Hogansville City Council Votes Down Data Center Ordinance

The Hogansville City Council held their final regular meeting of the month on August 17 in front of a standing room only crowd. After approval of the consent agenda, a representative of the Newnan H.E.L.P. Spay/Neuter Clinic spoke about their ongoing effort to reduce feral cats in the city. He also explained that spayed/neutered pets have a much less chance of developing certain types of cancer. H.E.L.P., which stands for Help End Local Pet-overpopulation, plans to have a booth at this year’s Hummingbird Festival to provide vaccines and microchipping for pets.

Three citizens then spoke about data centers. Albert Prado said the city isn’t ready for the new Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) for High Industrial zoned areas. He said the Council received a four-page letter of amendments which need revising and they should extend the moratorium on the ordinances for ninety days. Paula Darden stated that if the data center is approved, the city will be rich, but at what cost? She said there will be degradation of the environment, air pollution, limits on water availability, an increase in electric rates and nearby residents’ way of life will be ruined. Ila Burdette said the Council had been presented a letter from the Southern Environment Law Center which says the UDO changes need refining and do not go far enough to protect the city for energy use assessment, peak electric demand estimates and maximum decibel levels allowed. She urged the Council to put off approving the new UDO and make appropriate changes before voting.

Police Chief Jeffrey Sheppard introduced Lieutenant Lisa Lindsey as Hogansville’s new Code Enforcement Officer. Lindsey last worked for the Troup County Marshal’s Office and has sixteen years of law enforcement experience, eleven of them in code enforcement. Manager Lisa Kelly then introduced Stephanie Savage as the city’s new Deputy City Clerk. Savage has a background in state and county government.

In new business, City Attorney Alex Dixon then gave the second reading of the UDO Text Amendments to create and establish a Heavy Industrial Zoning District, adoption of standards & regulations for Data Center Developments, and establishment of procedures and requirements related to developments of impact. He also stated that two revisions had been made since the last Council meeting. Mayor Jake Ayers then addressed the crowd by saying the Council had spent a great deal of time studying data centers and that they are very aware of the public’s concerns, but he felt the UDO was in a “good place”. He then opened the floor for Council members to make comments.

Councilwoman Mandy Neese stated that she didn’t believe the ordinance was strong enough because she works on sites where data centers are built. She stated that there should be limits on workdays -meaning no round-the-clock construction – and no work on Sundays. Neese also said there needs to be protection of wetlands in the area, a traffic study plan, and she agreed with the letter from the Southern Environment Law Center. She spoke for almost eight minutes and said the city is not prepared for this type of construction. She stated the data center being built is the easy part, but the next decade will be “hell,” and our roads will be destroyed. Councilman Michael Taylor agreed with Neese and said he believes the Council should take more time and make changes to make the ordinance stronger.

Councilman Mark Ayers said he doesn’t think the ordinance fixes every safety issue, but in instances where it doesn’t, the city can have site specific regulations to ensure the city will be protected. He claims this is what other cities have done. Ayers agreed with Mandy’s concerns, but stated that a future Council could do away with this ordinance and make it much easier for data centers to be built. In answer to an earlier question from Mr. Prado, Ayers claimed he would vote for a data center next to his home IF it was best for the city. Ayers was in favor of approving the ordinance. Councilwoman Kandis Strickland stated she did not believe the ordinance was strong enough, especially based on the SELC letter, and a new ninety-day moratorium should be made.

Councilman Jason Baswell said he agreed with Neese, but thought the ordinance would be the minimum set of regulations and the city could require stricter rules based on specific construction sites. After several more minutes of discussion, Taylor made a motion to not approve (or to deny) the ordinance, which it was by a 4-1 vote. Dixon requested the present moratorium, which expires September 2nd, be extended to the next Council meeting, where a new moratorium could be voted on. This was approved by the Council. The crowd very much approved of the denial of the ordinance.

Wanda Lowe,  Chair of the Hogansville Historic Preservation Commission, spoke about a home being remodeled at 203 Johnson Street, which is in the historic district. The commission denied the homeowner’s request to put board and batten siding on his home due to the guidelines they must go by, even though there is a home nearby with the same siding. That home, however, is not in the historic district. The Council voted to repeal the Historic Preservation Commission’s ruling and allow the homeowner’s request for the siding.

In more new business, Lisa Kelly gave estimates from three businesses to either repair or completely rebuild the gazebo in Calvin Hipp Park. The Council voted to approve Right Angle Roofing’s bid of $35,000 to rebuild the gazebo with a cement floor, a portion of which will be paid by the Hogansville Charitable Trust from money raised from the Hummingbird Festival.

In her City Manager’s report, Lisa Kelly said the city is still working on audio/video and security upgrades to the City Annex Building in preparation for the Council chambers being moved there in the near future. Quotes for the upgrades should be available by the next Council meeting. GDOT has started paving Highway 54 and should be in the city in about two weeks and working on the downtown area in approximately three weeks. The current plan is to allow citizens to make decorations for the large Christmas tree the city recently purchased for downtown.

In his Police Report, Chief Sheppard stated that a recent emergency response to Lake Jimmy Jackson concerning a man in his boat, was accomplished by response members in ten minutes, which is a very impressive time. National Night Out is scheduled for Tuesday evening, September 15th, from 5:30 to 8:00 at the Hogansville Elementary football field. The next blood drive will be Friday, October 2nd from 1:00-5:00 at the City Annex.