FEDERALSBURG, Md. – Federalsburg residents packed the town's first public information session on a proposed data center Monday night.
Now with more information on the project from the developer, community members and town leaders are reacting.
According to a presentation posted by the Town of Federalsburg, “the project is intended to support advanced digital infrastructure uses, including potential data center development.”
Council Member Ian Ferguson said he does not support the idea of building a data center in the town. In a statement to WBOC he wrote the following:
“After listening to the presentation and the shear energy in the room, as well as the less than informative response to the questions posed by myself, my colleages, and the public; I can not support this project nor any project in a similar vein. Too many examples lay before us of communities that have had their resources extracted, their lands compromised, and their futures cut short by the promises of wildly inflated benefits. We live in an already sensitive location both in the environmental sense and in a fiscal sense. Rather than the saccharine promise of wealth and jobs, I intend to push forward with the hard work of rebuilding trust; using our resources, staff, and residents input to rebuild our infrastructure in an organic and ground up approach. This will take more time and work than having an entity do this work for us, but together we can do this for our our town, families and community. I look forward to having further discussions on how this can be done, look forward to input. Groups like Federalsburg Better Together have started to lay the ground work for this and I encourage all our residents to join in on this help. Likewise I certainly ask for community input in the simplest way...showing up to town hall and participating.”
The proposed “Fieldstone Technology Center” is still in the discussion phase.
State Sen. Johnny Mautz was at Monday’s meeting. He said project managers told him the project would need a level of county and town approval, and that the project was not up for approval or review at this point.
“I even had an opportunity to ask the proponents, is this project already penciled and is it subject to approval right now? And the answer was no. So they're considering, they want to build a data center, clearly. But the details of what they want to build and how they're going to pursue that, I think that's still up in the air,” said Mautz.
The project's developer, Wright Road LLC, confirmed in a statement to WBOC that the plan is still in its early stages.
“Fieldstone Technology Center is a proposed technology infrastructure campus in Federalsburg, Maryland. Wright Road LLC is the developer of the project, and Landwright Power Strategies serves as strategic development advisor. The project remains in an early stage and is subject to public review and required approvals. Our goal is to advance a responsible development process that creates economic opportunity while respecting the character of Federalsburg and engaging openly with the community.”
Some supporters of the project say it will bring construction jobs, permanent employment, local business activity and a tax revenue boost.
Joe Amalfitano, who owns the Sewing Outlet in Federalsburg said he supports the project if it doesn't drain county resources.
"I think if it creates jobs for the county, I'm all for it. And if it doesn't put a strain on the infrastructure of the county, I would be all for it," Amalfitano said.
But some opponents say they hope the town listens to the voice of the people.
George Jackson said he worries about the possible cost the project could bring to the community.
"How come a small group of people can determine which would change our lives forever?...It's not going to be but a handful of jobs, and yet it's going to be such an impact on our community. The water supply, electricity had to be piped in. It's going to cost utility bills, gov. Because somebody's got to do the work. And this is an expense that this county does not need. They made it without it. They don’t need it now,” Jackson said.
According to a presentation posted by the town from the Data Center Alliance of Maryland, an initiative of the Maryland Tech Council, the state requires data center developers to cover the cost of electric grid upgrades needed to serve their facilities.
Additionally, since this proposed project is located entirely within Federalsburg — Caroline County says it cannot regulate the project.
However — county commissioners say they may be involved in areas such as water and sewer planning, annexations, and environmental permitting. They are already looking into how to approach future data center projects in unincorporated areas of the county.
In a statement, the commissioners said: "Our discussions have focused on several key issues, including impacts to the electrical grid, water consumption, noise, environmental concerns, infrastructure capacity, and ensuring that any future proposal receives a thorough and transparent review."
Senator Mautz said the timeline for the proposed data center was not discussed Monday night.
Senator Mautz added that his initial reaction is one of concern — questioning what the plan actually is, how it would work, and what safeguards would be in place.
“We know data centers equal a lot of money,” said Senator Mautz. “Money is driving all of this. And, you know, there's a lot of bold statements that were made last night, a lot of discussion about energy prices, a lot of discussion about water, a lot of discussion about noise pollution and even health concerns. I think it's really important. It's prudent on the local government to verify those statements. We need to know, the residents need to know."
Councilmember Ferguson said town leaders will discuss next steps at their meeting this coming Monday.
More information from Monday’s meeting, including presentations can be found on the Town of Federalsburg website.
