MAYSVILLE, Ky. — Proposed rules governing the construction and operation of a $1 billion data center in Mason County moved toward a final vote at a packed joint planning commission meeting on Wednesday.
There was no public comment as members of the commission proposed rule tweaks in a back-and-forth with Maysville Planning and Zoning Administrator George Larger.
In the crowd, two members of the We Are Mason County KY Facebook group broadcast the meeting to their 2,600 followers.
We talked with treasurer Janet Garrison when the meeting ended, and she called the proposed protections "grossly inadequate."
"Unfortunately, I feel like this meeting was a huge disappointment," Garrison said.
Garrison and group president Max Moran said they're concerned about noise pollution, proximity to nearby homes, environmental impacts and more.
They told us they've submitted their own rules and regulations to the planning commission, but many haven't been adopted.
WATCH: We talk with people worried about pending data center construction
"They want to ram it through as hard as possible with as little protection as possible," Moran said.
Larger and county judge executive Owen Mason McNeil both declined an interview.
The second draft brought before the joint planning commission covered a wide range of topics from screens around the property to generator usage, parking availability, noise levels, emergency response plans, environmental impact studies and a procedure by which people living around the property can file complaints.
In the draft, a complainant would file a complaint with the "Data Center owner" to be kept in a log filed with the planning and zoning director. The data center owner would then have 60 days to find a resolution to the complaint.
If not resolved within 60 days, the complainant would be able to notify the planning and zoning director and pay $250 for an arbitrator to find a resolution for them.
At the meeting, commission members suggested raising the fee to $1,500 and geographically limiting where the complaints could be filed from to dissuade frivolous complaints.
One member suggested that complainants be refunded their filing fee if they win their arbitration, so legitimate complaints aren't punished.
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"The point of this process is not to get some sort of damages, it's to fix the problem," Larger told the board.
The planning commission scheduled a special meeting to finalize the rules for 5:30 p.m. Feb. 4 at the Mason Library.
