By Taylor Fleming
PEKIN, Ill. (25 News) – A proposed data center in Pekin is a possible use for a 1,000 acre property the city purchased last year, and it’s quickly attracted lots of opposition from neighbors.
Tuesday, the city held a meeting on land transactions in hopes of making the process a little clearer.
In recent weeks, Pekin residents have filled city meetings to speak during public comment about the data center, even when it wasn’t on the agenda.
Dozens of people showed up at the Pekin Public Library Tuesday to hear from city officials about land transactions and development decisions.
Officially, the meeting was not about a data center. Unofficially, many community members were there because of their concerns with the proposal.
Pekin resident Mark Stevens is worried about electricity usage.
“It’s nice that the city is willing to open up the books on how this happens. We’re excited to learn about the due diligence the city is doing, excited to learn about that, excited to learn about the process. At the same time, we want to make it abundantly clear that this is not a good fit for the City of Pekin,” Stevens said.
City staff hoped the meeting would make development in general more transparent, with goals to address questions about how the process works.
The meeting was led by Pekin Economic Development Director Josh Wray, but Mayor Mary Burgess and some city staff were there as well.
Stevens asked how the city council and staff would handle changes to a project.
“Generally once council has voted on something, if it’s going to change materially, it does have to come back to council. So, if we approve a real estate transaction and then over the course of a year something changes, and we want to change that real estate transaction, we can circle back and go back to city council,” Wray said.
Wray also confirmed the agreement the city has with the company behind the potential data center depends on the company getting site approval.
A town hall on the data center will be held Tuesday, March 24 at 7 p.m. at the Pekin Community High School theater.
Wray tells 25 News that a council decision on the data center is months, if not a year, away.
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