Mhm.
» Mhm.
» Just so everyone knows, there is a sheet
at the podium when you go to speak for
public comment, you may sign your name
then. Thank you.
» There's extra seats down the hall in the
overflow room if you
need a chair.
» Mhm.
» [music]
[music]
» Mics are going live.
» [music]
[music]
» Good afternoon everyone. I'd like to
welcome you to the May 20th Planning
Commission meeting.
Madam City Clerk, roll call, please.
Thank you. The agenda was posted in
accordance with Nevada Open Meeting Law
and all members are present. Thank you.
If you could please stand and join me in
the pledge.
Our first item is public comment. As a
reminder, this first public comment is
for matters on the agenda tonight.
There's a 3-minute time limit. I also
want to remind the public that both of
the items on the agenda tonight are
public hearings, so we are required to
open public comment under both of those
items as well. So, um just due to time
and um the number of people, we want
everybody to have the opportunity to
speak. So, there would um if you speak
in the first open public comment and
unless you have new points to make, we
ask that you keep that be you do one or
the other.
The first item on the agenda,
so I will open public comment. Please
come to the
um stand and state your name for the
record.
I'll go first.
And I write my name here, right?
» Good evening, commissioners. Thank you
for your time.
My name is Amanda Knuckles and I have
been a resident of Clark County the vast
majority of my life.
I am here tonight to urge the Planning
Commission to reject the proposal for
the 88.5 acre town site solar 2 AI data
center.
Boulder City has been a clean green
oasis in the in the desert all of my
life. A place I have fond memories of
attending art festivals, car shows, gem
and mineral shows, enjoying lunch,
antique shopping, and the friendly quiet
sanctuary of a town with clean air a
short drive from my home in Henderson.
Just the other side of the Mojave Valley
where this project is being proposed.
Boulder City has always protected the
town's history, small town charm, and
natural resources through measured
deliberate growth.
This proposal represents a massive
irreversible shift in how Clark County
uses our public land,
bringing industrial scale strains that
simply do not align with the values
necessary in a desert environment.
Looking at the sheer scale of what is
being asked, this 170 megawatt facility
would demand massive amounts of energy
covering 88 and 1/2 acres of space. Even
if the developer buys power from the
Oakman market via the Mead substation,
injecting this level of continuous high
density demand into our regional
ecosystem
places an immense burden on an already
strained power grid. All at a time when
Southern Nevada is facing record summer
heat and skyrocketing utility costs. My
key point here is that we do not have
the water for this, period.
Finally, thousands of residents have
already signed a petition against this
project because it is agreed that this
process is proverbial proverbially
putting the cart before the horse.
This coming November, the voters of the
Boulder City will cast their ballots on
question one to decide whether data
centers should even be an approved land
use in the valley.
Forcing this specific 88 and 1/2 acre
project through the land management
process before the community has had the
chance to democratically voice its
stance on data centers is entirely wrong
and undemocratic.
Please, let's protect our resources,
respect the upcoming public vote, and
keep Boulder City true to its heritage.
Please vote no on advancing this
project. Thank you.
Good evening, members of the Planning
Commission. My name is Julie and I live
right down the road next door in
Henderson. I heard a statistic that for
every constituent phone call that a
representative receives, that call is
counted as five calls. How much greater
is the multiplier for constituents
showing up in person to meetings or for
those giving public comment? I would to
look around and acknowledge that public,
your constituents in this room today,
represent a fraction of the number of
people who feel the exact same way but
were unable, unaware, or too afraid to
speak up. I also recently heard a
political candidate speaking about their
role as a representative of us and their
responsibility is to us to listen to our
needs, learn what's important to us, and
what we need from them. And then they
must support policies which support the
things for which we have asked. With all
that in mind, I find it perplexing that
the same conversation about data centers
is on repeat, not just here in Boulder
City, but across the state and this
nation because in all conversations I've
heard between friends, family, and
neighbors, and the community members at
town halls and candidate events,
documentaries I've watched, I have not
heard one regular person say they
supported data center development not in
our town, our state, or our country. So
again, we the people are coming to all
of you, our elected officials, to plead
our case for not allowing this data
center to be developed. You are being
pressured by corporations who want to
come in and build these data centers for
their own greed. They don't care about
creating jobs for the people or the
damage they're doing to the environment.
They are coming to you to take advantage
of the nationwide environmental
deregulation climate that has been the
hallmark of the current regime in
Washington.
There isn't one scientific organization
which says the AI data centers are good
for the environment, the air we breathe,
our water supplies, the health of our
bodies, or our minds. AI technology has
been pushed on all of us, not just
locally but nationally and around the
world, and there aren't studies or
evidence that AI has a positive benefit
to us as individuals or as society. On
the contrary,
it causes job loss, less educated human
population, mental health crises, and
let's not forget the push for mass
surveillance. All these struggles we are
facing today are taking us down the path
towards being controlled by the few
billionaires at the top. Data centers
are a central piece of the groundwork
being laid for real life dystopia
similar to what exists in books like
1984, The Hunger Games, and The
Handmaid's Tale. There is no reason to
put a data center in the middle of a
desert during a multi-decade drought
intentionally adding to the strain on
our energy infrastructure. Towns that
are solar should stick with their
original plan to develop solar and
battery energy storage systems which are
in line with the current zoning for
clean energy-related uses. When we take
back our government from the billionaire
dictators, let's not regret decisions we
made during the most devastating time in
American history with regard to the
rolling back of environmental standards
and goals. Just because we don't have
responsible humans in Washington doesn't
mean that we shouldn't show
responsibility ourselves at the state
and local level. What do you want to be
remembered for during your tenure at the
planning commission? Thank you so much
for your time.
Greetings, Planning Commission. My name
is Adam Schultheis and I'm running for
City Council.
In fact, I'm the only candidate
that is 100% anti-data center.
I respectfully urge that you that you,
the Commission, carefully reconsider
approval of this closed-loop data center
proposal due to its long-term impacts on
infrastructure, sustainability,
community character, and public
accountability.
While developers often describe
closed-loop data centers as efficient or
self-contained, the reality is that all
these facilities can still place
enormous burdens on local resources
while providing limited benefits to the
residents.
These projects are designed primarily to
serve private corporate interests, not
the long-term needs of the surrounding
community, that is Boulder City. First,
data centers consume extraordinary
amounts of electricity.
Even so-called closed-loop systems
require constant cooling,
backup power for infrastructure, and
large-scale energy distribution.
These constrain regional power grids
and increase energy cost.
Second, closed-loop systems are often
presented as environmentally friendly
because they recycle water.
However, these systems require
significant water input and chemical
treatment.
In our drought-prone region, approving
water-intensive
industrial data centers sends the wrong
message about responsible resource
stewardship.
Third, these facilities frequently
generate less economic value than
promised. This is really important.
According to Harvard University,
building a data center takes about 12 to
18 months, but construction laborers are
usually unionized and not from Boulder
City. Let's be honest. Come on. I mean,
really.
Once up and running, often only 20
people are needed to run a medium-sized
data center, like the one that is being
proposed.
So, in conclusion, a project that
consumes enormous energy and
infrastructure capacity while producing
limited local benefits should not be
approved.
>> [clears throat]
» [clears throat]
>> What's it going to be, Planning
» What's it going to be, Planning
Commission?
Are you going to sell your souls to the
devil
by approving this data center?
Or are you going to do the right thing
by shouting from the rooftops of Boulder
City and for the people of Boulder City
and say no to data centers?
Hello. My name's Doug Smith. I thought
I'd put some numbers on things. So,
Hoover Dam normally puts out 2,005 MW,
but because the water level's low, we're
doing about a third less than that now.
Um this summer, the water level's likely
to get low enough they'll have to shut
down
shut 11 [snorts] generators, leaving
seven. Then we're down to 300 MW.
That's enough for Boulder City. We get
20 MW from them. Um
however, another problem is going to
happen. The piping in
in the dam does not have expansion
joints like many do.
When the water level reaches 76.8 the
pipes will start to expand so much they
might buckle they got to stop shut it
down. That could happen this summer if
we have a warmer than normal summer
which I think we are. So that that's a
problem. Uh
At that point we get our electricity
from the dam at low market rates.
And if the dam shuts down
then we have to buy it on the open
market the same market as the data
center. So
I just estimate not including data
centers that our rates will go up about
about double here in Boulder City if
that happens. Um water won't be a
problem we're upstream of the dam and
our withdrawal is way below the dead
pool so water won't be a problem for us
but electricity will.
So I just thought I'd bring that. By the
way I'm electrical engineer I got my
first engineering license at age 16 back
in 1963.
And I've been engineer ever since then
but I just thought I'd put some numbers
on it but
we're going to be short of electricity
around here and it could happen as early
as this summer.
Thank you.
Thank you Mr. Smith. Before
anybody else approaches the
stand Madam City Clerk do we have a
caller on the line? Yes we do. Okay.
Thank you for holding go ahead.
Yeah I'm ready. Now the data center they
could have solar panels as well.
Yes they could have solar panels
>> record sir?
» record sir?
David D A V I D Pitterman is spelled P
as in penguin I T T E R M A N.
Thank you.
It's for the data center and they could
have solar panels that look at to the
factory Luz L U Z that makes solar
panels as well.
Mr. Peterman, this is public comment and
we don't um have conversations or answer
questions at this time.
Yes, they could even have mirrors direct
you sunlight to the solar panels as
well, even windmills for during
electricity.
And the purpose of a data center is to
make sure people behave themselves on
the internet.
Um
Thank you for your comments, Mr.
Peterman.
I'll continue public comment. Is there
anybody in the audience that wants to
come forward?
Okay, my comment's a little bit
different. My name is Joanna Malloy. I
have been a resident for 11 years.
Um I'm giving you an analogy. So, and
this is for item three.
Um I worked in a pharmacy for a small
town in two in the 2000s for almost 11
years. It was a known fact that drug
companies paid their reps well to not
ask or share information uh with doctors
that might affect their choice to
prescribe a drug. Their job was to tout
the virtues of the drug. It was also
their job to sometimes incentivize the
doctors to prescribe a drug.
Fentanyl and Oxycontin were introduced
this way. Reports have shown the drug
companies were well aware these drugs
were highly addictive, but they chose to
push them anyway. Sometimes drug reps
would take pharmacists out for dinners
and gave them gifts um and they they
used it as an opportunity to teach us
about why we should um allow that we
should accept these prescriptions and
not question them. This later became
against the law.
Um doctors wrote the prescriptions,
pharmacists filled them, and all seemed
well until many people became addicted.
They had been assured by the doctors the
drugs were safe, so they used them. By
the time they were addicted, it was too
difficult to turn around. It was costly
to get treatment, and in some cases it
was just too difficult, and some of the
people that I knew killed themselves
because of it. Um this is what we see if
it is recommended to the city council,
not that we're going to kill ourselves.
Um if it is recommended to the city
council to accept the change to the land
use to allow data centers. We are being
told it may never be used this way, but
the wooing is strong, and we do know
that it is being pushed, and that there,
you know, we have a we don't have a
line. We have a a company that wants to
build these
build a data center, and we are in very
much against it because of the um
effects it'll have on the environment,
and by the time it gets built, and it is
pushed through, um
there's not going to be anywhere we can
do anything about it, and that's that's
not okay. So, anyway, there you go.
Good afternoon. I'm Carol Shultice. I've
been a resident here for 35 years.
I love Boulder City.
And everybody's told me about the
concerns so far that
that they have regarding these data
centers, and it it's not just about
whether they're in the transfer zone, or
they're right there on our border. We
don't want them in all.
And since I've been studying these data
centers, I've also been studying the
movements of what's going on behind the
counters
about about behind the scenes. I'm
sorry, I'm nervous. I'm not good at
speaking. That's why I try to call in.
And that doesn't work for me.
I just have a picture I want to show you
guys and can you please maybe at the end
of this address this because
you have a ballot question for data
centers.
And this is a different data center.
And then we see the land being groomed
already for one up in Henderson on the
border.
And then I found this.
On the internet.
I don't know if it's a surprise to you,
but it says it's zoned for the
industrial.
And it's in Henderson.
But isn't that the Boulder City property
that was annexed that you guys
determined the use for?
So are we fighting one, two, three, or
four?
It's just very upsetting because I love
this town.
I'd do anything to help this town.
Please don't do this to Boulder City.
We'll take the caller. Oh, I'm sorry,
ma'am. You can come up after this
caller.
Public comment, go ahead.
Hello.
Public comment, may help you?
Hello.
Hi. Hi, can you mute the
background, please?
Your computer, we can hear it. Hi, if
you can state your name and
speak your comments.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
This is Jasmine Lazaro.
I'm a family nurse practitioner.
I treat patients in this community.
And I'm
I'm sorry. Hold on.
Hi, is this Bella?
Yes. My name is Jasmine Lazarro. I'm a
family nurse practitioner.
I treat patients in this community.
And I'm calling in today because I am
sick, but I wanted to make my voice
heard because I know so many people who
share the same sentiment.
What is being proposed in Boulder City
is not just a land use decision. It is a
public health decision and the wrong
one.
Southern Nevada is already under Tier 1
Colorado River water shortage
restrictions.
Lake Mead has dropped 160 ft since 2000.
We are already rationing.
We are already cutting.
And projections indicate conditions will
worsen.
Data centers consume water at a scale
that is difficult to comprehend.
Facilities across Southern Nevada used
more than 716
million gallons in 2024 alone.
One Google building in Henderson used
352
million gallons from the Colorado River
from the same shrinking supply every
household, every clinic, and every child
in this valley depends on.
And we have already seen what corporate
self-regulation looks like here.
