Bulloch County’s data center moratorium is due to expire at year’s end, and a county committee will consider asking commissioners for more time when it meets Nov. 2. The committee has not set a proposed extension length, and only the full Board of Commissioners can approve an extension.
The 15-member committee met for the first time Oct. 27 at the North Main Annex Community Room. Members unanimously elected retired trauma surgeon Frank Davis as chair and businessman Glenn Womack as vice chair during the roughly 80-minute meeting. They agreed to gather at 5:30 p.m. on the first and third Mondays of each month, starting Nov. 2.
Members voted to add a proposed extension request to the Nov. 2 agenda. County Commission Chairman David Bennett told the committee he had discussed an extension with county staff and believed an additional 180 days could be legally justified. That was Bennett’s assessment; the committee’s motion did not call for a specific duration, and a final decision rests with commissioners.
The Board of Commissioners created the committee after denying a proposed data center zoning amendment in September. Its charge is to assess technical and community effects and prepare recommendations on the county’s draft zoning resolution and related policies. The county has not established a deadline for the report.
Members received 14 areas to examine, including site selection, electricity demand, water use, wastewater capacity, noise, lighting, traffic, emergency services, stormwater, decommissioning and infrastructure costs. The committee can add topics. Ben Watkins suggested giving particular attention to whether data centers’ economic benefits would outweigh costs, while members also raised state tax incentives and abatements as subjects to investigate.
Members discussed whether their work should consider only rules for data centers or also whether the county should accommodate them at all. Alana Olson, associated with Coastal Communities United, raised wastewater capacity and the county’s lack of its own sewage treatment facility as issues to weigh. Watkins argued that the committee’s task was to determine what standards would be needed if such projects are allowed. Bennett said decisions on individual proposals would remain with elected officials through the zoning process.
The group also plans to hear from outside specialists, potentially including utility representatives, water and wastewater professionals, economic development officials, environmental organizations and people from Georgia communities with data center projects. County staff will help identify speakers, and the county may consider reasonable presentation expenses. Members will help choose whom to invite.
Bennett and County Attorney Jeff Akins reviewed the committee’s legal and ethics obligations. They said meetings and records fall under Georgia’s open-meetings and open-records requirements, and members were advised that communications about committee business may be publicly disclosed. The committee has county email accounts for official work; members were also asked to sign acknowledgments of ethics requirements and collaborative conduct.
Yolonda Harris
News Now Georgia
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