By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Neighbors of the data center being built in Middleton Township asked the township trustees last week to appoint someone new as liaison with Meta. They asked that the one trustee who did not sign a non-disclosure agreement with Meta be assigned as liaison.
But their request went unanswered.
Residents around the $800 million data center site are regular attendees of the Middleton Township meetings, many there to voice their concerns about the acreage under construction. They worry about their well water, their air quality, their property values and the still expanding Meta acreage.
Last week, six representatives of the Will Power pipeline were at the meeting to answer resident questions about the pipeline and the power plant that will supply energy to the data center.
Beth Cole, whose Dowling Road home sits just north of the data center, thanked the Will Power officials for sharing information on the project – unlike Meta, she said.
“Meta has been nothing but secretive,” Cole said.
The secrecy has resulted in a lack of trust among neighbors of Meta and of the trustees who allowed the project into the township.
Chris Coultrip, who lives on Thompson Road, addressed rumors that one of the township trustees, Fred Vetter, financially benefited from the Meta project.
Vetter denied he or his family has profited.
“I own no property where Meta is. I own no property where the gas line is,” he said.
Another resident asked Vetter about a property in his name on Devil’s Hole Road, which borders a property owned by Liames LLC, the firm buying the acreage for the Meta project. Vetter said his property didn’t border Liames land. But when the county auditor’s website was enlarged on the screen showing Vetter property adjacent to Liames acreage, Vetter said he didn’t realize that was the case.
Residents asked the two trustees who signed NDAs with Meta – Vetter and Mike Moulton – to explain their rationale. Moulton said signing the agreement was the only way to get information on the proposed development.
That meant the trustees could not reveal the developer until Meta made its official announcement – a common provision with many developments. But that did not sit well with residents.
“They came in under the guise of darkness,” Coultrip said. “People want to have a say in this.”
Residents in the room asked that the third trustee, Melissa Petrea, who was elected after the Meta announcement, replace Vetter as township liaison with Meta.
“She seems to have her constituents in mind,” Coultrip said.
Petrea said she would accept the liaison position. And Vetter said, “They want Melissa, they can have Melissa.”
However, no vote was taken on appointing a new liaison.
Moulton said he has heard very few complaints about the data center project from township residents. He noted that at least week’s meeting, the members of the public present were mostly the same dozen or so residents who show up at most meetings.
As a trustee, Moulton said he represents approximately 5,400 township residents – and the majority of them appear to be happy with or indifferent about the Meta project.
“This is a lot better than what could have been built here,” Moulton said, listing the possibilities of a steel plant or trucking terminal.
The next public hearing about the latest request from Meta to rezone approximately 39 acres along Ohio 25 for the data center construction parking is set for Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. The next township trustees meeting will be Sept. 16 at 6 p.m.
