Lamar Says No to Data Center: Community Concerns Pump the Brakes on Proposed Project

~Anne Boswell

Let's just take a step back!

Pump the brakes, and share concerns on data centers. Monday afternoon, Lamar City Council hosted a work session that was open to the public on the topic of introducing a data center. And following that work session was a city council meeting that had the topic on the agenda.

Lamar resident Jerry Scofield stood to talk about his feelings of being against having a data center in the city of Lamar.

"One of the big things they're talking about is the usage of water, some of them saying we don't use water."

Scofield said he's seen them when traveling in Missouri. He says they're enormous, spanning acres and acres of land. Some medical side effects of people living near data centers, Scofield added, has been an increase of cancer. He added he would just like to see more studies done before the city decides to welcome a data center.

Mary Miner is a Lamar resident who stated she was not good at public speaking but she's concerned. "Right when I heard that, my heart just sank, that we would possibly allow something like that in our city," Miner started.

Miner said she did some research to calm her fears.

What she learned about the use of electricity, water, land, noise and air pollution didn't really calm much.

"It scares me, because I love Lamar so much." She said the data center non-disclosure agreement that many centers are asking community members to sign are concerning.

She urged city officials to really listen to what that community members want and act in that interest.

Hannah Dooley Rogers stood to voice concerns about increasing dependence on Ai instead of building real community. She passionately spoke of focusing on creating a community that relies on each other instead of technology. To that, she earned a boisterous round of applause from the crowded meeting room.

"What are we going to do in the future when we don't have water, we can't drink data," Dooley Rogers ended her comments with another round of applause.

Many more people went down to the mic to take advantage of speaking their mind about a data center. Some worried about a data center harming the snow goose festival and causing other animals to flee. After the consideration of the feelings of the people of Lamar, Mayor Kirk Crespin posted on his social media page a final data center update:

"I have brought this opportunity forward because I believe Lamar deserves every change to grow, create good jobs, and build a stronger future. My goal has been to simply to learn the facts, hear your concerns, and determine whether this opportunity was the right fit for Lamar.

Our community has spoken, the Council and I have listened, and the Council and I have decided not to continue the discussions and place a moratorium on Data Centers with the City of Lamar. I appreciate everyone who took the time to be involved in this discussion.

This opportunity may have ended, but my commitment to Lamar has not. I will keep working with the City Council to bring responsible growth, investment, and good jobs to our community. thank you all for your feedback and ideas towards future growth for the City of Lamar."

from Mayor Kirk Crespin's official Facebook account

Many other Colorado communities have said no to data centers. Two Southeast Colorado Counties have published moratoriums for six-months until more information can be gathered and analyzed. As of this writing, Kiowa, Otero, and Bent Counties have gone on record with this.

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