Woodbury County could hold a series of meetings about the possibility of a data center being built in Salix, and perhaps a moratorium on such centers could be debated.
Woodbury County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Nelson on Friday morning told Siouxland Public Media News that people feel strongly both for and against the possibility of a data center being built.
Therefore, Nelson said the county wants a slow, deliberate process to work through associated issues.
He said the first airing of that approach will come at the next county supervisors meeting on Tuesday, June 16 at the county courthouse.
“We want to just have an informational item to talk about the process, how some of this stuff works, talk about the zoning in Woodbury County towards data centers, which, at this time, is none,” Nelson said.
“And then talk about what our options are going forward, as far as giving direction to the zoning commission, having public meetings, getting public input, what kind of timeline do we want to work on. Do we want a moratorium in the meantime? A lot of counties do that.”
On Wednesday, a MidAmerican Energy spokesperson disclosed the company is involved with a proposed development of a data center on land near the small town of Salix, about 15 miles south of Sioux City.
In April, the city council approved the annexation of about 950 acres into the city. That tract is not zoned for business use, and Salix Mayor Kevin Nelson said there has been no proposal to rezone the area.
Supervisor Nelson attended a Salix City Council meeting in May, and noted city residents have “seemed displeased” with the amount of information coming from the council on rumors of a data center.
“Typically, small towns don’t take up an issue as massive as this on a normal basis,” Mark Nelson said.
