Live Reporting from the Sept. 10 Meeting of the Saline Township Board

The following is live reporting from the Saline Township Board meeting.

By 6:30 p.m. the parking lot was overflowing, with people parking along the side of the road.

Inside and outside the township, people were spotted with protest signs, saying "No Data Center."

At the outset of the meeting Treasurer Jennifer Zink made a motion to postpone a public hearing on a tax exemption. It was passed unanimously.

The issue on Jupiter, the battery storage faci;, was moved up on the agenda.

Jupiter Community Agreement

Trustee Tom Hammond made a motion to pass the agreement. The board voted 5-0 to approve the motion.

Citizen Comments

Citizens were given two minutes to speak. Most statements were about the proposed data center.

A resident said the rezoning proposal contradicts the township master plan. It's a question of identity. Once farmland is paved over, it's never coming back. The land is the largest argriculture land in the area. He urged diligence on the proposal and to respect the township's legacy.

Another resident said the master plan calls for light industrial that would be served by municpal water and sewer. The master plan calls for the protection of green space.

A resident appeared to threaten the township trustees with legal action if they pass the rezoning of the data center. The data center would use in one week (of power), that the township uses in a week.

One resident said the development will not bring more funding directly to Saline Schools, as was said at the last board meeting. She said there would be 1500 workers on sight. Would police be able to handle the traffic?

A township resident said she was opposed to rezonng the land to industrial. Data Centers would be encouraged to have a majority of their energy come from renewable sources like solar and wind. She urged a postponement or a no vote until the township better understands what they face.

A resident saw a data center in Ohio and was not impressed. She chose to live in the township was for the rural atmosphere and did not see that around the data center on Ohio. The people who gain the most from the project are not township residents. She encouraged the township to vote no and listen to its planning commission.

A resident said she did not envy the township board. The financial benefits to the township will come at a cost. Will the data center become obsolete? Do you want to be remembered as the people who said yes or no?

There could be 1000 or 1500 workers in the area during construction? Will they have a tent city? Where will the families live?

An Austin Road resident said she has lived here all her life. She said she hopes at a minimum that the township postpones a decision.

Projects elsewhere caused years of work and strains the resources. Voting no will protect the community.

A Pittsfield Township is an avid user of the cloud. He understands data centers. Why is the data being built here? It's because of the availabity of water. I hear the concerns about water.

A Braun Road resident said the township of farms and field. She opposed the rezoning to industrial. She said the township lacks the regulations to deal with the data center, including noise regulations. What will the township do if constant noise is unbearable?

A resident said the data center would shatter her way of life. We listen to the frogs and cicadas. We see the stars. That sense of home holds value. My vote is a hard no. It's about the fabric of a community.

One resident said if the board's job is to see what the people want, the people have shown it.

One woman asked residents opposed to rezoning to stand, and that was a majority of the residents.

One resident said the center was in his backyard and that he's in favor of the project. He asked board members to explain their votes later, so people would understand the votes. He asked them to offer their plan for what comes next, if not a data center.

Everyone says what they don't want, but what will they accept, because it's not going stay the way it is.

You can put the data center it, but it will be followed by solar, because it will renewable power.

Everybody in the room is afraid of change. They didn't like fracking. A pipeline. Losing a 1000 acres to preserve the rest of the township is not a bad trade.

A resident from Bridgewater urged the board to stand with their farmers.

A township resident works for the county conservation district, and said she invited the residents to participate in its activities and that she could help farmers preserve land.

The land will be sold to the highest bidder. We can't stop someone that wants to put in a subdivision because we can do a home per acre, according to our zoning.

A person with five generations in the township said that property won't stay agricultural, even if that's what he'd like to see. But if we turn this down, what's the impact of this vs. 1000 houses.

Zink motioned to approve an Invenergy agreement.

Planner Mike Auerbach said an agreement would allow the township to use the same deal it did to make a deal that allowed the Jupiter deal.

A representative from Jupiter said the company wants no more than a 100-foot setback. The township's current setback is 600 feet. Jupiter would rather work with the state.

The township is postponing a further decision until October.

Data Center

Clerk Kelly Marion asked the data center developers if they will seek solar farms on their development. The company said there will be no renewable energy generated on the site.

Related digital is using 575 acres, about 250 acres would be developed. The rest woould be undeveloped.

"We are not using evaporating cooling. We will not be using a lot of water," said Brent Behrman.

Zink made a motion to deny the rezoning, saying it was inconsistent with the master plan.

The motion was seconded by Tom Hammond.

They had no further discussion.

The vote was 4-1 to deny the rezoning with Kelly Marion voting against the motion.

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