The ACC Commission is currently considering a strong set of regulations to restrict the growth of data centers in Athens. Some commissioners are even wondering if they can legally prohibit all new “data centers,” as defined by the ACC Planning Department, across the entire county. This definition would not prohibit businesses from hosting a few website servers, for example, and would only apply to large, dedicated computing facilities.
At their meeting on Tuesday, the commission also considered recapturing some American Rescue Plan funds from certain nonprofits that may not be able to spend the funds before the federal deadline. Lastly, they reviewed a recent audit of the ACC Capital Projects Department, which oversees the local government’s SPLOST and TSPLOST programs.
Contents
Regulating data centers
Recapuring ARPA funds
Audit of the ACC Capital Projects Department
Regulating data centers
The ACC Commission began to consider a list of potential regulations on data center construction and operation at their meeting on Tuesday.
Data centers are large warehouses that hold computer servers used for any number of purposes, including website hosting, generative AI or cryptocurrency mining. These facilities have become more and more common in recent years due to a flood of investment capital pouring into artificial intelligence research. They’ve been sharply criticized by nearby residents wherever they end up being built because they tend to drive up local energy costs or pollute the air with on-site power generation. They can also emit significant amounts of noise, which can cause anxiety, stress and sleep disturbances for those living nearby.
But it’s not just nearby residents who have concerns. Environmental advocates also caution against the growth of data centers due to their immense water and power consumption, which can contribute to climate change.
Athens already has one data center in operation, which is owned by Atlanta Gas Light. When it was built, ACC planners had not yet developed a formal definition for the term, much less any regulations to prevent these facilities from causing disruptions to residential areas. This caused some alarm on the ACC Commission last year, which announced a complete ban on new data center construction until March to give the ACC Planning Department time to develop regulations.
These regulations are now ready for the ACC Commission to consider.
ACC Planning Director Bruce Lonnee gave a presentation on the regulations, which, if adopted, would become part of Athens-Clarke County’s standards for industrial zones. Data centers are generally restricted to areas currently zoned for heavy industrial uses.
Lonnee explained that the first thing the regulations would do is define the term “data center” to distinguish it from smaller server rooms currently in use by businesses and institutions like the University of Georgia. Under the proposed regulations, building a true “data center” would require special-use approval by the ACC Commission on a case-by-case basis, preventing these facilities from being built without government approval (i.e. “by right”).
This requirement, by itself, would prevent most data centers from ever being constructed in Athens, given how unpopular these facilities are with the public.
According to the regulations, any data center that is approved would need to have a closed-loop cooling system, rather than rely on evaporative cooling, which uses large amounts of water.
The proposed regulations do not limit energy usage by data centers in Athens. However, the ACC Planning Commission is requesting to be allowed to develop special-use criteria for data center approval, in addition to the proposed regulations, that could include an expectation for renewable energy or an upper limit on data center size and energy usage.
Public opinion
About a dozen residents spoke during public comment to urge the mayor and commission to extend their ban on new data center construction to give themselves time to consider the proposed regulations before making a final decision. Some speakers demanded that data centers be required to report their energy usage and others asked for the creation of a resident-led data center oversight committee.
Some even called for data centers to be banned permanently, if it were legally possible.
“I would like to see Athens outright ban data centers, but I’m not sure if that’s entirely possible,” said Aaron Joslin, a resident of Athens. “With additional data centers, Athens-Clarke County will not be able to meet its commitment to net-zero carbon emissions set forth in the clean and renewable energy plan…We are burning the habitability of our planet to power a few psychopaths’ need for a Grok-ified, Nazi-promoting, child-sexploitation assistance.”
Joslin was referring to Elon Musk’s Grok AI, which has called itself “Mecha-Hitler,” has spread anti-semitic narratives and has been under fire recently for creating child sexual abuse materials on demand.
All public comments were generally in favor of limiting data center construction as described in the proposed regulations. No one from the public spoke against the regulations out of a desire to allow additional data centers in Athens; the only comments that could be interpreted as somewhat disapproving were from those wanting stronger regulation.
Commissioner opinion
Overall, ACC Commissioners seemed just as skeptical as the general public about the benefits of allowing more data centers into Athens. Commissioner Melissa Link expressed a desire to extend the ban on new data center construction for an additional 90 days to have time to explore ways the government could be regulating data centers even more strongly.
“I think we have some serious questions to ask ourselves about the overall morality of this technology,” Link said. “One thing each and every one of us can do to address this issue is don’t use AI. Use your brain! If you have to write an email, use your brain.”
Commissioners Carol Myers and Ovita Thornton agreed with Link about extending the construction ban.
Going further, Commissioner Tiffany Taylor asked ACC Attorney Judd Drake if the commission could ban data centers from forcing their employees to sign nondisclosure agreements to keep their operations secret.
