Residents of Bristol share concerns for $1 billion data center proposal
BRISTOL, Ind. (WNDU) – A $1 billion data center proposed for the town of Bristol could be an economic game changer.
But residents living near the 250 acres of farmland where the data center would be constructed aren’t all onboard.
Among some of the concerns are loss of property value for homeowners, destroyed farmland, water supply issues and noise pollution.
WNDU 16 News Now spoke with residents of the area, some of which have lived in their homes for over 20 years. Others are descendants of people who helped create the city.
Neighbors said losing the agricultural area near County Road 23 and County Road 14 in Washington Township would be detrimental.
“We thought this was going to be our retirement home, and we’ve put all, not all our 401k but all our savings and stuff into remodeling this house, it was a fixer upper,” said Lester Otto, who has lived in the area near the proposed data center for 20 years. “This was our final home, and the way it looks we’re going to have to move because of what’s going on around us.”
Otto said he initially moved to this area because of the quietness and amount of farmland that surrounded it — something he said has started to drift over the years.
“St. Joseph County has got a data center over there that’s probably four times the size of what they are planning to do here,” Otto said. “This is 247 acres, and they only need 20 acres. What are they going to do with the rest of that acreage?”
But that’s not the only concern neighbors have.
“Low frequency sound levels, there’s been a lot of data, a lot of research done that shows the harm that it does to the children and the animals,” said Michael Miller.
They say straining of power grids, and loss of property value are among some of their concerns. But they say the biggest one is the identity of the buyer.
WNDU 16 News Now spoke with the town manager, Mike Yoder, who said they have been working with residents to address their concerns.
“I know that’s an issue, but it’s a strange issue to me,” Yoder said. “When they go to get a building permit, we’ll know who the user is. I expect to be approached about tax executives of some sort, we know the user at that point. So, we know it’ll be a data center, it’s no different than saying it can only be used for recreational vehicle factory.”
If the proposal is passed, it would double the town’s assessed value by around $500 million.
Yoder said the proposed data center would bring multiple benefits to taxpayers and could lower tax rates across the board.
But not everyone is convinced.
“Going to ruin the environment around here,” Miller said.
The Bristol Town Council will meet Thursday night at 7 p.m. to decide whether to rezone the land from agricultural to manufacturing.
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