WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI (WSAU) — Wisconsin Rapids Mayor Matt Zacher says one step remains in the debate over a proposed data center from PNK Group.
After failing at the plan commission level, the proposal still goes to the city council in October. Zacher says the vote of no confidence stems from gaps in the developer’s plan. “We gave them 4.5 months to let them vet out their development. I think by that point it was clear as to where we are right now.”
He says unknowns include who would lease the supercomputers inside the center and noise levels. Details that can’t be overlooked, and that he expects will lead to the council’s rejection of the plan. If that happens, he thinks it will be for the better because it will let the developer finalize its plan while giving the city time to craft a better data center ordinance during a year-long moratorium on the developments.
“That’s where we are at. We’ll see where the council ends up, but [to me] this is how we move forward. If there is a place where we can work together, let’s figure it out. But we need to give each other a chance to get to that point,” said Zacher.
He doesn’t rule out a data center in the future, especially if it can run on power from the local industrial power company, operate quietly, and be a good neighbor. “If they built a data center on that site that we’re talking about and electrified it through [Consolidated Water and Power Company], which would not touch our electrical system or distribution system through WWLC, and it was quiet—they figured out the noise, which other data centers, the largest supercomputer down in Mount Pleasant, you can’t hear it, it doesn’t make noise—and if we could make sure that that is brought to our community, nobody would ever know it’s there.”
Other topics Zacher discussed with WSAU’s Mike Leischner include:
Start of video- Data center update
10:30- ATV/UTV ordinance
14:20- Budget update
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