Concerns over a proposed data center dominated Thomasville’s city council meeting this week, as residents living near the project site pressed council members for answers about whether the city has any real power to block it.
Residents from the Dummy Line Road area urged the council to oppose the project, but Mayor Sheldon Day told them the proposal remains in an early investigative stage, with key details — including the final design, utility demands, and whether the project happens at all — still unknown. “We’re investigating this,” Day said. “We’re going to find out what’s coming about and look at it hard.”
Day said the city’s authority to stop the project is limited because the proposed site sits outside Thomasville’s city limits, in an area with no countywide zoning. “There’s no vote that this council can take directly to stop the project,” Day said, though he noted the council could vote against any local incentives the project eventually requests. He added that the developer has not yet completed a required power supply study, which typically takes five to six months, meaning no final decision is likely soon.
Resident Chris Whitfield told the council that neighbors understand the city’s interest in economic development but believe the data center would hurt nearby homes, citing concerns over power consumption, water usage, industrial noise, quality of life and what he described as limited long-term job creation. “We strongly oppose building this data center,” Whitfield said, asking council members directly whether they would want to live within a mile of such a facility.
Day noted that Alabama recently passed legislation requiring proposed data centers to undergo additional review of their impact on the state’s electrical grid, and said he has asked the city’s industrial development attorney to look into whether an alternate location could be considered. Dummy Line Road resident Doyle Oates, who said his property sits roughly 150 yards from the proposed site, raised concerns about constant noise and declining property values. Day said a public meeting with the developer is expected once more information becomes available, possibly in August, and pledged the city would remain transparent throughout the process.
The data center dispute wasn’t the only economic development news out of the meeting. Day reported that the prospective buyer of the city’s former hospital property is expected to conduct a final walkthrough this week — a major step toward completing that sale — and gave updates on several other prospects, including a proposed $200 million wood-products project that could bring roughly 120 jobs and currently lists Thomasville as its top site candidate, along with a European company weighing a separate wood-products operation and additional steel-related projects under consideration for the city’s industrial sites.
Council members also heard from International Paper manager Reed Smith on repairs at the local mill, where heavy rainfall exposed extensive roof and truss damage that forced a shutdown; replacement trusses have begun arriving, and the company hopes to restart operations in August. In other business, the council approved annual supplemental retirement payments for eligible city retirees, hired Terry Keiker as a full-time police officer, promoted officer Chris Phillips to corporal, and heard that Clarke County’s updated FEMA Hazard Mitigation Plan is nearing completion.