Metro-east city to hit pause on data centers after residents grill developer
Troy is preparing a moratorium on data centers, effectively ending talks with an interested developer.
Houston-based development company Cloverleaf Infrastructure has been exploring potential locations for data centers in Troy and Granite City and assessing public opinion at community meetings.
Cloverleaf prepares sites for tech companies to build data centers, which power artificial intelligence and other kinds of data storage and processing. The company’s role is to work out land, power and zoning agreements ahead of time.
Cloverleaf has not presented a formal proposal to Troy or Granite City.
At Tuesday night’s Troy City Council meeting, Mayor Dave Nonn announced that he asked the city attorney to draft language for a moratorium of up to six months on any data center proposal.
“I can tell you, at this point, no council member or myself is in support of a data center in the city of Troy,” he said.
Nonn said officials made the decision after a “disappointing” private meeting with Cloverleaf representatives, aldermen, the city administrator, and building and zoning director on Feb. 10.
He said they did not get “any good answers” when they pressed the company for commitments, including whether it would help with Troy’s planned sewer plant expansion or water plant upgrade.
“We went through the ringer with these guys,” Nonn said. “It was kind of like the David and Goliath story. We fought the giant (who) promised us the world.”
Troy City Administrator Jay Keeven said in an interview Thursday that Cloverleaf had talked early on about helping with city infrastructure projects up front. “They never came up with what that would be,” he said. Company executive Jeff Lake, Cloverleaf’s development principal, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The private Feb. 10 meeting took place before a public meeting the same day, when residents grilled officials from the city and development company about utility rates, noise, property values and other concerns for four and a half hours.
Nonn also noted resident opposition to data centers when he explained the city’s position on Tuesday.
“Does it fit in Troy? No, obviously. You all told us that, and we are your representatives. We listen to you, and we vote accordingly. That’s our job,” Nonn said.
Madison County Board Chairman Chris Slusser shared a statement on social media Tuesday afternoon saying neither he nor Nonn support the locations Cloverleaf was considering in Troy because of their proximity to a church, school and neighborhood. The company was looking at farmland off Formosa Road, near Bethel Church, Christian school Bethel Academy and the Fawn Meadows subdivision.
Slusser said the industrial Illinois 3 corridor in Granite City “should be fully explored before attempting to change the landscape of primarily residential ‘bedroom’ communities.”
Granite City is planning a community discussion on data centers with Mayor Mike Parkinson at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 10 at The Mill Event Center, 1311 20th St.
Parkinson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Troy’s planning committee is expected to vote on the data center moratorium at its March 12 meeting, followed by a Troy City Council vote at its March 16 meeting.
