Michigan City Common Council will soon hear, vote on plans for data center proposal
LAPORTE COUNTY, Ind. -- Another data center in Michiana is in the talks. This time, it's in Michigan City.
It would take the spot of the former Anco windshield wiper factory that's sat vacant for the last 20 years, off Royal Road.
The project is still in the early stages, with the developers working to submit a revised proposal for the Common Council to vote on.
The city had stopped negotiations with the company behind the project but restarted when the company agreed to hold a public workshop last week so residents could learn more information.
Like most data center talks, there was pushback and fears shared by residents, a lot of which stems from the data center sprawl in New Carlisle.
"I've already talked to people down by New Carlisle where they're building it; they're already having water shortages, they're already complaining, they're already having issues themselves," said a Michigan City resident in Thursday's workshop.
The data center concerns are spreading from New Carlisle north to Michigan City, as the Hoosier State begins to embrace more and more data projects.
"In Northern Indiana we all see the things that's going on in new Carlisle, and that's the frame that we're reading this all through," says Greg Coulter, Michigan City Common Councilman. "So, the questions we're getting in Michigan City are things that people are learning in New Carlisle that just aren't applicable in Michigan City."
Michigan City Common Councilman Greg Coulter says a major contrast to the examples in new Carlisle is simply where the proposed site is located.
"It's the perfect site to do a data center," Coulter says. "The best part of it is they're not disturbing new land or taking land that wasn't industrial and making it industrial."
Concerns about water and electricity usage are near the top of the list of concerns, however the city assures it has sufficient water capability and NIPSCO will be the utility provider for electricity, so customers shouldn't see a hike in utility rates.
The biggest incentive Coulter says residents will see is a drop in their property taxes.
It comes at a good time as Senate Bill 1 slashes funding to local governments like Michigan City's.
"The city is about to lose a bunch of money annually, but because this is coming in, our taxes will go down, it's bringing in enough money where our local property taxes will go down," explains Coulter.
The developer, Phoenix Investors, will bring this revised proposal of their project to the common council after Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch decided to turn down their incentive request and end negotiations.
So now the big decision comes down to the common council, and they still want to hear from residents.
"Michigan City is here to listen to people and we want to know what people's concerns are and to meet those concerns before we move forward with things," Coulter assures.
The developer and their client have until Wednesday to submit ordinances to the common council which will get a first reading at next Monday's meeting.
What they submit will determine how many meetings it needs to go through before it can be voted on.