Non-Disclosure?

Well that was an interesting few days. When I broke the story that Deltona Corp submitted an application for a land use change and some Comp Plan changes for the Holder Industrial Park which will allow a Data Center, social media went wild.

18,000 views, 115 comments, 45 shares.

Even the Chronicle could not ignore it and made some phone calls to commissioners to try to find out what was going on.

We will be talking a bit more about it today.

I have done some research over the weekend on how these things have taken place and been built in other cities as well as around the country. One thing has been true in almost every instance that I could find.

It is a secretive process.

In most cases, the companies had officials sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) which zipped the lips of those involved. They were not allowed to talk the details. I presume this is to keep competitors from knowing their plans, but also keep the public at bay. They do not want a bunch of back lash from the community.

Assuming that is true here, I have asked for copies of the NDAs as well as emails regarding this process. We will see what they disclose and see what they try to hide behind the presumed NDA.

By the way... why are NDAs a thing with government officials? If we want transparency in government, should we not talk about these things? In a state where almost everything is public record, why have NDAs? Just a thought.

Let's jump into what we learned over the weekend.

If there was any question about the accuracy of my reporting this story, Commissioner Kinnard confirmed it over the weekend to the Chronicle.

Quotes from the Chronicle Article

“There is nothing definitive yet... We’re a long, long way from that."

“there is no deal in hand..."

“can be very good things for communities — if they come on our terms.”

“They can be built in such a way where they are not pulling millions of gallons of water out of the aquifer...”

“It could be a tremendous economic boost to our area...”

There is your confirmation. The county is definitely having talks with a company regarding a Data Center. Then he tried to walk it back saying this is only a process that allows Deltona to market it as a potential Data Center use.

"Right now this is a simple rezoning to expand our largest industrial park... The fact that the application specifically allows for a data center indicates there is at least some interest, and they want to make sure they can market it to a company that develops data centers if the rezoning is approved.”

Um.. too late.. Cat is already out of the bag.

But the part I want to focus on is the comment they could be good if they come on our terms.

I read that and my eyebrows raised. Who is going to determine what OUR terms are? Where is that discussion and when are we having it? The county in theory can negotiate terms of most projects, but generally, these are best done via the LDC amendments.

And again... in this instance... there is no application to build a data center. Make this change to the zoning and the Industrial Park Comp Plan and the developer can build a Date Center with no other approvals needed.

So who are we negotiating with if there is no application for one?

If the county has a plan on what it wants to see in regards to Data Centers, let's go through a LDC amendment to add those things to the LDC that every other company/developer would have to follow. Let's make a standard set of rules/regulations that will guide these things. If a project comes that wants to go against those things, we can have that discussion and hear why the company feels that is the best option.... just as we do for every other project that asks for variances.

Why are we not having this discussion publicly? It does not even need to be specific to this particular project. A LDC change would require all future Data Centers to abide by it.

What kind of things could we potentially include in it? Not sure all of these would qualify in a LDC amendment, but they are important to talk about.

1) Water usage. How much water will they be allowed to use? Would it be a closed loop system which recyles water or an open loop? Will we require them to use gray water or can they use drinking water?

2) Electricity caps. Data Centers use a TON of electricity. The largest ones will use the same amount of electricity per day as cities like Tallahassee or larger. Utility companies then tend to raise prices for other consumers. Is there a way to cap those things.

3) Tallahassee regulations. There is legislation going through Tallahassee that will restrict Data Centers and add more regulations. Should we wait to see what those look like?

4) Infrastructure. Who is paying for the infrastructure to these projects. They use a ton of water. Is it the county's responsibility to get all that set?

5) What is the plan when they are obsolete? In my research, Data Centers have 15-25 years or so of useful life. What happens when they are done being utilized? We not have giant empty buildings.

I am going to challenge the BOCC to start having those conversations publicly. It is great to want to grow the economy and increase tax revenue via commercial entities, but how are we going to manage these things to not destroy our resources nor have useless buildings in 15-25 years when they move on.

Time to start talking about that now that we know it is in the works.