Owatonna People’s Press reports...

City Council candidates faced questions on some of the most pressing issues in the community at the final candidate forum.

Data centers got a lot of attention…

Drawing a hypothetical situation submitted by the audience, Rethemeier asked the candidates if they would support building a data center in Owatonna if it would bring in $5 million to the city annually.

Ward 1 candidate Brad Flemming said he would be “generally be in favor” of a data center if it presented a good deal for the city and didn’t impact residents’ utility bills. He acknowledged widespread “disdain” for data centers, and said he’d have a number of questions if one were proposed, including its size, location and potential strain it would cause for Owatonna Public Utilities.

Tim McManimon, also running for Ward 1, said the community should be cautious if a data center is proposed, noting such a project could have unintended consequences.

“What if that data center goes dark and we’re left with a stranded project and we increased infrastructure and now don’t have the income to support it?”

However, McManimon suggested he’d be more favorable to a smaller project, like a locally-owned server farm, rather than a large data center owned by a tech company.

Ward 1 candidates were generally opposed to data centers, although they offered a variety of rationales. Melissa Danielson responded with an “absolutely no,” arguing a data center would make Owatonna a less attractive place to live.

“People don’t want data centers in their backyard. People don’t want to live near a data center. People don’t want their home values dropped and not being able to sell their house because they’re next to a data center,” Danielson said.

Dale Fairbanks said $5 million paid to the city wouldn’t properly compensate the citizens of the community. Fairbanks said he would only support a data center if it were self-sustaining and located away from populated areas and farms, “nowhere near the town.”

Bruce Nelson said data centers place significant demands on electricity, water, land and infrastructure, and residents should not have to bear the costs.

“I support a moratorium on a new data center until an impact study is completed and concerns of residents are addressed,” Nelson said.

Rebecca Rand said she has questions about the long-term health impacts data centers have on people and the environment, as well as the utility costs. Rand said the city would have to seriously consider the financial benefit of welcoming a data center against the impact to the community, and based on the information available to her, she would not support one.