MONTGOMERY CITY — Hundreds of residents gathered in Montgomery County High School's gymnasium Thursday to voice their concerns over the proposal of two data centers being built in their community.
The proposal dedicates 5,000 acres of land to a mega-site where so far both Amazon and Google have plans to bring its data centers to the county. Residents at the event, organized by a local group called Preserve Montgomery County, were against this potential course of action by their county leaders.
"Did they ask if this is what we wanted?" Montgomery County resident Lori Kueny said. "No."
Community leaders, including the Missouri Farmer Bureau and Jeffery Law Group, gave presentations about the potential effects on farms and the legal ambiguity behind the proposal. Over 25 residents spoke at the event.
Residents in the rural community are concerned about the potential risks the mega-site could have on Montgomery County's drinking water and rising utility costs.
Tammy Ridgeley is a concerned resident and a member of Preserve Montgomery County. She has lived in the county for 45 years and is worried about the future of her community due to a lack of transparency about the data centers.
"We're a community that's driven to make sure that we are fighting this," Ridgeley said. "Not because we're fighting the data center, but we're fighting the unknowns the data centers will bring and we're not going to backdown."
One member of the Montgomery County Commission, Ryan Poston, attended the event.
The Preserve Montgomery County group is having its next meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 5 at the Montgomery County Public Library to further oppose the mega-site.
"If data centers are so wonderful, then why are communities threatened with them fighting against them?" Kueny said.
