Town mulls ways to stop data center expansion

The Town of Belgium isn’t exactly sure what it can do to prevent possible expansion of a data center complex that is planned to line a portion of its southern border, but officials will pull out all the stops to try.

Town Chairman Tom Winker at last week’s Town Board meeting said he plans to meet with Port Washington Mayor Ted Neitzke next month to talk.

“I think that is positive. I don’t think they’re going to give us any boundary agreements or anything like that,” Winker said. “They were mad the last time the boundary agreement was made with the Town of Port. That kind of took their power away as elected officials, but I’m going to meet with him and see where it goes.”

Winker said he talked with Wisconsin Towns Association attorney Joe Ruth and was told “There’s nothing we can do.”

Port has annexed several hundred acres of Town of Port Washington land for a data center campus that could reach as many as 1,900 acres. The center could be the biggest in the country, use as many as 3.5 gigawatts of power and cost billions of dollars.

An end user has been identified as Vantage Data Centers of Denver, Colo.

Town officials are afraid the center may expand into its farmland.

Zoning Administrator Charlie Parks said he agrees with residents who have suggested the town be proactive.

The Plan Commission is expected to meet this summer and talk to the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, and Parks suggested bringing in town attorney Paul Alexy.

“I’m not willing to concede there’s nothing we can do. Other towns have dealt with annexation issues. There are some creative ways I’m sure that we don’t know about. We’re going to look at everything,” Parks said.

Resident Janice Poss likes that idea.

“I think that’s what I want to hear because it seems like the City of Port Washington’s governance is out of control. And it’s going to impact the Town of Belgium,” she said.

“I understand that we’re kind of tied here. Just the whole thing, the way it’s been handled it’s been rather nefarious.”

Parks said the town has a history of being proactive in planning.

“Annexation is another thing altogether and we’ve got to learn what’s out there to help us build a firewall,” he said.