Tesla was fined in Nevada for illegally
discharging groundwater into storm
drains, violating state water pollution
law.
These are not hypothetical risks.
They are documented violations
in our state.
As a healthcare provider,
I am trained to identify threats before
they become crises.
Dehydration,
heat illness, sanitation failure
in a desert city already under shortage
restrictions,
these are not distant outcomes. They are
logical ones.
Our water, our land, and our public
investment belong to the people who live
here,
not to corporations storing data while
our reservoir reservoir drains.
No to data centers and yes to healthcare
centers.
No to data centers
and yes to more educational centers.
My name is Jasmine, and I'm asking you
to choose people over data centers.
Thank you.
You can come forward. Thank you.
Just
write my name.
Hello, Planning Commission.
My name is Kathleen McGarrity.
The McGarrity family have been residents
in Boulder City for over 30 years, and I
have personally permanently resided here
for over 12.
» [clears throat]
» Where to start in this, but I realize
time is short
and it's a privilege to follow
Carol and Jocelyn.
There is
lengthy discourse online and this
doesn't include the petition that has
close to 6,000 verified signatures
that are against building a data center
in Boulder City.
However,
several of the line of the threads
online have comments that are very
insightful. Residents coming forward in
in large numbers and in in solid
expression
98% of it in opposition of data centers.
For example, a day ago someone wrote
about the removal of all elected Boulder
City politicians who in any way support
the development of data centers in the
drought-stricken Boulder City Lake Mead
area.
This is a message that must be sent loud
and clear. Exclamation point.
There is no case to be made for this
effort
except perhaps corporate greed.
We must protect the future of Boulder
City and families. There is no water to
be squandered on data center efforts.
Greedy politicians spouting a bunch of
corporate sponsored talking points must
be stopped before they are even started.
So what I want to ask the commission and
I realize you're not answering questions
right now is
given the tremendous quantity of water
usage and the established knowledge,
public knowledge, that we are in a
drought crisis of which Secretary of
Interior Doug Burgum flew and had a
meeting with the various governors of
the southwestern states and incidentally
has has that information been made
available to the public?
Given all of this
and the thought that the public is
thinking
Now, again, this is just this is just
what the public is thinking. They're
thinking that this is moving forward
anyway, and this meeting these meetings
are perfunctory.
They're thinking that it's a legal
requirement to have these meetings, but
that it's a set and done deal, and that
their voices don't matter.
I was hesitant to come here and speak
up.
But a woman spoke with me today, and
while I am not putting myself by any
means in the category of the great
Martin Luther King,
she pointed out to me that at the time
he did not realize necessarily the
impact he might have
regarding freedoms and the protections
that he fought for.
So, your constituents,
citizens who pay to elect the elected
officials in Boulder City and Henderson,
are speaking to you
by the thousands.
>> Ms. Garrity, if you could wrap it up in
» Ms. Garrity, if you could wrap it up in
your own time.
>> good. Very good. All that I would like
» good. Very good. All that I would like
to ask is in 3 to 6 months or 1 to 3
months, will it be announced that
there's a state of emergency regarding
water here?
And is this data center really going
forward? Because I don't know how that's
justifiable. I don't know how you
juxtapose those elements together. Thank
you very much.
>> [applause]
» We have a caller, so if if people in the
audience could just wait, please. Thank
you. Go ahead.
Public comment, go ahead.
Good evening. For [clears throat] the
verbatim record, Fred Voltz.
Item number two represents a
constructive addition to the community.
Limiting irrigation to drip systems
would be a worthwhile insertion to the
proposed wording.
Regarding item number three, the
planning commission needs to reject
adding the proposed data center to the
land management process.
Despite changes to versions of the
sketchy proposal, Boulder City has no
factory-type installations of this size
and scope.
This project was sprung on residents as
a done deal beginning in late March
after 8 months of private discussions
between the city and the project
promoters.
The promoters spent some 5 and 1/2
million dollars by February 2026 to
arrange for a power connection to their
project when nothing had been approved
by the city.
The promoters have no experience running
data centers anywhere.
The two public meetings did not allow
those present to hear from the promoters
in a question and answer format before
all present, but carved up the public
into small groups who heard different
things from different people at
dispersed easel displays.
As drought continues to impact water and
electric supplies throughout the West
and Midwest, the power needs of this
data center will be competing with the
existing residents and businesses in
Boulder City for purchased power on the
spot market.
Hoover and Glen Canyon Dams can no
longer be relied on for most of our
low-cost power. Higher rates loom large.
Disposal of spent coolant from the
proposed closed-loop cooling system
presents more challenges.
For a 400,000-gallon
cooling system to allegedly need only
2,000 gallons a year of blowdown does
not reflect chemical compounds that
naturally build up than the regular
addition of antifreeze blends, biocides,
scale inhibitors, acidity-alkalinity
adjusters, oxygen scavengers, metal
inhibitors, stabilizers, and
surfactants.
How will this toxic liquid be remediated
before being dumped into our dated city
sewer system?
No plan has been presented.
Other localities with ample power and
water plus a welcoming community, can
house such data centers. It is an
inappropriate land use in Boulder City
few people want. Thank you.
My name is Fred Dexter. I've been a
Boulder City as a resident property
owner for 25 years.
I'd like to um
approach this data center from a
slightly different angle than the other
people who have spoken.
I was very happy to hear the caller's
remarks just now, very well educated.
Why are we even considering it?
Money.
Eldorado Valley is our bank.
We can put other things there, more
solar panels,
that are not so controversial or
damaging.
We could save it a little bit for the
future.
We don't have to use it up all right
away.
But, getting a data center just so
Boulder City can have more money
is a really bad idea, and nobody wants
it. Thank you.
Hello, thank you for letting me speak.
My name is Autumn McGrath. I moved here
5 years ago from Henderson. I lived in
Summerlin for 12 years, in Henderson for
12 years, and now 5 years in Boulder
City. And unlike some of the other
commenters, I'm not really crazy about
it, to be honest. I've been talking to a
lot of locals. I own a small business
here, and I know a lot of people.
The number one remark is how painful and
heartbreaking it is to be from here and
grow up here and watch it change and
watch all the people come from
California and ruin everything and
putting in, you know, needle exchanges
and
just they're losing the town that they
grew up in, but it's almost an equal
punishment to move here.
Um
because of things like this. Um
the average resident is busy, exhausted,
and understandably disengaged from local
politics. It is not laziness, it is not
a fault. It is a survival. People are
consumed with their immediate families
and needs. No one is interested in
combing through the minutes of a city
council meeting.
And the people that do come to these,
and the people that are involved in
local politics,
like most of the people in this room,
they really do exist inside of their own
echo chambers. All of their friends
think the same. The news doesn't spread
to the outside community. Um I was
watching a documentary about Abilene,
Texas, and the largest data center place
in our country, nobody knew when it
started. That's what every small town in
all of these documentaries, all of the
residents say the same thing. They
didn't know when it was starting. Nobody
knows.
It's always like behind your back.
Um
Boulder City residents were not properly
informed about this massive project, and
the council failed its duty of due
diligence.
The social media post on Instagram
announcing that this process is
transparent after several protests and a
massive petition
uh started and had already gained over
5,000 signatures, that was pretty
cringeworthy.
You have been sold into an intoxicating
expert-level corporate sales pitch, and
as a MAGA America first person, I'm very
familiar with the sales pitch about
national security,
um the race
in AI against China, unleashing American
energy, removing restrictions, being
number one.
Um
the AI race with China, mass national
security, that stuff sells really well.
Uh
especially
Well, the grim reality will hit later.
Across the country, these data center
salesmen are taking advantage of easy to
roll over gullible small towns.
There will never be an end. They will
always want more.
This first project is just a foot in the
door door to turn Nevada into the next
Virginia. They build in clusters. They
will never build just one.
And then back the resources have been
touched on enough. So,
um water is more vola- more important
than a volatile AI industry.
We already suffer from summer rolling
blackouts and high utility rates.
>> up. If you could just wrap it up in the
» up. If you could just wrap it up in the
next couple seconds, please.
>> managed by inept office. This deal
» managed by inept office. This deal
grants long-term tax abatements to a
mega corporation while forcing residents
to foot the bill through increased
rates.
The promised 25 to 40 jobs will not go
to locals. They will bring in their own
people.
And then the rest of my comments
>> Your time's up. Thank you.
» Your time's up. Thank you.
>> about the wildlife.
» about the wildlife.
Thank you.
We have somebody on the phone if uh
please
Public comment, go ahead.
Hello there. My name is Tommy Love.
I'm a registered nurse and a community
healthcare worker
who loves Boulder City deeply.
I am calling because this affects every
person in the valley.
And I'm using my voice to ask you not to
approve the data centers in Boulder
City.
The community is already living under a
tier one Colorado River water shortage
restriction,
which means that it reduces Nevada's
water consumption every year by 20,000
acres per year.
That's not sustainable already.
Our neighbors are being asked to pull
their grass,
shorten their showers,
and stretch every drop.
And now we're being asked to approve an
88-acre data center campus right next to
the res- reservoir that supplies almost
all of our drinking water.
This infrastructure is not here to help
people.
It is here to monitor them.
It exists to collect and store data on
the very communities being asked to
sacrifice their water for it.
We should be putting this land towards
resources that actually serve the people
who live here.
Affordable housing, community health,
local jobs, and real accountability.
These data centers are not for the
community.
They're for the corporations and the
billionaires behind them who will never
have to live with what they leave
behind.
They take the water, they use the land,
and we have to pay and live with these
consequences.
Think of what we could build with this
community land of 88 acres.
Think of how many people we could help
and the things we could accomplish.
Boulder City and the Valley deserves
better.
Thank you so much for your time.
Madam City Clerk, is there another
caller?
Go come forward, please.
Hi, my name is Brenda Delarmie, and I am
respectfully asking you to reject the
proposal for Town Site 2 in agenda item
3. Um frankly, most of us are here
because nobody wants us.
We've heard from numerous politicians
who have come here to Boulder City to
show their support for their hopeful
future constituents. And I know you are
not the council, but we are all
frustrated and curious as to why our own
council who we elected are not listening
to so many of their own constituents.
Um the change.org petition I started not
even 2 months ago has 5,911
signatures as of this moment. And the
city on their website and in talking to
them and talking to the applicant,
they've said things such as, "Well,
they'll just go next door to Henderson."
And well, I
don't think data centers belong anywhere
in Southern Nevada, in the Mojave
Desert, in the second fastest warming
region in the United States, and in the
drought-stricken Colorado River Basin.
Um well, to them I'd ask if everyone
else is jumping off a bridge, would you
do it? And Boulder City has never
accepted that mantra and as one example,
we're historic town at our heart and
soul.
And
um one example of that is with respect
to gambling. We've all said we just
don't want it in this town, even though
it's lucrative, it would bring a ton of
money.
And you can do it just right up the
street at Railroad Pass, a 5-minute
drive away. We've said we don't care, we
don't want it, bring it there. So, that
would be my response to them on just
that one issue. And
I'll come back to speak at
the actual public hearing. So, thank you
all.
Hi, my name is Cherabel Law.
» So,
I wanted to start by saying something a
little bit different. We're going to
hear a lot of negativity tonight, and of
course we are. This is a very rough
subject.
But, I want to start by saying just how
proud I am of Boulder City and all of
its citizens. I have never seen people
come together on a bipartisan issue in
this way. We have thousands of people,
no matter their political positions,
coming together. People who I have seen
literally threaten each other stand side
by side on this issue saying no to data
centers. So, I'm so proud of our people.
I wish I could say I was proud of our
council, but I am very disappointed in
them.
Please don't let me be disappointed in
you guys.
Um
and sorry for my voice shaking. This is,
of course, a very emotional thing. This
is my home,
and it is heartbreaking what is
happening.
And I've heard so many people from all
around Boulder City say that they're not
going to come speak up and they're not
going to sign everything because they
feel like it doesn't matter because it's
a {quote} done deal because City Council
is brushing us off.
So, what I want everyone to hear is your
voice does still matter. It's not a done
deal, and complacency is where the real
issue lies on this. Come up here. Stand
up. Speak. Even if you only come up and
say your name and say say no to data
centers, that can be your entire speech,
and then you can go sit down.
Whether it's AC or water,
either one it's going to be damaging. It
is so much cheaper for these types of
industries to just dump it back into the
environment and pay a fee than it is to
properly get rid of it. It doesn't
matter whether it's Freon or water or
literally it could be root beer, and
they're going to figure out a way to
damage the environment with it. It's how
it always goes.
And it's going to damage tourism. I have
heard so many tourists come through our
town and talk about the beautiful views.
And we want to just wreck them with a
stupid center?
Why?
We're going to damage our long-term
money from tourism. We're a highway
town.
If we keep up with this, we're just
going to be a highway because there
won't be a Boulder City left because
everyone's going to leave because it's
going to be too expensive, it's going to
be too hot, and it will be a hellhole to
live in. It is a beautiful town and I
love this place.
And I don't want it to see I don't want
to see it go down this route, but we're
going to. Our people should not be sold
for pocket change, our land shouldn't be
sold for pocket change, our health, our
water, our electricity. All of it
shouldn't be sold for what is not going
to be worth it.
And
it doesn't matter if Henderson tries to
build something. We can go over there
and try to argue against Henderson, but
like Brin said,
we're not going to jump off a bridge
just because someone else is going to,
and we definitely shouldn't jump off
first.
So,
if Henderson tries to put something
that's out here, then they do, and we're
going to fight it just as we're fighting
this, and I hope we can be listened to.
Thank you.
