The planning commission for the city of Rosemount has unanimously approved several measures for the Meta Platforms data center project to move forward despite objections from residents. It now heads to the city council, which is scheduled to consider approving the plan so it can begin construction on Dec. 21. (Related: The globalist vision: 15-Minute prison cities and the end of private property.)
Initially dubbed "Project Bigfoot," Meta's data center is set to be housed on 280 acres of land in the University of Minnesota's UMore Park, near the southern edge of Rosemount, a suburb of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. The university's Board of Regents recently sold the land to Meta for $39.7 million, with the deal expected to close by the end of January.
The proposed data center is expected to cost Meta $700 million and create only 50 full-time jobs. However, state and local officials tried to argue that the data center would be one of the largest construction projects in Minnesota in recent years and would employ about 1,000 tradespeople.
"It is exciting to see projects like this coming to Minnesota," said Minnesota Public Utilities Commissioner Joe Sullivan. "They have a really important benefit for all the jobs created."
Rosemount residents have warned city officials about their concerns regarding the possibility of the data center using up the city's water and electricity resources.
During her Dec. 15 episode of "Right Now with Ann Vandersteel" on Brighteon.TV, Vandersteel pointed out that the area where the data center is expected to be built drains into the Vermillion River, which is already listed by the state as an impaired water site.
She warned that, on average, hyperscale data centers like the one Meta wants to build use on average 450,000 gallons of water per day. Rosemount's water usage is already unsustainable, according to city authorities.
"These data centers shouldn't be anywhere near residential communities," warned Vandersteel, who pointed out that, once completed, the Rosemount data center is expected to bring in about 35,000 people to a city of just 27,000, creating "a city within a city."
The first phase of Meta's data center is expected to draw in at least 10 megawatts of electricity, to be supplied by Minneapolis-based electric utility company Xcel Energy. In exchange, Meta will be making monthly payments of at least $20,000, and as Meta consumes more electricity what it pays could rise to as high as $100,000, especially if local electricity demand is above 150 megawatts.
Furthermore, city residents have pointed out why the data center has been allowed many variances to city building codes, such as with fence height.
Rosemount City Administrator Logan Martin claimed that massive projects like Meta's data center ask for deviations from city code for a variety of reasons. He further claimed that Project Bigfoot was granted "a typical number of variances."
Find more stories about Meta at MetaTyranny.com.
Watch this Dec. 15 episode of "Right Now with Ann Vandersteel." Catch new episodes of the program every Monday to Friday from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. EST on Brighteon.TV.
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