I wrote about the Aug 5, Harmony City Council meeting earlier, but The Fillmore County Journal provides a more complete account, starting with…

In a joint planning session on August 5 the Harmony City Council, the Harmony EDA and the Harmony Planning and Zoning came together to review a draft data center ordinance for the city. Mayor Steve Donney opened the meeting and explained that there would be no public comment; the public was encouraged to submit written comments following the meeting.

City Attorney Greg Schieber introduced Soren Mattick, a municipal attorney from the Twin Cities who was assisting Harmony with the ordinance. Harmony had been approached by MiEnergy last fall about the possibility of building a data center in Harmony. Since the city had no ordinance on the books about such centers, the EDA, P & Z and council began a series of five or six meetings to consider the item.

Mattick shared that the main concerns with data centers were electricity and water consumption, noise and overall environmental concerns. Using a slideshow presentation, Mattick walked the group through the draft ordinance.

The ordinance would provide for a CUP (conditional use permit) for data centers. This means that a company would need to apply to the council for a permit before proceeding with development. A public hearing would be required, which would give the public opportunity to share any concerns.