>> [applause]
» Hello, my name is Vincent and I've been
a resident of Boulder City for 6 months.
A few months back, my mother came to me
with a song that she liked, and uh
having just done some research, I
immediately spotted it as a product of
AI.
Knowing buying that song would support
data centers like the one being proposed
now,
I explained and pleaded as much as a
17-year-old could that we should cease
all utilization of AI.
This includes ChatGPT, Siri, Apple
Intelligence, or any generative AI.
This data center is primarily for it.
Despite years ago AI being heralded as
the future,
it has done a net negative on society,
and you can trust me on this as my
generation has abused it for social
media clicks, cheating on assignments,
and everything that is designed
to better society and increase our
intelligence, and it has done the
opposite.
Between AI art commissions for my
friends and music for my family,
AI takes human creativity out of its
algorithm and produces slop as most
people call it.
At the height of AI use, a single AI
prompt could use up to 50 times the
energy for a Google search.
This data center will continue to
perpetuate this problem. This should
bring even more pause to the residents
of the city.
We are blessed to have the Hoover Dam, a
true testament of human creativity and
ingenuity, and a true marvel.
And it is ironic that this data center
will leech off of it to make more videos
and photos spreading misinformation and
collecting and collating data for our AI
overlords.
Now for the physical problems of this
modern brick eyesore.
I walk to work on Boulder Parkway, and
on my lunch breaks it's cathartic to
look upon the view and the vastness to
the west and see the mountains. With the
solar panel field already a blemish in
that view, the city doesn't need another
contemporary installation that's just a
glorified cinder block of energy and
water-sucking wastefulness.
How do you think tourists would feel
driving into Boulder City, historic
Boulder City, and seeing that?
Plain and simple, it subtracts from what
Boulder City is known and is praised
for.
Third and the simplest of my points,
what does this center actually provide
for its citizens? I have not heard a
single single argument for why it should
be here for the
betterment of all 15,000 residents.
The only thing I've heard is that it
will generate 1.5 million for the city's
budget every year in addition to the 2.6
million for the lease in its first year.
Boulder City gets 35% of its revenue
from land leases, but I don't think it's
worth it.
History repeats itself. The last time we
let outside big interests into Boulder
City, it was the school board and it
tanked the performance of our school
which were the best in the state at the
time.
Why do we want this power creep to come
up here? I can speak for a number of
people not even including those here at
the protest that we don't want this. The
consensus is no.
Finally, in the 1930s, there was a
checkpoint to get into Boulder City
instituted by the government to keep
outside elements out, certain
undesirable ones.
Now we don't have an official
checkpoint. We are the checkpoint.
We don't want this data center.
The consensus is clear. Please vote no
and please do not let this Boulder this
disgusting data center be built in this
city.
Thank you.
>> [applause]
» Rosanne Raviola Milly
and
the question is very the issue
is very simple.
The issue is
the many
versus
the money.
Now,
>> [clears throat]
» [clears throat]
>> if Boulder City's budget
» if Boulder City's budget
is in such bad shape,
I can show them a bunch of places,
but nobody's interested
in hearing what I have to say
and that's why
I lost a job as public information
officer.
The truth
has not
been coming out.
If I can talk
to three people
who are representing
town city number 217,
what you call it, I don't care.
And they all give me different answers.
Is this storage?
Are we
having
a lease for storage,
energy storage,
or are we building data centers?
All I have to say is
no matter what you recommend tonight,
you know darn well
yes or no,
it's going to the council.
And what has to happen,
they have to understand.
Is it the money? And I think they're
getting really shortchanged,
big time. Or is it the many?
» [applause]
» Public comment, go ahead.
Hello.
Public comment.
Hello. My name is Jennifer Levin, and I
have been a resident here in Boulder
City for for about 10 or 11 years. Um
And of course, I'm going to be speaking
on the data center like so many. Um I'd
like to say to that young man who spoke,
well done.
Absolutely well done. That was
outstanding. Um
You know, and just like so many of our
other constituents here, I'm obviously
absolutely against this data center.
You've heard and will continue to hear.
Of course, there's the common sense that
we already have limited water resources
and the consideration of taxing them is
absolutely, you know, taxing them even
further is absolutely absurd.
The damage by the forever chemicals.
I've spoken at the city council meetings
because I was an assistant project
manager for a different company that
used a closed loop system and I can say
unequivocally, it's not as simple as
they're saying that it is. Those systems
go down, they need maintenance, it's a
regular part of it otherwise they
wouldn't need a maintenance team on site
like all of them need. And those
systems, they they leech the chemicals
into the environment around us. We've
heard about the destruction of children
of wildlife. The poor people who live in
Nelson don't and they live so close.
They don't even have a voice in this but
none of that's being considered.
You know, when I think about this, it's
an issue
that, you know, just just like it's been
said, the majority of constituents are
coming out and they're saying absolutely
not.
Yet we're being ignored and told that
our voices don't matter, that there
aren't enough of us speaking up and as
the numbers grow,
I'm, you know, I wonder if about 6,000
people are enough voices yet. When these
conversations are just being thrown by
the wayside, when conversations quietly
amongst citizens here, you know, it's
it's under the consideration. It's been
researched and what the next step?
Under the consideration of having the
entire city council removed, which is
our right and it may be the option that
we as the constituents step into.
Um, it doesn't need to be this
ridiculous.
I'm I'm grateful our public servants do,
like you guys do what you do. But the
reality is and it is absolutely
undeniable that the majority of the
citizens and constituents in Boulder
City are absolutely and vehemently
against this.
Um
you know, we're not not one single
community as so many of us has
researched this. Not one community
across the entire country has said,
"This has made our community better.
This has made our environment better.
This has made the people healthier."
We all know when it's undeniable that
the exact opposite is true. And it
doesn't matter if it's these {quote}
{unquote} newer types, the situation is
still the same and and I'm just
absolutely aghast at the fact that
anyone would sit down on this council
elected or paid, right? Everybody in
this audience on the phone and out in
the air the one
>> Lovett, your time's up.
» Lovett, your time's up.
I'm sorry? Your time's up.
Thank you.
>> Okay. Thank you for your Thank you for
» Okay. Thank you for your Thank you for
your comments.
Okay, I just I hope that this
destruction isn't the destiny you guys
want cuz it's not the one we want. Thank
you.
>> Thank you.
Hi, my name is Kendra and I'm a Boulder
City resident. I went to the two open
houses and I heard one thing, trust us.
Trust us that we'll handle the
wastewater appropriately. Trust us it's
not going to make the environment that
much hotter. Trust us it won't hurt your
power resources.
You know, there are three kinds of
people who say trust me, con men, cult
leaders and I guess corporations that
build data centers. And in the past I've
learned that anybody who says trust me
should not be trusted.
I grew up over the hill in Henderson and
throughout my childhood the corporations
on Lake Mead were telling us, "No, we're
not releasing chemicals into the air
every night.
You're just coughing constantly and
being kept up for hours as a child
because of not our fault. It wasn't us.
Today we know that in fact they were
releasing chemicals over that valley.
People in Cadence can't plant fruits and
vegetables in their backyards because of
what happened over 20 years ago.
I don't want Boulder City to become like
that. I have a 10-year-old daughter.
I don't want to have to sit up at night
like my mother had to with me at 8 years
old and watch me struggle to breathe
because of what they were doing to our
city.
I don't want that to happen here and I
don't think that the people of Boulder
City do either.
We've been dismissed. We've been told
that we don't understand. We've been
told that we just need to read the
research. And yet we continue to say,
"We don't want this." And I would remind
the City Council, who I hope is
listening to this, that we are your
employers. We, the people sitting in
this chair, the 15,000 souls who call
this place home, are your bosses and
we're telling you no.
We don't want this.
It's not worth the cost of our beautiful
city. It's not worth the cost of our
health.
We all grew up here in Vegas or many of
us have and we know what gambling looks
like and we're not willing to gamble
with the health of our community
and with our loved ones. So, we ask you
to say no. We ask you to decide not to
do this because we don't trust them. We
do trust though that they will always
put profit over people every single time
and that's not something we want. Thank
you.
>> [applause]
» Hello. My name is Amanda Farrar. I've
lived in Southern Nevada for 26 years
and I've been a resident of Boulder City
for 5 years now. Um I left Las Vegas and
moved to Boulder City uh seeking a
different type of place uh seeking a
smaller community where people make
different types of decisions as a group
for the betterment of the community. Um,
I moved here to live in a place uh where
the people running our town are
concerned about uh keeping the small
town character and charm and uh the the
history uh of our place.
And uh I think that's why the majority
of residents of Boulder City who have
moved here from other places uh came
here in the first place.
And uh when I see that uh we have a city
council, I understand that is not you
guys, but that we have a city council
that seems to be disregarding um
blatantly disregarding uh
what from all I see is uh the severe um
the extreme majority will of of the
people of the residents of the town.
Um, I I can't believe it. I'm I'm I'm
really really surprised that this is
happening in this place. I know that
corruption exists everywhere, and I know
that uh
uh you know, there's a stereotype of
politicians uh being bought off uh being
bought out or uh you know, selling out
communities um for
uh for cash or whatever it is. And I do
have concerns that that is what's going
on here.
Um, but another of the worst things
that's happening is that none of us uh
completely understand uh
what the total ramifications of the
building of uh a data center here uh can
do over time, and I don't believe that
it takes much time at all uh for our
environment to be impacted uh severely
by the construction of something that is
this large of a scale. Um, I haven't
done it yet, but I've been wanting to
put together a map that shows the scale
of the proposed data center overlaid
over our historic district and our
downtown area.
Uh, I think it's, uh, from what I've
read, it's, uh, very shocking, uh, the
scale.
And that it can, uh, dwarf areas of town
that we think of as being large.
Uh, I think that this decision is, uh,
something that is, uh, best made with
all of the information that is, uh, that
is possible.
Uh, if, uh, anybody were to do that,
they would never make a decision. But,
making a decision without information
such as impact of, uh,
impact on wildlife,
uh, and
actual impact of light pollution,
and what it's going to do to our low,
uh, quantity of drinking water, which is
already at dangerously low levels. Ms.
Ferrari, your time is up.
>> Yes. Thank you.
» Yes. Thank you.
>> you. Thank you for your comments.
» you. Thank you for your comments.
>> you listening. Thank you.
» you listening. Thank you.
Anybody else?
Okay. Let this gentleman go first and
then we'll do the phone. Come on up,
please.
Hey, good evening, commission. And good
good evening res- residents of Boulder
City. My Sir, you might you you only
address the planning commission. Thank
you.
>> I appreciate it all the time. My name is
» I appreciate it all the time. My name is
Gabriel Cornejo. I'm running for
Congress here in this district. And I
wanted to present this idea because it's
something that I learned long ago, that
if you're not at the table, you're on
the menu. And I got this idea reaffirmed
having lived in 11 cities across two
countries, including some very tal-
small towns just like this where I saw
the Walton family come in and decimate
the local population, the small
businesses, the towns because they were
able to extrapolate their will on that
community.
And at this time
this data center seems very emblematic
of that moment. In fact, I built a
company to take on Amazon because I saw
that same trajectory of that same
dynamic being able to take place.
And so at this moment when a lot of
people are feeling like they're on the
menu and this data center is not of the
will of the people
but of the will of the wealthy.
What are we doing at this very moment to
listen to these people? What are we
doing to not put these people on the
menu? Because that's exactly what
they're expressing having been out in
these
cities, in these towns, at these
doorsteps, at these gatherings. A lot of
people feel like
if we do not make a course correction
that we are not going to have the
community that I know that you all want
to be a part of.
But it's very important at this time
that we really consider what is the
dynamic at play.
Because we are putting our water, we're
putting our energy, we're putting our
well-being
all up for sale. Seemingly, that's
seems to be the sentiment because you
guys are very popular today.
I can't see an empty seat in the house,
which is astounding.
That tells you exactly what the young
man iterated earlier that
things are that dire here and people do
not feel like they're being heard.
And so I wanted to have you really
consider
your part in having
compelled these people to feel like they
are on the menu
when you're supposed to be at the table
for them.
So, that's it.
» Caller.
Public comment, go ahead.
Hello.
Hi, my name is Thomas Remy.
I'm 92 years old.
I want to ask you not to approve data
centers.
We don't want them.
Thank you.
>> [applause]
» Hi, good evening. Thank you for having
us today and allowing us to be able to
speak. My name is Basia Torres.
I'm with the Handmaids of Las Vegas. I'm
here on supportive behalf all the
constituents and citizens of Boulder
City here
um regarding the data center. You've sat
and you've listened to everything that
everyone has shown concern of. There's
not really much I can repeat um that
hasn't been said already. So, in the
sake of repetitiveness, I just have one
thing that I would like to address to
you guys.
And that would be Michael,
Nakisha,
Tammy,
Steve, Steve, Tony, Maureen, Matt,
Beth, and Kevin,
shame on you.
Shame on you for not listening to your
citizens, for not listening to the
people of Boulder
who are concerned about their health and
their well-being and the land
and the community here.
I came here over 20 years ago and
Boulder City has been a a refuge for me
cuz it reminded me of where I lived
previously where my grandkids enjoy
coming to the 4th of July water parades
and to the Christmas electric light
parades, and St. You know, all the
different jubilees and things that you
guys do here for the community. These
things will be affected in addition to
that, not only for the citizens of
Boulder City, but also for the rest of
Vegas and those that come here and are a
part and bring revenue and bring
our [clears throat] bodies here to come
and help celebrate with you guys. So,
I'm asking today
vote no on data centers in Boulder City
and in Nevada across the board.
» [applause]
» Hello.