“We should know at all times what they’re doing if they’re operating in Athens-Clarke County,” Taylor said.
Drake said he needed time to research this question. Similarly, when Link asked if the commission could outlaw data centers altogether, Drake did not have an immediate answer and promised to do further research.
The proposal to regulate data centers will almost certainly pass in some form before the construction moratorium ends. The only remaining question, which for now is in the hands of the ACC Attorney’s Office, is about how strong the new regulations can be: very strong or completely prohibitive?
Both the public and most commissioners, as evidenced by their comments, seem to prefer the latter.
Recapturing ARPA funds
In 2021, the Biden administration sent $57 million to the ACC government to help our community weather the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These funds have helped advance many priorities of the ACC commission, including in the areas of affordable housing, homelessness, workforce development and more.
But all good things must come to an end.
The final deadline for spending ARPA money is December 31. Any money left unspent at that point would be reclaimed by the federal government.
Given this fact, ACC staff are currently recommending the recapture of over $750,000 of ARPA money that was previously awarded out of fear that it might not be spent by the deadline. This includes $125,000 from the Athens Land Trust, almost $250,000 from the Athens-Area Chamber of Commerce, $43,000 from the nonprofit Quality Care for Children and more.
The Athens Land Trust was originally awarded $2.75 million to build ten affordable homes for low-income Athenians. Demetrius Jordan, the executive director of Athens Land Trust, addressed the mayor and commission on Tuesday to explain that five of the homes have already been built. He tried to reassure commissioners that the other five would be constructed on time, before the deadline.
“Five families are living in [these homes] today. Five mortgages have replaced rent payments. Five households are building equity instead of instability,” Jordan said. “Five more homes are underway on Hawthorne Extension…Our timeline now projects three homes [will be] completed by April 30, two more by August 31. That would place us months ahead of the federal deadline.”
Myers, Thornton and Link all spoke up to support the Athens Land Trust and declare that they would be voting against this part of the ARPA recapture.
“I have absolute confidence that they’re going to make those houses,” Link said.
ACC staff will monitor all ARPA projects carefully to ensure that the ACC government does not need to return any ARPA funds to the federal government at the end of the year. If the Athens Land Trust or any other nonprofit continues to delay spending the funds, commissioners will hear about it again before December.
Audit of the ACC Capital Projects Department
The ACC Capital Projects Department, which oversees the county’s SPLOST and TSPLOST programs, is sometimes criticized for taking too long to complete certain projects, which can cause the public to bear cost overruns due to inflation. At times, inflation can threaten the very viability of certain projects.
While the reason for project delays is not always clear, Fisher has suggested at a recent mayoral debate that important SPLOST and TSPLOST projects should be funded up front by issuing municipal bonds. This would allow certain projects to be started much quicker. As sales tax dollars are collected, the bonds would be paid back. Using this method, the county would pay a small amount in interest but may save even more by avoiding the inflation that can result from years of delay.
Municipal bonds are sometimes utilized to build SPLOST projects already. For example, the Akins Ford Arena was financed in part by issuing bonds. But for most projects, the local government chooses to wait until the funds are collected before finalizing the design and starting construction.
ACC Internal Auditor Gavin Hassemer has recently completed his audit of the ACC Capital Projects Department and has made two other suggestions for how to improve the speed of project construction.
First, Hassemer argues that the department may need more staff. The Capital Projects Department is currently managing 209 different projects and subprojects with only three employees. The approval of any additional projects (for example, if the TSPLOST 2026 referendum is approved by voters in May) would “likely put the department over capacity and necessitate additional staff to keep up with day-to-day operations,” Hassemer writes.
Second, Hassemer places part of the blame for slow project implementation on the large number of citizen-led user groups involved in the decision-making of every SPLOST and TSPLOST program.
Athens is somewhat unusual among local governments across Georgia for the large role it gives to the public when it comes to capital projects. Athens not only creates user groups up-front to help determine the projects that make up each SPLOST or TSPLOST program, which most communities don’t do, but the ACC government also creates user groups even on the back-end. After a particular sales tax program passes, a citizen group is formed to oversee its implementation, usually made up of people who served on the project selection committee.
Furthermore, the ACC government invites the public to submit their own SPLOST or TSPLOST proposals, a practice which enhances our local democracy but also can be a drain on government resources. Depending on how many citizen proposals there are, discussing and finalizing these proposals can consume a significant amount of staff time.
Hassemer writes that “the sheer number of user groups, including the various memberships within each, is a logistical challenge” and can end up being “a direct cause of project delays.” He recommends reducing the number of user groups and consolidating all SPLOST and TSPLOST oversight committees into a single, official SPLOST Oversight Commission.
You can read the full audit of the ACC Capital Projects Department here.
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