(Radio Iowa) – The Council Bluffs City Council has rejected a year-long pause on approving data center projects within city limits. Council Bluffs Councilman Doug Rew says it would have sent the wrong signal to developers. “They see a red stop sign,” Rew said, “…and I’m not sure that’s the message that we would want to send right now, that we’re not open for business. The message I want to send is we’re open for business for every business that wants to come in here and look.”
Council Bluffs Mayor Jill Shudak proposed the 12-month moratorium after meeting with city staff. She says the pause would have given city officials time to update city regulations for data centers and address issues, like the capacity of the Council Bluffs’ sewer system. Council Bluffs Public Works Director Matt Cox says the city is an attractive spot for data center development because the Missouri River is the city’s water source.
“They’ve looked all over the country…and they said: ‘Oh, they have something that we can use, let’s go there,'” Cox says, “so when we get a request, it’s for a million gallons a day or two million gallons a day and so it only takes one or two projects and we’re at capacity.” Cox estimates with that amount of water, a data center’s drain on the city’s sewer system is roughly equal to the amount of waste water that comes from about four-thousand homes.
Cox says it would be helpful to have uniform guidelines because Council Bluffs city staff face aggressive timelines when developers file for data center permits. “When we negotiate every project independently, it’s a drain on resources,” Cox said, “and I also think it’s an unpredictability for the group that’s developing — because it’s based on the deal.”
Several council members said issues can be sorted out on a case-by-case basis during negotiations with developers and businesses.