My name's Terri Adamik and I came here
to listen, but now I feel like I need to
speak.
Um I picked up the packet at the back of
the room and I've been kind of glancing
through it while you guys have been
listening to all the statements and I
have as well.
But I noticed that there's three
possibilities.
Recommend approval, recommend amended
approval, recommend denial.
And I hope you choose recommend denial,
but I also noticed that on the back of
this page
there's only one resolution and it's for
approval. And I'm wondering why there's
nothing here for denial.
Another thing that I noticed when I was
flipping through there is that there's a
a plan to put in a water pipe that's
carries, I think it was a thousand
gallons per minute.
They say that it's for extinguishing
fires, but they also say that they're
they're going to use fire retardants and
foams and whatnot. So, why do they need
such a large water
pipe to go there if that's the case.
And that's that's pretty much all I have
to say. Just two things I noticed. Thank
you.
>> [applause]
» Hello everybody.
God bless you guys. You are here
listening.
That's what you're doing, right?
Okay. I'm My name is Nick Iriyadi.
I'm a 38-year resident. I'm probably the
first citizen to find out about the data
center since I drew most of the
conceptuals.
I want to speak on behalf
in favor of Mr. Lammers and Skylar
Technologies being
absolutely truthful. I've been working
with them for better part of a decade,
probably over a decade.
Um
They're The first thing Rick said to me
is when this came came up about a year
and a half ago or more was
"Give it to me straight. Tell me
anything you think that could be
negative. Tell Tell me what's going to
be negative.
I want to make sure this the community's
protected and this thing goes in without
a hitch and everybody is happy. We want
to make sure that the
first off, safety. That's the most
important thing." So, I told him, "Well,
look, I am not going to support this if
it uses water potable water. I flat out
I do not want to use the potable potable
water. We can't in the desert use
potable water for that."
There's a alternatives, which they
That's what they did. They got a
closed-loop system.
I'm sure there's going to be a
containment barrier so that if it has a
spill, it's not going to get drained
down to the lake. It's far from the
city.
We need to stay up with with with the
technology. We got to keep pushing
forward like we have been. Back when I
was a young kid, they wanted to build a
gas-fired power plant out there, right?
Was it There People at the credit union,
"Oh, it's going to pollute. It's going
to do this. It's going to do that."
It got built and I haven't seen a bit of
pollution, right? It's a great It turned
out to be a great thing for the city.
All the solar fields I was involved in
every single solar field
on the construction and all the leases
from the very first one up into the
latest ones. So, I just want to say that
we have to be open-minded to this and
you know, there Rick Lammers and Skyler
opportunities is going to do everything
they can to protect it. They're He He's
trying to do it as if it was in his own
backyard, which is not in our backyard.
It's out in El Dorado Valley. It's miles
away.
Uh you know, I'm sworn to protect the
public as a professional land surveyor
with boundary lines.
It's black and white, right? I'm not
going to come up here and just lie for
money. There's no amount of money that
can get me to change the boundary lines
of somebody's property. I You just can't
pay me enough. I I've been offered,
trust me. There's a certain Disneyland
house in in town that
I was offered, but I didn't take it, you
know, it's like
it's black and white. I can't do that.
That's
it's against my oath, okay?
I just want I I know I actually I'm
really uh
I I really
the the community here coming together
and and their their conviction is is
actually
I commend them for that, you know,
there's but there's a lot of false and
misinformation out there. You know, this
this isn't about a company trying to get
rich.
This is This is
>> [laughter]
» [laughter]
>> Hey, okay.
» Hey, okay.
Okay.
Audience, please. Is any business
Is any business
going to be profitable? If it's not
profitable, it fails, right?
So, let's just
give it give it a chance to
>> Thank you, Mr. Iriart. We appreciate
» Thank you, Mr. Iriart. We appreciate
your comments.
If we could please be respectful of all
speakers, um we'd appreciate it.
Everybody should have the equal
opportunity to speak.
Okay. So, hi. My name is Jim Swan. I
moved here last year, pretty early in
the year.
And I'd like to talk about how, you
know, there's going to be serious
economic and
environmental repercussions from the
building of this data center, especially
in that, you know, what, 176 metric tons
of e-waste that's going to happen.
But what I'm actually going to talk
mostly about is I moved here from the
Gulf Coast. I've seen
a lot of natural disasters. I've seen a
lot of hurricanes. I was there in
Galveston when it froze.
A lot of that is from our failing grid.
It's not keeping up with technology.
And I was at a lecture just a few years
ago where they were talking about how
the grid's not keeping up with electric
cars. It's
just not. The grid keeps going down. We
keep seeing rolling blackouts in more
places that never happened before.
A data center is only going to add to
this.
I've seen people die. I've seen people
lose their lives. I've lost neighbors
because of blackouts.
Don't let that happen here. That's it.
» [applause]
» How are y'all doing today?
My name is Todd Sanford. Um Rick Lammers
and Nick Gerardi are my partners.
Um they asked me to speak today. I
worked uh for US Robotics, 3Com,
Megahertz for 15 years. Uh I was a
developer of 3G wireless,
4G wireless, 5G wireless.
Been to 130 uh countries doing
homologations.
And the thing that I wanted
to say is that
technology is not invented anymore.
It's It's It evolves.
Um US Robotics,
um Ericsson, Motorola, Intel, all the
giants,
we already know the technology. We
already know where it's going, and it's
a race to who gets the standard, who
homologates it.
And if you're not on the technology
wave, you're off it.
And I do understand there's pros and
cons to being technology is has its doom
scroll.
Hopefully, God will forgive me for that.
But, um
when things are developed, it's
uh this is something that could be $2
million a year for the our city, and
it's safely located away. Um
Rick Lemmers
uh polished Nick and I quite a bit and
taught us about how things work, and
they go through such a thorough process.
They check for ground, frackie, I mean,
uh fractures, there's a a whole slew of
things to protect the environment. When
we're out surveying,
we sometimes we can't even bring
vehicles because of the turtles. And we
have to follow all of those rules, and
they will be. It's it's something that's
neatly tucked away that will put us
in the evolution and on the wave of
technology. It's just something that
it's it's uh when the men built America,
Carnegie, J.P. Morgan,
Rockefellers, they weren't bad people.
They were competing against each other.
The Pony Express got replaced by the
railroad, and it's been just evolving,
then steel, then AC
was taken out, you know, oil, gas
invented, all these things. This is an
inevitable pass uh path that we need I
think we need to be on. And I I I very
much support this. And, um if you guys
have any questions in the future uh
about technology and how this process
can work, we would love to meet and talk
about that. Thank you for your time
today.
» [applause]
» Hello, my name is Josh Woods. I'm a here
on as a representative IBW Local 357.
That is the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers.
We represent 4,200 members in Southern
Nevada. Um
35 which of those families live right
here in Boulder City.
Um IBW jobs mean livable wages, wages
you can raise a family on. It gives your
family
and yourself health and welfare, and it
gives you respectable pension plans
so that you can retire in dignity.
Um
for all these reasons, we support the
data center here in Boulder City.
Thank you for your time.
» [applause]
» Anybody else wishing to speak in the
initial public comment? Remember there
is a public hearing
where we will open um for public comment
as well.
Is this on? Yes. All right. Um good
evening.
All righty. Uh well, my name is Mary
Vanable. I live in Boulder City and I
have since
um 1982.
Uh I have a few points that uh I have
questions about. Uh and generally at
this point, I'm against the data center,
and my questions will
demonstrate why.
Um I know jobs is one thing that
everybody is in favor of, but uh I I
don't believe a whole lot of those
uh temporary construction jobs or the uh
how many, let's see, 25 to 40
technicians might actually be Boulder
City residents.
Um I have some comments about the closed
or questions, I should say, about the
closed-loop system.
Uh city's website says the heat
generated by the servers is contained
and managed inside the buildings.
Um those buildings are going to be
1,000° F pretty soon.
I'm being facetious.
Um but of course they're talking about a
closed-loop system. Um
a closed-loop system still rejects heat
somewhere. Uh they're talking about the
um
air-cooled chillers that are typically
used in large buildings. Um they do
reject the heat to the outdoors. Um they
just use an air system. The refrigerant
goes
uh is run over fans and the heat is
rejected to the outside. So, the heat is
not contained within the buildings. Um
that's
uh a misstatement that shouldn't be on
the city's website.
Let's see. Um
it's those systems still use some kind
of refrigerant and there are many
different kinds of refrigerant, but uh
uh they all have global warming
potential. They all leak, as a previous
speaker mentioned, they take
maintenance. They all leak to some
extent. And uh some refrigerants are
poisonous, some are uh
you know, they're toxic, they're
flammable sometimes.
Uh you know, we all use refrigerants, we
have them all in our homes, but uh still
there there is an environmental downside
right there.
Uh the fossil fuel uh backup generators
also are supposed to use fossil fuels,
which is detrimental to the atmosphere.
And the environment.
Uh the idea that
the data center will not use our city
electrical system also is is a little to
me is misleading. They say they will buy
their power on the open market. Um
the city also buys its electricity on
the open market for peaking power.
And uh
they will be competing with us big time,
I believe. Rates will go up.
Let's see. And uh I think that was all
the points I wanted to make. So, thank
you very much. Um I I think this is this
data center is
a big thing that will change our clean
green town forever. We have uh dodged
that bullet in the past, but I I think
this is another one of those bullets.
Thank you.
» [applause]
» Good evening, Madam Chair, commission,
staff, ladies and gentlemen.
Um
I'm going to try and make this as brief
and as to the point as possible. My name
is Brandon Smith for the record. Thank
you. Um
tonight you've heard from
probably our
future mayor at some point from 17
um up to a 92-year-old gentleman
tonight.
Um
represents
like best case scenario four generations
of
Boulder City people.
Um
which is what's at what's at stake here.
We're not talking about
something that's going to affect us
today, tomorrow, next week, next year.
We're talking about a 90-year lease
here.
Um it's pretty clear what the uh
consensus is as far as the country is
concerned. Small towns right across
America are being blindsided, decimated,
and screwed up um
over the
uh effects of data centers that weren't
readily revealed um before or during
construction. Um tonight you've heard
from a roomful of people who
uh outwardly reject this proposal. Um
and unfortunately, we are here tonight
because our council did not have the
foresight to stop it
in its first iteration. Um you've heard
from a couple of gentlemen, three
actually, who support this.
Um all of whom um
directly benefit from uh it going
forward. So, I would ask you to keep
that in mind.
Um
The problem is here is I think this is
being rushed through.
Um
» [clears throat]
>> you know, we would have been here a
» you know, we would have been here a
month ago if uh TS2 had have had its
way. Uh unfortunately, they were asked a
bunch of questions that they couldn't
give straight answers to, and I believe
that to still be the case. Um I attended
both open
um
open forums, um and I've asked the same
question of a number of people um
of the representatives, and I was never
given the same answer twice. Um I think
in their packets uh again, very
um confusing, conflicting
information.
Um and I I asked um
I asked you guys to really consider uh
your motivation for moving forward here.
You are our now second line of defense
um for this matter. Um I think if we hit
the pause button and um take this out to
the constituents of of Boulder City and
let them speak and let their voices be
heard, whereas they have not been thus
far, um I think it would serve all
to really listen. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Brandon.
>> [applause]
» [applause]
>> Anybody else wishing to speak in the
» Anybody else wishing to speak in the
initial public comment period?
Madam City Clerk, is there any Oh, come
on up, ma'am.
Hi.
Barbie O'Quinn here. Good evening and
thank you. I'm here to speak on the
long-term well-being of Southern Nev-
Nev- Southern Nevada, our shared water
supply, our electric grid, and the
sustainability of our region as a whole.
The decisions made in Boulder City don't
just affect one community, the entire
state, uh the entire valley will be
affected, and everyone who depends on
the same very limited resources.
I truly believe that thoughtful
leadership can shape a future where
innovation and responsibility work hand
in hand.
We have an opportunity right now to make
decisions that protect our resources,
strengthen our communities, and set a
positive example for the entire state.
My concern is simple and hopeful.
We should prioritize sustainability
first. For that reason, I believe the
proposed data centers should not be
built here in the Boulder City area.
Not because I'm against progress, but I
want the right kind of progress and
growth.
The kind that strengthens our region for
the long term instead of stretching it
further.
However, if you are determined to move
forward, I
am encouraged by the fact that there are
strong responsible safeguards available.
I respectfully ask that you ensure
uh firstly, data centers pay the full
cost of the energy they consume,
including grid upgrades. Secondly, their
demand does not raise power rates for
Nevada families or businesses.
Thirdly, they meet strict water
conservation standards. This is
appropriate for a desert region.
And finally, that environmental and
infrastructure impacts are carried by
the companies, not the public.
These protections are opportunities to
show that Boulder City leads with
wisdom, balance, and care for the
future.
Thank you for your commitment to keeping
Southern Nevada strong,
sustainable, and full of possibility.
And thank you for your time.
Thank you, Ms. O'Connell. Is there a
caller? I will take the caller, please.
Public comment, go ahead.
Hello, can you hear me? Yes.
Oh, good.
Uh my name is Neil Sedaka, and I wanted
to say that I strongly oppose this going
forward. I feel that the crux of the
Planning Commission's decision is in the
resolution itself,
where it's based upon
the data center being similar
to the adjacent uses of the solar uses,
I don't feel that's the same at all, and
I feel that's an appealable item to the
planning commit to the city council or
to the court. I don't feel that the city
planning commission has enough direct
information and is relying on what Mr.
Gambers and what the applicant wants to
occur.
