We hate to say we told you so regarding the proposed Fort Meade data center’s potential issues, but a pair of letters city officials received this week back us up and then some.
First came a letter from the Southwest Florida Water Management District on the day the Fort Meade City Commission voted unanimously to approve a 20-year development agreement.
The letter said any water permits for data centers need Governing Board approval per an amendment in the agency’s permitting rules approved at its Dec, 16 board meeting (not Dec 17),
Don’t feel badly If you had not heard about the change. It was tucked into the General Counsel’s report that was part of the consent agenda that is typically approved without discussion.
However, it was clear the issue was on some board members’ radar.
During a discussion of the updated regional water supply plan, board member Nancy Watkins asked staff how data center water consumption will fit into their project water demand projections.
“We need to be paying attention,” she said. “They’re a huge water suck.”
Although Fort Meade officials say they have water capacity to supply extra 50,000 gallons a day the data center’s developer said it will require, word on the street it that it is working out a deal with Davenport through the Polk Regional Water Cooperative to get the extra water. If that requires a permit, we’ll see them in Brooksville.
Then came a four-page April 15 letter from Florida Secretary of Commerce J. Alex Kelly raising issues about water use, electricity capacity, access across the CSX right of way and impacts on the Florida Wildlife Corridor that were previously raised in this space but not really discussed at length by city officials, at least not in public.
Kelly also raised questions about traffic impacts, questioned whether the employment projections are realistic since a lot of data center functions are handled remotely. He added that the planned vertiport needs a lot of permitting work.
The letter was significant because since the state’s growth-management oversight was turned over to the Florida Department of Commerce several years ago, comments criticizing local development decisions have been rare.
That’s partly because state officials are no longer allowed to impose sanctions of local officials who make bad development decisions and partly because the emphasis in Tallahassee has been on boosting development of all kinds, not reining it in.
Kelly called the city’s plan “fundamentally flawed,” and predicted it will invite challenges in which more public input is likely.
There were, in fact calls at Tuesday’s public hearing to restart the process for reviewing this data center, though that may raise legal issues.
Nevertheless, despite the commissioners’ claims Tuesday night that they had conducted due diligence regarding the project, it seems there is room for reconsideration in there somewhere.