LOWELL, Mich. — Debate on a potential data center in the Lowell area has put a spotlight on its water supply.
Whether or not a server farm is built in Lowell Township, the City of Lowell, which services the township, says it will need to expand its water plant.
"No matter what situation we have, we have to upgrade this facility," Lowell City Manager Mike Burns said to FOX 17 on Tuesday.
Currently, the plant is capable of pumping 1.5 million gallons of water a day. By way of an expansion, though, the city says it could pump as many as 3 million gallons of water a day, which would give it a "comfortable" margin within the aquifer from which it draws, capable of providing 3.5 million gallons of water a day.
"I have seen no indication that makes me believe there's going to be any issues with providing water to the community," said Burns, citing a recent city study.
If a data center is approved, the City of Lowell and Lowell Township say a development agreement will ensure its property taxes will be put toward the water plant's expansion so that its cost will not be borne by rate payers.
They also say the center, which would be located at Covenant Business Park near Alden Nash Avenue and I-96, would likely use around 30,000 gallons of water a day, based on a preliminary estimate from the developer of the site.
"At 30,000 gallons a day, that’s not even our highest-consuming customer in the city, that’s not even half of our highest-consuming customer in the city," Burns said.
"From where we sit, there's no concern about draining the water supply," he said.
A $10 million dollar expansion of the plant would likely take at least three years, according to Burns, accounting for the duration of both engineering and construction.
"There's a long way to go before we are to even be able to dig the first piece of dirt."
Ionia Greenville Lowell Belding
Public hearing on potential data center in Lowell Township postponed
On Monday, a public hearing on the data center was rescheduled for a later date when neighbors packed the Lowell Township hall, far surpassing its capacity.
"You just cannot have your meeting if you have more people in the building than is allowed," Lowell Township Planning Commission Chair David Simmonds said.
Simmonds said the commission had planned on a high turnout and discussed moving to a different venue but decided to proceed with the township hall.
"This is an appropriate delay tonight," Lowell Township resident Greg Forbes said. "Clearly, this is a democratic process, and hopefully everybody will come to the table for the conversation."
In the aftermath of the adjourned meeting, Forbes and other neighbors shared their concerns about the potential data center's water usage.
"We have to commend both our city manager and our township supervisor for trying to find a solution to the very real needs that we have for updating our water and treatment," Forbes said. "But we've been presented with it's either this or nothing."
Due to the heat generated by their computer servers, data centers use a significant amount of water for their cooling systems.
"I find it hard to believe that it wouldn't have some effect on homeowners, businesses, farmers in the area, said Amy Fotis, a Vergennes Township neighbor.
"I don't see any positives. I think we have plenty of Wi-Fi," she said.
Simmonds says the township and city are trying to be as transparent as possible.
"A lot of time, we don't know. We don't have all the answers," he said. "We're not hiding them or anything like that. There's some things that we just don't know."
"I love the fact that our citizens are involved," he said. "Now, of course, this is a hot topic, but that's okay, you know? They're letting us know what they think, and that's what we want to do."
While the time and date are not set, the township said on Monday that it planned to hold the rescheduled public hearing on the data center at Lowell High School in January.