There's the possibility that this
changes and it helps open the doorway to
other people once this starts. The
overall intent and the overall wording
deals with adding data centers, not just
Mr. Gambers data center. I don't feel it
addresses the tortoises adequately.
Um the planning commission is required
to weigh things in terms of the master
plan, and I don't feel this is at all
compatible with the master plan.
The planning commission is required to
listen to the public, which the planning
commission is now doing, but the public
is speaking so loudly, I can't see how
the planning commission could ignore
this. But the crux of this, per your own
resolution,
is that the data center is not similar
to the solar fields, and that's an
appealable and a court should be looked
at matter.
I oppose this, and I hope the planning
commission realizes that they don't have
the expertise to make a full decision on
this.
Thank you very much.
Any other public comment from members of
the audience?
I have a public comment.
Hi. Thank you for your time. My name is
Karen Newcomer
and I'm sorry that we were late. We got
off work and came directly here, but
I don't have a I didn't have a prepared
speech. I just want to say I'm sure
people have already covered the concerns
about electricity and water and
I just want I'm not above begging.
Please don't do this. It will hurt
it will hurt so many people and help so
few.
This These kind of data centers don't
increase employment a great deal
compared to what they cost the
communities.
I hope that you take this into account
that it's going to there will be jobs
for while it's getting built. A lot of
those will come from out of state or
someplace else and after that it's going
to help very few people and it's going
to hurt many many people who will lose
their jobs.
So, I just hope that you take all those
things into account and please don't do
this. Thank you.
Thank you, Karen. Is there a caller,
Madam City Clerk? I'll take the caller.
I'm going to take the caller.
The caller must have hung up. Is there
anybody else that wants to speak an
initial Oh.
Did Put her on Tammy, put her on hold.
Oh, sorry. Hello, my name is Savannah
Beck. I'm a resident of Henderson, but I
care about all of Nevada. I'm currently
a medic and but I previously worked in
the technology industry for 18 years
before being laid off due to AI. Data
centers are detrimental to our
ecosystem, public health, and our
already extremely limited water supplies
from Lake Mead. We have had to go from
cutting back on watering grass to
removing grass completely to being told
locals need to cut back and save water
even more, but yet you want to allow a
data center to be built that will no
doubt cause us to run out of water for
the people of Nevada to use. Also, data
centers in other areas of the country
are making it citizens sick. It is
literally poisoning poisoning them.
Just like so many other companies
poisoning innocent people like DuPont,
PG&E, Flint, Michigan. Their list goes
on and on. I don't want to have anything
built close to me, my loved ones, the
elderly, children, strangers, or animals
that will poison them. If you want the
the data center so bad, go to move to a
rural area that already has some and buy
someone's house that lives right next to
it. Would you drink the brown water that
is now coming out of their taps? Would
you like to have the bright lights
shining through your windows constantly
and constant buzzing sounds from the
data center 24/7? There are tons of
videos from people that live next to
data centers that show what it's really
like and how detrimental it is. Reno
fought back against the data center and
so are we. We are signing or you are
signing a death sentence for all of us
if you vote to allow the data center to
be built here. Please say no to data
centers in Boulder City, the surrounding
areas, and the rest of the country.
Please stop letting corporations and
billionaires ruin our beautiful country
and poisoning us. Thank you.
Thank you, Savannah. It's Shoshana, come
on up.
Hello, my name is Shana and first of all
I want to thank you guys for all
patiently listening to everybody's
comments. I am not in favor of this for
many reasons that have been spoken.
But I kind of want to apologize for the
comment that was shame on you because we
haven't even given you guys a chance to
to voice your opinion. So, just thank
you for listening. Um I know each one of
you are residents here. We're all here
for a reason and um again, thank you for
your patience and your time and we want
to give you guys the opportunity to
speak before anybody says shame on you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Shana.
Anybody else wishing to speak in the
initial public comment period?
I'm going to hold for 30 seconds because
we do have a delay for those watching at
home. So, we'll give the people watching
at home this last 30 seconds to be able
to call in on the initial public comment
period.
Please keep in mind if you're listening
at home, once the public comment period
is closed, we cannot reopen it. You will
not have the opportunity to speak until
the next public comment period is open.
Thank you.
Okay, I will close the first public
comment period and move to item number
one for possible action, approval of the
minutes for the April 15th, 2026 regular
meeting. Do I have a motion?
I'll second. I have a motion and a a
second. All in favor say
I. I. Any opposed?
Motion carries.
Item number two is for possible action,
matters pertaining to a proposed zoning
ordinance text amendment. This will
include a public hearing. Staff.
Good evening, Chairman Crown, members of
the commission. Nakisha Lyon, planning
manager with the community development
department. Uh this item is for
consideration of a request to amend
title 11, chapter 13 of the city code.
This is to authorize the growing and
wholesaling of crops and other related
agricultural and horticultural
activities if such crops are grown and
harvested within an enclosed
environmentally controlled structure and
are grown without the use of any
pesticides, herbicides, or other
chemicals sprayed or applied to the
crops other than natural nutrients. And
this is to add it as a permitted use in
the CM commercial manufacturing zoning
district. Uh earlier this year, the
applicant uh Boulder City Botanicals
Company LLC, with consent from the
property owner of a CM zoned lot,
applied for this zoning text amendment
to enable uh their property, if approved
by the City Council, to be used to
develop an indoor plant propagation and
cultivation operation within an existing
commercial building along Wells Road.
The text amendment, if approved by the
City Council, would apply to all CM
zoned properties in Boulder City, and
this is shown on the screen um on the
map. The area is indicated in red.
Currently, the CM commercial
manufacturing zone does not allow for
agricultural uses. The A1 special
agricultural zone does permit uh for
this uh use by right.
Uh starting on page 24 of the agenda
packet, staff has provided um some
additional context regarding how other
uh Southern Nevada jurisdictions uh
permit similar types of agricultural
uses within jurisdictions. Just to
summarize, indoor agriculture, crop
production, market gardens, nurseries,
and other urban agricultural uses are
permitted across a broad range of zoning
districts, particularly within
commercial, industrial, agricultural,
and certain uh mixed-use uh zoning
districts.
Commercial districts frequently allow
these uses either by right, a special
use permit, or a conditional use permit.
And then, industrial zoning districts
like the CM zone within Boulder City are
among the most permissive areas for
these activities with indoor
agricultural, uh hydroponics, uh plant
nurseries, and agricultural processing
often permitted by right in these types
of zoning districts.
Uh most jurisdictions emphasize that
indoor agricultural operations occur
within an enclosed building and include
certain operational standards related to
lighting, screening, parking,
irrigation, wholesale and retail sales,
and then uh compatibility with the
surrounding uses.
So, based on the applicant's request,
the proposed amendment adds the use, and
that's subject to several conditions
within the proposed text amendment.
There's clarification that the amendment
does not permit the cultivation,
processing, distribution, and use of
marijuana, or sorry, sale of marijuana,
which is already prohibited by our code.
Outdoor growing areas would only be
allowed when they're incidental and
subordinate to the principal indoor use,
and would need to be screened from
public rights-of-way.
And then retail sales would only be
allowed when incidental and subordinate
to the primary operation, as well.
And then there are standards for
lighting associated with the crop
production indoors, which would be
required to be fully shield, downward
directed, and designed to prevent glare
or light spillover onto adjacent
properties or rights-of-way.
Chapter 33 of Title 11 provides for the
applicable standards and findings that
must be made for a text amendment, and
staff finds that the proposed zoning
amendment does not require amendment to
the city's adopted master plan, and does
not conflict with the goals and
objectives of this particular plan.
Impacts in regards to existing land use,
adjacent uses,
adjacent areas, utilities, noise,
drainage, and character of the existing
neighborhoods will be evaluated upon the
applicable permitting process related to
this type of use on a specific property,
and they're not applicable to this
general zoning text amendment at this
time.
During that applicable permitting
process, compliance with building code,
fire code, public works requirements and
standards, and then other applicable
provisions within Title 11 and the city
code will be evaluated. The proposed
ordinance language is subject to um
change pending legal review, and then
additional recommendations made by the
planning commission if any tonight.
The item was noticed in conformance with
city code. We haven't received any
written public comments. So, the request
before the commission tonight is to hold
the public hearing, deliberate, and make
a motion to either recommend approval or
denial of the request using the draft
motion language that is on page 33 of
the agenda packet. Staff is available
for any questions that the commission
may have. We also have
representatives, the owners of the
Boulder City Botanical Pools company,
Avi and Richard. They're here and they
can answer any specific questions that
you have. Thank you.
Thank you, Nakisha. Does
any of the commissioners have any
questions for staff or the applicant?
Go ahead.
Is there any plan to limit square
footage of these facilities so we don't
have like a 100,000 square foot
facility using a ton of electricity for
the Uh no, not at this time.
Any other questions for staff or the
applicant?
Go ahead, Matt.
Um this is, I believe, a question for
the applicant.
Um
is there any estimate of the amount of
water that and power that
this facility will use?
» [clears throat]
» Uh my name is Ri- Richard Galvin.
And I'm the
co-owner of Boulder City Botanical
Company. This is my business partner,
Avi Muwas.
Um
the amount of water we we did a
calculation is probably about 300
gallons a day
that we would use, but that's not
counting cuz we're going to have
air conditioning units that are going to
take the humidity out of the air. So,
it's we're going to contain a lot of
that water back into the system. And
then any waste water we have is going to
We're still going to like we wash a
tray, we're going to use that water to
water plants because the whole idea is
to
the plants are small. It's all that is
is vegetable plants. Fruit and vegetable
plants for people to buy um for their
gardens. So, everything that we grow is
going to be small and it's going to be
sold um
to
the to the community to to have more
people growing food.
Thank you, Mr. Galvin. Does anybody else
have any questions for the applicant?
Thank you very much.
This is a public hearing. I'll now open
the public hearing on item number two
for this proposed zoning ordinance.
Any members of the audience wishing to
speak?
Is there anybody on the line?
We'll wait for 30 seconds for the delay.
Seeing and hearing none, I'll now close
the public hearing and bring it back to
the commission.
Do I have a motion?
I'll move to approve resolution number
1283
in conformance with findings.
I'll second that.
>> Second. I have a motion and a second.
» Second. I have a motion and a second.
All those in favor say I. I. I. Any
opposed?
Motion carries.
Item number three it for possible action
matters pertaining to the 2026 land
management process.
Mr. Mayes.
Good evening, Planning Commission
members. I'm Michael Maze, the Deputy
City Manager.
Boulder City is unique.
A vast
uh significant majority of the vacant
land within our community is owned by
the city.
25 years ago, residents requested a
transparent, informative process that
would allow the public to know very
early on uh
about the potential sale and or lease of
city-owned land.
In 2001,
the City Council amended the city code
to respond to residents' concerns.
This process is called the Land
Management Process. I'll refer to it as
the LMP for short.
To start the LMP process, the applicant
submits an application to the city.
This is presented to the City Council at
a regular meeting. If the Council votes
to advance the application,
it goes to the Planning Commission for a
public hearing and their recommendation.
Then the application returns back to the
City Council to decide whether they want
to add the application and use to the
LMP list.
Currently, there are 17 parcels, which
is approximately 1,731 acres on the LMP
list. You can see that on the screen
here.
The properties on the list uh are uh
located throughout the community.
Uh some of the properties are located in
the uh Townsite Center,
while others are located in the Eldorado
Valley.
It's important to note that just because
a parcel is added to the LMP list, does
not mean the property will ever be
developed.
In fact, city code says that if a parcel
has not been sold or leased within 3
years, it goes back to the city council
for them to determine whether to keep it
on the list or remove it from the list.
Another misconception regarding the LMP
process is it provides property rights.
Adding a parcel to the LMP list does not
confer any land use property rights or
authorize any action for city property.
It simply is the first step in a long
process of city consideration.
Another way to put it,
the city is not opening the gate to
allow a use, rather the city is peering
over the fence to see what is behind the
gate before we'd even consider opening
the gate for that use.
The property in question for tonight's
PC consideration is located at the
southwest corner of I-11 and US 95
interchange.
You can see it to highlight in blue on
the screen.
The site is 88.5 acres in size.
Townsite Solar 2 LLC, which I will refer
to as TS2,
currently has an option agreement to
develop this site for solar and battery
storage.
Earlier this year, uh TS2 submitted an
LMP application to the city to consider
data centers on this site.
In the community, there have been
questions regarding the ballot question
regarding possible data center uses in
the Eldorado Valley transfer area and
the rest of the community.
City charter requires that for a use to
be permitted
in the transfer area, it must first be
approved by the voters of Boulder City.
As you can see with the attachment here,
Ollie, I don't know if you can zoom out.
You'll see the original town site in
blue and the
what I'll call a rose colored
shaded area, that is the transfer area.
So, just to be clear, this application
is outside
the El Dorado Valley transfer area,
which will be subject to voter approval.
Town site solar 2 has a presentation
for the planning commission.
In closing, it's important to note that
even if this property is added to the
LMP list for data center uses, there are
many more steps involved in the process.
City Council will decide if the city
should seek request for
proposals, RFPs, to solicit other data
center use proposals
or consider
an economic exception to directly
negotiate for a lease with town site 2.
Currently, the city does not have a
zoning district that would even allow
data centers.
Either a new zoning district would have
to be
proposed or
a contemplated amendment, a text
amendment to the existing energy
energy storage
zoning would be required. This process
would require consideration by the
planning commission and the city
council.
The city also would be required to
obtain appraisals per state law
and a new lease agreement would need to
be negotiated with a developer and
approved by the city council.
We are in step one of this process
which is why the city has not entered
into any lease negotiations
for a data center use with the
applicant.
