Testimony Taken Tuesday Night By The Frederick County Council On Amended Data Centers Bill

It would cover siting and design of these facilities.Frederick, Md (KM) The Frederick County Council on Tuesday night held a hearing on an amended data centers bill. The legislation, if passed, would regulate the location and design of data centers.Kelly Schulz, the CEO of the Maryland Tech Council, said these facilities would help expand the tax base. “Right now, a significant share, 79 percent of our local tax burden, falls on residential property owners. That imbalance is not sustainable, not for our schools, our infrastructure or our public services. We need to bring in businesses that contribute significantly to our tax rolls without putting major strain on our public services, and that’s what data centers do,”: she said.But Eric Whittenten from Knoxville said he had a concern about data centers. “Even if they do make the property taxes go down on residential property owners. if they degrade our quality of life because the noise is the problem or something like that, I’d rather pay the money than have my quality of life degraded. That’s my choice as a person this would might affect,”: he said.Some of objections to the amended bill which generated discussion would allow data centers to be located as close as 200 feet from a residential community and they could be 75 feet in height. . Elizabeth Bower spoke out about that. “Don’t know who wants that next store. . 75-foot building. 200 feet from the bedroom window,” ;she said.Bower also objected to a change in the bill letting data centers be tested for noise and vibration every two years instead of twice a year in the legislation before it was changed. . “Industry will be trusted to self-regulate. Imagine that! An industry which will ensure that they don’t violate the noise and vibration regulations, ” she said.Tom Natelli, of Natelli Communities, said  allowing data centers to be located  in one place will help protect farmland and open space. “By going to 75 feet, you’re going to be able concentrate a lot more density in a much smaller area and get the benefits of the industry without having to eat up more farmland,”He pointed out that the Social Security Administration and Medicare have a data center in Urbana.A bill proposed by County Executive Jessica Fitzwater and the County Council would place data centers in the area around  the former Eastalco site in Adamstown, which she would be less than one percent of the county’s landmass.Also speaking was Peter Turley with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, who testified in favor of data centers. “As far as I see it, the construction of the data centers are a net positive for our community,” he said “They’ll provide 500 to 800 jobs during construction, hundreds after completion. They also generate tens of millions in tax revenue after construction.”The Council is expected to vote on this bill next week.By Kevin McManus