perspective:
Some protesters said this should be a city-wide referendum, not a commissioners vote.
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"We are going to be impacted by it, so we should all have a say," Lozan said.
The mayor said he has not made up his mind on this issue as of Thursday evening.
The Source: Information in this story comes from interviews done by FOX 13's Danielle Zulkosky.