TS2 represents in their presentation,
which you will see in a moment,
that this item will be considered by the
city council on June 23rd.
To be clear, the date of city council
consideration will be determined by the
city
and will be shared with the public once
that's determined.
And with that, I can answer any
questions.
Does any of the commission members have
questions for staff?
Go ahead.
So, is it possible if we don't
if if this if we don't get the data
center, it could actually still be in
the valley?
The potential for data centers could
occur in Henderson.
Um Henderson has annexed 1,000 acres in
the Eldorado Valley and that is zoned
industrial. And so, it is our
understanding that there has been
proposed preliminary
data centers for that area. That's my
question. Thank you.
Any other questions for staff?
Thank you, Michael. Uh does the
applicant want to come up and
give their presentation?
So,
good evening, commissioners. Uh my name
is Linda Bullen. Um I am an energy and
environmental attorney from Las Vegas.
Um I have had the honor of appearing
before many of you before in this
capacity,
but perhaps not ever before in such a
controversial and sensitive matter. Um
So, we thank you in advance for your
time and your consideration of the
issues here before you tonight. And I
frankly don't envy you.
Um we're here today to talk about the
proposed project and in particular to
tell you about we we have been out in
the community. We have heard the
concerns of the community and we have
responded to them. So, we're here to
tell you about the modifications that
we've made to the project uh
particularly in the area of water.
Recognizing as a resident of Southern
Nevada the importance of that issue.
Um we want to also significantly clarify
some misconceptions
that are in the community about the
project, perhaps data centers in
general, but also this project in
particular. And of course, we're here to
answer your questions.
In the end, of course, we will be
hopeful and asking for your
recommendation for approval uh to send
this to the uh to the commissioner that
city council with with the
recommendation for approval.
So, again, thank you in advance for
listening. I'm here tonight with two
gentlemen from um Skylar Capital, which
is the lead developer for the Townsite
Solar 2 data center project. So, at this
point I'll let them introduce
themselves, but I'm going to turn it
over to Gerald Balboa.
Thank you, Linda.
Uh planning commissioners, I'll just uh
read out some some prepared statements
uh that I think address a lot of the
concerns tonight. Uh so, first of all,
thank you all for your consideration of
our proposed project. We hope that uh
with thoughtful consideration,
um you'll hear that we've answered a lot
of the community's questions. Um again,
my name is Gerald Balboa. I am the chief
operating officer for Skylar
Opportunities. We are the lead developer
and the lead partner in the Townsite
Solar 2 project. We began this project
as a solar plus storage uh project, but
we've evolved it into a proposed data
center project because that really is
the highest and best value use for this
particular piece of land.
Our firm first developed the 1,100 acre
Townsite 1 solar project over 10 years
ago. So, I have a long history of of
working with Boulder City. Uh that
project was sold to our current partner
in the data center project, which is uh
a Rivian Energy.
Should the project be approved, when
combined with the revenues generated uh
from that first project, Townsite 1
Solar, we estimate that between Townsite
1 and again, if this is approved,
Townsite 2, uh we'd contribute over 12%
of the city's annual budget. It's pretty
significant.
Hopefully, following today's
presentation, you're going to come away
with two things. One, satisfactory
answers that give you all the assurances
that you need to advance the Townsite 2
project through the land management
process, and two, a working knowledge of
the significant benefits to the city in
terms of reliable, long-term revenues
with little to no imposition on city
services.
So, what are we doing to advance these
goals? Well, you're probably already
aware that when we uh that we we first
proposed converting our solar project
into a data center um
several months ago, the city uh staff
pointed out right away, we have a
specific process here called the land
management process. That is step one.
We're just at step one. Lots of steps to
go.
Uh we have taken steps to listen to, to
adapt, and to ultimately to provide
responsible answers to the community.
We've hosted two open houses. We've
communicated answers through the local
newspaper, and we continue to host a
website, ts2project.com,
that not only addresses the important
community concerns that have been that
have been raised, but also bring clarity
to some of the misconceptions about the
project. So, for tonight, um you've
already heard about concerns, major
concerns about water usage, about power
demand, and all the other critical
concerns from the residents and other
stakeholders. Um we've heard these
concerns, too. And we're pleased to say
that we've adapted the project to meet
these concerns with hopefully
satisfactory answers across the board.
And I'll close with this. I I really
applaud the uh the city, its staff, and
the rigorous process in place within
Boulder City for use of city-owned land.
The process, including today's meeting,
is transparent. It's open to the
community, obviously. And we welcome
that that input. And should this project
advance, uh we plan to be good stewards
of the land and that you would let us
lease and be good neighbors to all. And
by the way, I was reading your four-way
test there, truth, fairness to all,
building of goodwill, and benefits to
all. We want to do that for you all. All
right, thank you again for listening to
me.
Good evening. My name is Rick Lammers,
and I'm project manager for the Townsite
Solar 2 project. Can you hold the mic up
for you? Uh and to advance the slides to
Yes. How can I see that they're
advancing?
Okay. All right. Thank you.
So, uh
I'm here to present the project to you
in a in a in a
the
uh a cohesive way to the best of my
ability. Um the project is located on 88
acres that's currently under a lease
option for a solar plus storage project
that up 30 MW PV up to 167 MW best
project. The project has firm bilateral
transmission in place with SNWA that
gives its firm transmission at 230
kilovolts directly into the Mead
Substation.
And we estimate, based on our estimates,
as you heard Mr. Mays say that we'll
have to do new appraisals and we'll have
to negotiate lease terms. So, this is
just based on our estimates. We based it
over the proposed 90-year term of the
lease, uh the the project would have
over 330 million more benefits than the
solar plus storage project on the same
site.
» [gasps]
>> So, we began development of the project
» So, we began development of the project
in 2018. In 2023,
uh in December of 2023, we signed the
lease option with the uh Boulder City.
That In that same time period, we signed
a
uh
we the BLM issued a separate uh
right-of-way grant for a property that's
to the west of this uh property, just
2,000 ft away, uh which is also the
subject of an application with the BLM
for a data center.
Uh in September of 2024, we signed the
SNWA transmission agreement, which I
previously mentioned. In January, we
sent our application into the Boulder
City as the first step of the process.
And right now we're in the
uh
the planning commission meeting. The
next step would be to go to the
commission.
We've already spent over 12 million
dollars on this project.
>> [clears throat]
» [clears throat]
>> 5 and 1/2 million, we paid for all the
» 5 and 1/2 million, we paid for all the
interconnection costs. So, the project
will not not impact any of the uh
transmission or distribution costs of
the city because the city won't have to
pay for any of that. We've already paid
for it. We've also pre-ordered the
transformer, which today would take 3 to
4 years to order in the open market. And
that was at a cost of 5 and 1/2 million.
And the high-voltage equipment has also
been ordered.
This next slide just talks about some of
our partners. Town Site Solar 2 is the
owner. Skylar Opportunities is the main
sponsor of the project. Uh Arivon, the
owner of Town Site Solar 1, is also a
partner of the project. Overwatch
Capital, who's represented here tonight,
is our technical expert providing
technical expertise on data centers. And
Marathon Capital is our financial
advisor that would provide uh assistance
with raising financing once the
project's approved.
I'm not going to spend too much time on
this slide because I think Mr. Mayes uh
handled it well. But uh right now we're
at the Planning Commission meeting. The
the the the site is already zoned as
energy resource. The 90-year lease that
that lease is a proposed lease. Uh most
data center center owners prefer to own
the land, and if they can't own the
land, they prefer to have a lease as
long as possible. That's the only reason
why we proposed a lease of that length.
The project design consists of 167 MW
firm capacity into the main substation.
Uh two That's at the 230 kV level. The
The city's transmission is all at 69 kV
and kilovolts and below. In addition,
the project will have a 65 to 70 MW uh
battery energy storage system that will
help regulate the changes in load
intraday and seasonal loads, as well as
help regulate the voltages to keep them
constant. In addition, the project will
have 53 3.25 MW biodiesel generators
that will only be used uh less than 100
hours a year in accordance to local,
state, and federal permits.
We We initially were trying to figure
out a way to use the effluent that's
currently being discharged into the
desert. I think it's close to 1.1
million gallons a day that's just being
discharged.
So, we were trying to find a solution
that would not only provide a revenue to
the city for that wasted resource, but
see if we could use it in some sort of
closed loop system.
But, just touching that wastewater and
trying to turn turn it into a
a a revenue source and and actually put
it to use, we chose not to do that
because one, there was a lot of
opposition to using it.
And secondly, we're not sure if maybe
sometime in the future the city might
find another way to to push that water
into Mead. Right now, the cost to get
that water back to Mead is
is
cost prohibitive,
hundreds of million dollars. And so,
that's why that project has not gotten
off the ground.
So, we we met with Southern Nevada
Water.
We asked them, "Is the effluent covered
in your your evaporative cooling?" Even
though we weren't going to use it in
evaporative cooling, we were we wanted
to see if that was a problem.
They they they couldn't give us a
definitive answer. Based on that and the
the feedback that we heard from the
public, we pivoted to 100% air-cooled
system. It's a closed loop system. It
doesn't require any any type of
significant use of water other than a
one-time fill of 400,000 gallons. And
even that water can be purchased already
mixed with the glycol mixture. So, you
don't even have to get that water from
Boulder City. We can have it trucked
from California, Arizona, or some other
state already in the format that it that
it it needs to be in to put it into the
the data center.
How much water we talking about? 400,000
gallons is about 20 20 average-size
swimming pools.
The ongoing use of water is only for
bathrooms and kitchens, to up to 2,000
gallons per day, which is based on the
current average use of Boulder City, 200
gallons a day per resident, that's about
10 residents. So, this entire facility,
which at the end of the day could be as
much as $4 billion, is going to use the
same amount of water as 10 homes in this
in this city.
I think that's quite impressive if you
take a moment and and think about it.
So, we're not going to have any impact
on the wetlands, no impact on the water
at uh uh
uh Lake Mead, and no long-term use of
the effluent besides what the solar
fields are already using it for dust
control. We intend to do that as well.
The other
big
misconception about the project is that
we're going to blow up Boulder City's
power prices.
Well, power prices are comprised of
several factors. One is transmission and
distribution costs, the cost of
interconnecting into the grid and
delivering the power to its proposed
use. As I mentioned earlier, we're
paying 100% of those costs, so none of
those costs will ever be paid for by a
citizen or resident of the city.
The other key component is the cost of
energy.
Skyharbor is going to purchase all the
energy, the 100 167 megawatts required
for the project in negotiated bilateral
contracts from the wholesale market.
Someone like the city of Pasadena, city
of Glendale, or a a solar project will
come to us and say, "We've got excess
power. We want to sell you this power
for 5 10 years." Those contracts will be
negotiated, uh prices will be agreed,
those prices will be fixed, the the
those those contracts will be bilateral
just between the parties of the project
and the the seller, and and will have no
impact on the price of energy for the
for the city.
The other thing is
what I heard is that the the project is
way bigger than the, you know, the
amount of power that can throw flow
through uh, the Mead Substation.
The Mead Substation is over 10,000 MW.
So, we represent less than 2% of the
total power capacity of the Mead
Substation.
In addition
to these
these uh,
this structure were since we're in the
city's service territory, we have to
have the city serve the project in some
manner in order to comply with state
law. And our idea, our proposal for that
is that we would install a meter at the
point of delivery. The city we would
hire the city to read that meter and
handle the and administer the monthly
billing. For that, we propose to pay the
city a 50 cents a MW hour. That source
of revenue is around $700,000 for
measuring the power and administering
the the billing. What the city decides
to do with that 700,000 is really their
decision. But this this this benefit
from
uh, from this project from as a data
center would not occur
uh, for the project if it were a solar
plus storage project.
We heard a lot of misconceptions and and
uh, concerns about heat, sound, and air
quality.
One big benefit this project has is its
location. It's nearly 2.8 mi from the
nearest resident of Boulder City.
And it's 400 ft below the the uh, the
the the residents of Boulder City. Those
two factors work together to mitigate
any impacts related to heat, sound, uh,
or uh, particulate matter. Particulate
matter is already reduced because we're
only allowed to uh, run the backup
diesel generators less than 100 hours
per year and we can't run them in in
excess of what our permit allows,
uh, which will keep it at that level.
So, bottom line is the heat will be in
imperceptible but to any resident. Uh
you won't be able to hear it. It It It'd
be the same if I ask you, "Can you hear
the uh the rock quarry when it when it
mines the quarry?" Can anybody hear that
in the city?
You're not You're not going to be able
to hear this facility. Uh None of the
residents are going to be able to hear
it. I I drove to the the Nova facility
today, which is in North Las Vegas. It's
an air-cooled just like ours. It's a I
encourage all of y'all to go go go take
a look at it. Uh it it's it's it You
can't hear the facility. I was right
next to it. The only thing I could hear
was the road next to it.
And it's it's going to be using the same
technology, the same air-cooled
technology that we're talking about
using here.
We're We We always uh
work very closely with city staff and
the fire department to make sure we uh
obtain their input early on in the
process so we design a system that
ultimately is going to be accepted by
them and being able to be run by them.
And uh
we've already started having having
those some some of those discussions. We
know that there's been a recent fire at
the Townson Townson solar facility.
There's going to be some lessons learned
from that fire and we're going to take
those lessons learned and incorporate
them into the design of our project.
Data center tenants typically have two
type of tenants, hyperscale tenants,
colocation tenants. Both of them are
excellent credits. We estimate that our
power
uh
building will be cost around $2 billion.
These These tenants will put in another
$2 billion
worth of taxable uh
basis in in terms of computer equipment
and other equipment. So, at the end of
the day, this could be a
$4 billion in
facility
just 2.8 miles from the city.
