Menomonie Mayor Puts $1.6 Billion Data Center Proposal on Hold
After hearing concerns from community Mayor Randy Knaack turns against proposal.
Data center. (CC0)
The longtime mayor of Menomonie in western Wisconsin says the city won’t be negotiating any development agreements with a firm behind a $1.6 billion data center proposal.
The announcement comes after the city council had already annexed and rezoned around 320 acres of farmland for the project.
The Menomonie City Council’s agenda for its Monday meeting didn’t include any mentions of the data center project, which has spurred significant opposition in the community and surrounding areas. But it still loomed large over the proceedings.
During his “Mayor’s Report” to the council, Mayor Randy Knaack referenced his communication with Balloonist LLC, the company behind the data center proposal.“
Last Wednesday, Sept. 17, I drafted a memo and had our city administrator contact Balloonist LLC,” Knaack said. “In the document, I stated that I am not currently interested in pursuing a tax increment district or development agreement as the chief executive officer of Menomonie.”
Knaack said after listening to concerns about the project from members of the community, “the data center is now on pause.”
The announcement came just weeks after the city council voted to annex around 320 acres of farmland and rezone it for industrial use at the request of landowners in a neighboring township and developer Balloonist LLC. A frequently asked questions sheet posted by the city claimed the $1.6 billion data center would provide up to 1,000 construction jobs and result in between 50 and 75 full time employees working “six-figure jobs.”
The city estimated the data center would use around 75,000 gallons of water per day.
At the time, some of those who voted for the annexation told WPR they didn’t necessarily support the data center and needed more information from developers.
A spokesperson for the city told WPR on Tuesday that the mayor’s authority to unilaterally halt the data center is based in state statute, which outlines the mayor’s role as a city’s executive officer, requires a mayor to recommend “measures as the mayor may deem advantageous to the city” and gives a mayor veto power over council votes.
The mayor delivered his directive to the city administrator in a two-sentence memo obtained by WPR.
“After careful consideration of the data center project proposed by Balloonist, LLC., I have determined that it is not a suitable fit for the City of Menomonie,” he wrote.
An attorney who represented Balloonist LLC before the council earlier in the month told WPR he couldn’t comment on the mayor’s decision.
Mayor’s action irked some on the council
Even before Knaack spoke at the council meeting Monday, council member Sydney Brennan called for a vote of “no confidence” against Knaack, but was told it couldn’t happen because it wasn’t on the agenda. She also said Knaack is the only person in the city who sets the council’s agenda.
Following Knaack’s announcement, Brennan said she was angry and she’s “tired of this council being a red rubber stamp for what the mayor wants.” She also accused Knaack of being “puppeted by members of the community who are slum lords.”
Brennan told WPR she only knew about Knaack’s pending announcement because of a “rumor going around.”
“I don’t think any decision should be made unilaterally in our government,” Brennan said Tuesday. “There’s a reason we have checks and balances in place. So for the mayor to go over the council’s head on this … without any discussion or dialogue with not only the council, but with the public, is really concerning to me.”
Menomonie business owner Peter Gruetzmacher, who was part of the community group trying to block the data center, told WPR he was surprised by Knaack’s decision.
“I think the way this whole thing came about was probably not as transparent as it should have been,” Gruetzmacher said.
He said the city’s administrator and possibly others had signed nondisclosure agreements with Ballonist LLC, and no one even knew which company would be operating the data center.
“I think the mayor saw what was happening is: they’re going to get to the point of no return on this thing before we find out any details,” Gruetzmacher said, adding that the Mayor slowing it down and potentially stopping the project “is absolutely the right thing to do.”
Gruetzmacher said with potential tech giants like Google or Meta spending time and money on the data center proposal in Menomonie, he expects “some different legal maneuvers” could be on the way.
“I have a hard time believing the people that are investing this thing are just going to walk away,” Gruetzmacher said. “So I think we keep up the pressure.”
Menomonie mayor puts $1.6B data center proposal on hold was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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