In terms of the benefits we've already
talked about those quite a bit, but on
an annual basis first year revenues are
estimated at 3.6 million. Those are
based on
appraisals that we did for the property
as a data center.
We use the same appraisers that we used
for the solar field the Val Bridge and
Anderson. And
so based on those leases the the lease
revenue would be 1.5 million
higher.
The electric bill administration fee
would be at 670,000
and the property
sales tax would be about a million
dollars higher
per year based on the 2 billion dollar
project estimate.
The project's also going to create a lot
of jobs during construction permanent
jobs not just any jobs but high-paying
jobs $100,000 plus benefits. We're going
to continue to draw on the resources of
the city for facilities maintenance
landscaping
compliance different types of mechanical
electrical contract security and
training. So I think a lot of those jobs
could be sourced here in Boulder City
and it'll be our objective to source as
many jobs as we can from Boulder City.
Lastly I just want to thank you for your
time.
It's kind of late in my career. I didn't
know I was going to have this exciting
work to do so so late in my career, but
it's been a pleasure working with the
city and its staff and we look forward
to addressing any concerns or questions
that you have.
Thank you Mr. Lamers. Does do any of the
commissioners have any questions for the
applicant?
Okay.
Hi, my name is Beth.
Can you
outline what the total revenue for the
company annually will be?
So related to the data center.
So that's to be determined. It depends
on what the lease rental rate would be,
but typically There's gross revenue. You
have to have estimates.
You wouldn't go into a project like this
without some idea of what you're going
to be making.
Speak into your mic, please.
Thank you.
You wouldn't go into a project like this
without some idea of the gross revenue
that these data centers were going to
generate. What I'm asking is what were
those projections?
The revenue consists of two components.
One is going to be the the revenue that
from the tenants. You know, what are
they charge for cloud-based computing,
IT type computing. We we don't have
anything to do with that that side of
the equation. Our our revenue is going
to be driven by the actual uh power
shell building. And then that depends on
what are we charging for uh the lease
you know, what are we charging for the
space, what are we charging for for uh
the uh the power that that we're selling
to them. So a lot of the factors Are you
trying to tell me there's no revenue
projections for your company
to build this building and lease that
space?
No, we we we we we base our uh
investment based on what we think the
rate of return would be. And that would
be what was the estimate? At least 12%.
Of?
The $2 billion investment.
I have a question. Go ahead.
I um
just to give my background.
I'm a retired operating engineer. Spent
40 years
um
operating central plants and high-rises
in Las Vegas, New York,
and uh
my main thing was uh resource management
and central plant operation.
And I see this
closed Excuse me, this closed loop
system uh air-cooled closed loop system
requires up to 40,000 400,000 gallons of
potable water for a one-time fill of the
cooling system.
Um
uh
you know, I I want to be I don't want to
be rude. I want to be respectful. But
that is absurd.
Um operating equipment like that, there
are hourly blowdowns all over the
equipment. Uh you're going to be
constantly refilling the system.
That's just the way That's just the
nature of the animal. That's the way
these systems work.
And uh
like I said, I'm trying to be
respectful, but if if you're putting out
misinformation like this,
you know, I the the financial side, I
have no idea. Um she does. And uh if if
you're putting out this misinformation,
how can I trust anything else you people
say? As a matter of fact, aren't you
guys hedge fund managers?
No, we're a developing company that
develops renewable energy projects. Call
it what you want.
Scott, maybe we can have Scott come up
here from Overwatch soon and we can
address your your question directly cuz
you're saying you're saying that there's
going to be regular blowdowns. You're
saying quarterly. Well, how often do you
think the Hourly. Hourly.
>> to remove the total dissolved solids. Uh
» to remove the total dissolved solids. Uh
the other thing is that the uh rust
inhibitors that have to be added to the
water,
um the the the glycol that you
mentioned, a lot of these things are
forever chemicals. This water can't go
back into Lake Mead. It can't be, you
know, it's it's going to end up back in
our evaporator ponds.
Introduce yourself, Scott. Yeah, I'm
Scott during with Overwatch Capital
providing uh you know, construction
services for for the group. So,
>> Sir, could you please um come a little
» Sir, could you please um come a little
bit forward and speak into the
microphone?
>> It It is It is a closed-loop system, and
» It It is It is a closed-loop system, and
there is there is chemicals and it's
treated. We're not using potable water
cuz it would introduce too many
contaminants. So, we get that pretreated
water water from a from a service,
right? That's That's critical for us
because it doesn't introduce any
contaminants. It introduces corrosion,
so we have to make sure.
And it is something we have to maintain
often.
Um there's quarterly, monthly, and
quarterly uh taps and surveys we have to
do for the for the water. I'm sorry. I'm
sorry. I can't hear you. Oh, there is
there's
daily services that we have to do,
right? From a data center, there's
redundancies in the data center that
we're there every day maintaining that
space. That's That's part of the nature
of the data center. So, we are looking
at the water and the and the uh
contaminant levels of the water. If
there's anything, if we have to replace
anything, it's with that solution again.
We can't just introduce potable water to
it because
it would introduce too many contaminants
potential contaminants into the water.
So.
Thank you. Thank you.
Anything else?
So, uh
I have a question about
the uh 53 diesel generators. I live
exactly a mile from where the airplanes
do the run-up.
On a four-cylinder airplane, I could
hear it loud and clear at my house a
mile away.
And you're telling me 53 generators
diesel generators, you're not going to
hear 3 miles away.
I I just have a problem with that.
>> of sound would be 7 decibels. I can We
» of sound would be 7 decibels. I can We
all post a study on our website that
allow you to read. It's been done by
Kimley-Horn, who's also here, a
respected environmental
consultant that that we we use quite
frequently, that the industry uses quite
frequently. But, it it'd be 7 decibels
at 2.8 miles away.
>> Will you speak into the microphone,
» Will you speak into the microphone,
please? Thank you.
The sound will be 7 decibels
a lot lower than that sound uh
at [laughter] at at the nearest
resident.
Have you thought about like past
Nelson's Landing, that's still part of
Boulder City.
You mean for an alternate place of
development?
>> Yeah, cuz we don't want to hear this
» Yeah, cuz we don't want to hear this
this noise.
I I
Again, I I can share with you a study.
What I'd like to do is post the study on
our website, uh Mr. Smith, and then if
we could engage after you've had a
chance to review that study. Uh
that study estimates that does the sound
will be 7 decibels 2.8 miles away.
Are you suggesting you'd like to
withdraw this item until you can post
the information? No, I'm not suggesting
that at all.
How come it's not available for the
meeting where the decision about the
land
The the fact sheets do do state that the
that the residents of Boulder City will
not have any perceptible
feeling of heat or sound
living 2.8 miles far away. We've already
said that it's on our website. This
study just further further supports that
statement.
Thank you.
Just if I might just one thing further.
These are just emergency generators.
It's not meant to be a full-time
operating, you know, biodiesel
generator, just to be clear.
Yeah, it it it's
Who's who's to say that they're all
going to run at a time? It it it Those
generators basically react to unforeseen
events. You lose grid. You you may not
lose 100% of your grid. You may lose 10%
or 15%. That can be handled by the
battery. If you lose 50%, then you're
only going to be running half of them.
So, to say that all 53 are going to be
run, but even if all 53 are running,
7 decibels to the nearest resident.
Yes, go ahead, Commissioner Red. So, how
come you guys aren't just um building
this out at USA Parkway or somewhere in
northern Nevada where it'd be
you would have to do no infrastructure,
everything's already there. They've
already got 15 data centers out there.
Is it Is it pure economics
that by using Boulder City and our our
inexpensive land that makes it more
attractive to you?
Do you want to answer? Yeah, you can go
ahead. Sure. Um so, the I think the
question is why not somewhere else that
is maybe already used to data centers,
is that correct?
Yeah, so um we are developing many, many
other projects. This is This is one of
about nine projects we're developing
throughout the country. Uh we have
looked at other sites in Nevada. Um why
Boulder City? Why this particular piece
of property? Um as we had originally
studied this as a solar plus storage
project, um it it it became obvious to
us that with the infrastructure that was
already being put in place for a solar
plus storage project, that it might be
better to consider this as a data center
project, and hence we're here today to
to ask you to consider that.
Uh infrastructure is in place.
It it it and
it it it's we did we believe it is a
higher value case for not only us, but
for the city, and that's that's what
those numbers say.
So, at 12% that's $480 million.
Is your 12% and and
so, we're going to get 3.6 for for our
of our revenue? Uh you're going to get
whatever these appraisals that are
required by state law suggests and
whatever terms we're able to negotiate
with the city council. I mean, if we're
going
>> This is This is an estimate based on the
» This is This is an estimate based on the
appraisals that that we've we've we've
done, and we just followed the same
methodology that you use for the solar
fields. Would you be doing a
Would you be willing to do a profit
share with us that uh you give us like
6 8% of the profit?
As as some city city staff knows, we
have long ago proposed a public-private
partnership.
Uh we'd be perfectly be willing to to
work with Boulder City on that front.
We're doing that in other communities,
by the way. So, this would not be new to
Boulder City.
Um
you know, there there is upside benefit,
of course. By the way, those numbers
that you just came up with, those are
undiscounted numbers. So, to be fair,
we'd have to represent those in the
current value.
Thank you. Any other questions for the
applicant before I open the public
hearing? Uh yeah, I have another one. Go
ahead, Matt.
>> Um it was just um revealed that
» Um it was just um revealed that
um your company has been negotiating
with the city since 2017.
Um
why did we not hear about this until
recently? And who were you negotiating
with in the city? Which administrators?
So, uh to be clear, the negotiations I
believe you're referring to uh
involved the solar plus storage project.
I'm sorry. Involved Involved what? The
solar plus storage project. Hence the
name, when you hear Townsite Solar 2,
since we had developed Townsite Solar 1,
we thought of this as the next potential
phase as a solar project. So, when you
hear about those dates,
um it was only very recently, in the
last call it 6 to 9 months, that the
concept of can this be used as a data
center?
Infrastructure's there. Let's run it up
the flagpole, see what Boulder City
thinks.
Thank you.
So, the bottom line is
the data center would be more profitable
than the solar that's already been
approved out there.
For us and and the city.
Correct.
Thank you.
Any other questions for the applicant?
Okay, at this time I will open the
public hearing. This is a public
hearing.
Come on up, Shauna. I just like to
reiterate, if you spoke in the first
public comment, we just ask that if
there are other people who have not
spoken that they get the opportunity to
speak if they would like to. Thank you.
Go ahead, Shauna. Hello, my name is
Shauna. Um
boy, that was a nice eloquent
presentation, but they lost me at we've
already purchased equipment.
Like wow.
They they if maybe I'm hearing it wrong,
but they stated we've already purchased
some equipment.
And
as eloquent as everything was, that to
me I think the word is presumptuous.
Um and still not in agreement and even
more not in agreement now.
Thank you.
All right. Brenda Lormie. Um
good point, but you know, they said
trust me.
So, um
that said, um I sat here in this room on
December 9th of last year.
Uh they were here and they were asking
for a renewal on their their BES, which
is battery energy storage system.
And which we uh expired at the end of
last year. So, that's what they were up
here asking for. It was
approved. We didn't think anything of it
at the time, so we were obviously
shocked and surprised and we sat here a
few months later
and they had pivoted to a data center
company all of a sudden and then we
found out that's what every BES proposal
recently tends to become. So, everybody
just take note of that if you see BES
anywhere on an agenda, that's what's
coming down the line. So,
um and they've actually I think that
application, they were getting a renewal
of it. It had actually been approved
originally, I think in Mar- in May of
2022. And this is data centers have just
become a more recent thing. And so, one
of my questions is why the rush? And,
you know, big tech companies have have
made it a rush because it's a supply and
demand issue on their part. And I said
this at the last council meeting,
um, you know, lack of planning on their
part does not constitute an emergency on
ours. So, I have begged our city council
to just hold back, wait for the November
election. They've chosen not to do so,
so I'm begging here, but uh
I'm hoping everybody read this
application. I'm sure you all did, but
I'm hoping everybody else read their
application carefully, their March 24th
application carefully, their December
9th application carefully, and poke
holes in all of them because there's a
lot of holes you can poke in them.
Um, the
March 24th one, they misstated their
energy usage to a factor of 1,000 in
their favor.
Um, they said later that was just a
mistake on their part. And tonight's
application, uh, I need to get my notes
out, but they they state their their,
um,
their water usage, um, in three
different where they're cooling in three
different ways. They state it under the
cooling section six. Uh, they don't
state a number at all, but in section
three, I forget what that's listed, but
in section three, I think they state it
as 900,000 gallons per day. And then in
section 10, they state it as 600,000
gallons per day. And they're acting like
they say they pivoted away from a, um,
evaporative cooling system. And somebody
else brought up there's a huge water
line going to there. Well, if they
pivoted away from that, why is it listed
twice in their application for tonight?
I don't know. Those are two of the
holes, and I've run out of time, so I
won't go into the myriad other ones I
wrote down here, but just please read it
and
um I just urge you again to please deny
it. I had all my technical reasons, but
I'll leave that to others. Thank you
all. Appreciate you.
Commissioners, just two very quick
points. I know it's a lengthy process.
First, I'd like to thank Mr. Steve Rudd
for bringing up the mathematics of the
profitability for Boulder City, and I
would ask the commissioners to evaluate
and also Beth. I would ask the
commissioners to really evaluate this.
To the citizens, it doesn't look like
Boulder City
is gaining something that equitably
justifies
the objections that the that the
majority of residents here oppose.
So, please, I thank you very much for
pointing that out and taking a careful
look at that. As it's been said here,
it's it's been said that a a lease under
these circumstances would have to be
renegotiated. The second point is that
in the in the in the aspect of battery
storage for the transfer Eldorado Valley
Transfer Area, that is something that
has been noted in the Boulder City
Charter as acceptable.
However, in these instances, it then
becomes discerned down the road in the
process as it was here that data centers
are more profitable, but I believe that
the data center usage is not within the
Boulder City Charter, and I would like
to respectfully pose that I don't know
the legality of that, and perhaps you
all do, but I'd like to mention the
question of it here. Thank you very
much.
Ma'am, I didn't I didn't get your name
for the record. I apologize.
Ma'am.
No,
can you state your name? Yes, Kathleen
McGarrity. Do I need to sign in again?
No. Thank you.
Okay.
Donna Mellor.
Just very briefly.
I think that we've shown by everybody
here that and what you've heard outside
of here
is that we are just completely against
these. We are not interested in hearing
any more about it.
We would really like you to consider
not passing on to the city council that
they should they should consider it.
We'd like you to just deny it. And
that's what I have to say. Thank you.
Hi, my name is Cherabelle Lab.
And
I wanted to start off before responding
to some of the other things that were
brought up to what
our deputy city manager Michael Mace
said. Which is that these are just the
first steps. And
to that I ask
would you want to take the first steps
towards a fire pit when you know that
the ultimate end goal is for you to fall
down in it?
Would you want to
take the first steps towards a nuclear
waste site? To a bed of spikes? To
rabbit dogs? No. Cuz I wouldn't.
Um, and usually when you're taking steps
towards something
it's because you're trying to get there.
So, trying to say that
oh, well, we're just in the early steps,
so it's not like we're doing this.
That's honestly quite silly to say.
You're taking the steps. You're doing
the thing. If you're placing down wood
and hammering it in, that means you're
building the thing. And right now, these
are the steps. So, let's set down the
hammer because absolutely everyone has
said they don't want this. Let's just
not have the pit of spikes.
So,
um
and let's not peer over the gates,
especially when we know there's
something bad on the other side. Uh
let's try to keep the eyes of Boulder
City
um
and with the data centers,
there have been many mistakes in the
information they've put out. How many
mistakes does someone, especially
company, get to make before the mistakes
will be called lies or they'll be called
a bait and switch? Um because it's also
interesting that they're up here saying,
"Oh, well, this is a very recent thing."
And yet, in other speeches, they're
saying, "We've thought long and hard
about this. We've put time into thinking
about this."
It hasn't been really short or has it
been really long? Cuz either you've
thought about this for a really short
time or really long time. And right now,
we're not getting the same answer on
that, but we're also not getting the
same answer on just about anything from
them.
So, with that, I would like to once
again say,
please
say no to the data centers. Not just you
guys, but city council. I really hope
that our city council pulls through and
that they can actually represent the
city that they're saying they do because
right now, they're not acting like
they're here for our people. They are
acting like they're here for them and
they're acting like the only chamber is
an echo chamber and it's their voices,
not ours. We have thousands of voices up
here.
I hope that thousands of voices are
finally enough voices. Thank you.
Thank you. Anybody else wishing to speak
in the public hearing.
Okay.
Say a little something. Barbara O'Quinn,
Barbie O'Quinn.
Um
the project manager, Rick, told us what
electrical upgrade
equipment they would or they have paid
for already in detail.
Um he did not say it was all the
electrical upgrades that would be
needed. So, my question to them would be
be what upgrades to the grid would still
be needed and who exactly would pay for
them.
Um my other
comment is that he said that, rather
proudly,
that they could truck water from
California or Arizona, but not this
area.
Much of our water comes from
Colorado River, which we share.
We have
big agreements with Arizona, California,
Mexico. This whole area depends on our
water.
So, by trucking it in from California,
from Arizona,
that's not helping us a bit.
Um so, I'm sure you'd agree and I need
to I was supposed to sign in
before, so I'm going to do that now. And
that's all.
Just have a lot of concerns.
Thank you.
So, this is Adam Schultheis again.
And
I'm an educator, 36 years teaching.
And I do my homework. Before I threw the
my hat into the race for city council,
which was, by God, Friday 13th, no idea,
I did my homework.
And
every paper I've read, and there are
hundreds of them. Hundreds of them.
University Chicago, Harvard, Yale,
Cornell,
you name the top universities in the
country and every single one of them are
anti-data. You know what's interesting?
The only papers that are pro-data are
high-tech.
So, you have the academics on the left,
you have high-data on the right.
So, we're talking
education, academics, fact,
and we're talking billions, billions,
and billions.
Consider that. Don't sell your soul
to the devil.
» [applause]
>> We have a caller. We'll take the caller
» We have a caller. We'll take the caller
on the line, please.
Public comment, go ahead. billions Yes.
and billions.
You want to have money to bargain?
I'm a registered voter here and my
question is how much fuel is going to be
stored there
to per- to make those diesel generators,
you know, work in case the power goes
out is one of my questions.
My other one is a statement and that is
every single one of you guys, anyone
that voted for this,
my vote's going somewhere else. Thank
you.
I think we're not elected.
Have another caller. Hi, sorry, it's me
again, the motormouth. I tried to fit a
half an hour speech
into 3 minutes and I do thank you for
listening. Uh my name's Autumn McGrath
and I just wanted to do one quick
last part of my
30-minute speech here. Um
living in this extreme desert
environment gives us a strict
responsibility to steward our lands more
so than other other areas.
We should care so much more about our
wildlife and our lands than other areas.
This project sits directly in a critical
bird migration path. People don't know
this, but all of the wild bird species
of the western half of North of the
North American continent pass through
this area during migration,
a time when birds are most threatened.
It's not only local wildlife at risk,
it's the entire western bird migration
pattern.
Um
Uh there's
there's so many birds. I think we're
down to like the last few percentages of
bird species that we even have left.
Like there's these there's book that
comes out every year about um the
western birds and every year it's
smaller and smaller and thinner and
thinner. There's like hardly any birds
left.
Data centers are the current David and
Goliath story and small town residents
are standing up against corporate greed
and sold out city councils all over this
country. People are already stretched to
our economic limits limits by the cost
of living. We are already traumatized
and exhausted by politics in general and
do not stab your hard working
constituents in the back for a
short-sighted underhanded deal. And
those guys were really uh cringey.
Um that was really cringey.
>> There'll be no personal attacks. Well,
» There'll be no personal attacks. Well,
there was a lot of word salad Ma'am,
please make your point and do not
personally attack anybody. Thank you.
Okay, you got it.
I apologize for that personal part, but
that was pretty corny to sit through.
» Hi, my name is Barbie Ruckle and I
wasn't going to talk. Really nervous.
But I lived in Vegas since '82
and I loved Boulder City
and I finally got to move here 3 years
ago
and I just don't want to see it fall
apart. It's such a beautiful little town
and nobody wants to see that break when
you're driving to town
and
I just feel like they're giving us a
high school science fair show and it's
going to be yes, my rat's better than
yours and I just don't feel like they're
giving us the true information.
They're leading us down a false road and
I just don't want Boulder City to fall
apart.
Thank you, Barbie. We'll take the caller
on the line, Madam City Clerk.
What comment? I don't feel like they're
giving me the true information.
They're leading us down
Hello.
You'll have You'll have to mute that
background. Go ahead. Got you. Got you.
Hi. Hi. My name is Tommy. I spoke
earlier.
Tommy Love for the record. I heard all
of what they had to say
and I have to say I didn't trust them
before they spoke. Just the company in
general and I definitely don't trust
them now after hearing
the presentation that I saw. And so I
hope that you guys can just really
consider not accepting these data
centers here in Boulder City.
They told the room that they're
projecting a minimum and I want to
emphasis emphasize minimum 12% profit
and what does the community really get
out of this? What they're really getting
is more heat, less water
and just to kind of clear the confusion,
as a registered nurse, I really I do my
background check. I make sure that we we
have the facts. And the data centers,
they do produce heat. And in the valley,
this heat is already killing people in
the summer.
And that's one of my biggest concerns in
general.
But they are taking our water, and then
they're now contaminant or they will
contaminate it further.
And this is not speculation. This is
actually what's been happening.
And the target They They target little
towns, beautiful little towns like
Boulder City, on purpose.
Um some city towns like this, they need
the money, and I understand that, but
this is not how we should be going about
that in any form.
But I really do want to thank you guys
for hearing all of our concerns. I know
there's been a lot of amazing people who
spoke up tonight. And thank you for
hearing us all out, because we need you.
We really need you to hear us. Thank you
so much.
Thank you, Tommy.
Any other
person wishing to speak during this
public hearing?
Torres, and I just have one observation
while they were talking. Um they were
talking about not um using potable
water, but having treated water that
they would be bringing in to use.
However, they did not clarify what they
would do if they had to replace that
water, the treated water. Where would
the other water go? Is it going to go
into our landfills? Is it going to go
into the ponds, as you say, the back
ponds being pumped? So, that's
definitely something for them to
say that they're going to use treated
water, but they're not In order to
replace it, they're not telling us where
they're going to put the water that
they've had to replace that, and where
it's going to be landing.
Hopefully not Boulder City. So, um thank
you guys for listening, and for the
presentation
and um
it's definitely a no still for the data
center.
My name is Barbara Paulson and my
understanding is if the city were going
to sell any land over 1 acre, it would
have to go before a vote of the
citizens. Is that correct?
Ms. Paulson, this isn't the sale of
land, it's a lease and we can't answer
questions in public comment.
This is as important as selling land
and to make a decision like this, it
should go before the voters. So, the
voters vote and not have it decided by
government body.
Thank you.
» [applause]
» Is there a caller? I'll take the caller,
please.
I've got a public side. Public comment,
go ahead.
Hello. Um this is Jennifer Lowe again.
Um
I'm I'm really grateful that you gave us
an opportunity to hear what was being
said. Um
and as I'm listening to them again,
you know, I was a
I was an assistant to a project manager.
Um
I'm very familiar with this process and
I and I'm going to say this with
as much heart as I can.
Um as I'm listening to them and and
truly listening. I felt like
it
It feels like this is a magical unicorn
presentation.
Um
like they are the unique exception to
the reality of the situations of data
centers all across the country.
Um
It it seems like what they're trying to
sell us is an absolute one-off unique
exception to what has been a consistent
series of destruction of property,
destruction of health, destruction of
national resources. There's not been one
single community across the entire
United States
where having that data center has made
their situation any better. It's always
making the situation worse. This is some
of the greatest man-made destruction
that has literally ever existed in
modern history. Yet
even with everything that they said, you
know, there were inconsistencies and
somehow
this is going to be the magical one and
only data center in the United States
that will
not cause problems and actually be a
benefit. You know, and they kept
bringing up about this is out, you know,
X amount so far away, but
I was one of you know, and and
until recent health event, I was one of
the people that used it that area,
whether it was
for hiking or when we used to be able to
off-road. Um
we have the canyons out there, the
petroglyphs out there. Um
And somehow the destruction is magically
not supposed to happen and and I'm even
more against this than I thought I could
have been. Um
You know, and they spoke about the Nova
Center. So, while this was going on, I
researched it and the Las Vegas
Review-Journal says that
there are consistent quote unquote
consistent complaints
about high pitch noises coming from the
Nova Center. So,
I'm I think I'm going to trust with the
people in the community who are
complaining about this consistently
as to say instead of what we're being
told because literally the only people
who have stood up in
support of this data center are the
people who are directly financially
gaining from the data center. You know,
and so my my ask is of you guys, and
again, thank you for hearing us. Um
you know, if this is one more key to
destruction in our community, is that
really truly the destiny you want to
leave behind? Is that the most
>> Miss Levitt, your time's up. Thank you
» Miss Levitt, your time's up. Thank you
again for your comments. Okay. Thank
you. Bye.
Any other
person wishing to speak in this public
hearing?
Good evening again, Madam Chair,
commission staff, ladies and gentlemen.
Brandon Smith for the record. Um
I think it's it's important to highlight
the the series of presentations that
have been pitched
publicly
by the TS2 people.
Um
their their very first presentation
which was truly off by a factor of
1,000.
Um it should have been shut down then
and there.
Um it wasn't.
Uh they continued to
I don't know, morph their their numbers
um
every presentation. It started out as a
$2 billion project. Now it's a $4
billion project. They've spent $12
million by their own admission just a
few minutes ago already anticipating
that this project is going forward. Um
you're right. They wouldn't have done
any of this if they had not anticipated
an overwhelming crazy amount of money.
We are talking trillions of dollars at
play here.
Um
and unfortunately, uh
their their data just isn't consistent
from
one set of data for the same thing to
the other.
Um Rick was up here talking about 167
megawatts. Uh their proposal's for 300
megawatts in two phases. Um they still
haven't come up figured out a way to to
come up with the other half of the power
that they're needed. Um the you know,
the diesel generators and the amount of
power that they're going to need to
draw, they have to start those things
monthly just to keep them running. Um
you know, again, Rick would have us
believe that all this heat is just going
to float away and that it's advantageous
for the site to be 400 ft below what the
rest of the city is. Heat rises.
Um if if I'm doing
my logic uh correctly, it would be more
advantageous to have it 4,000 ft in the
air, not 400 ft below because it's just
going to come up and waft um into the
city uh unless the wind is blowing in a
very specific direction away from the
city. We're all going to feel it.
Um I I can't imagine a world where um
we we're home to the seventh wonder of
the industrial world. We are small, but
we are mighty.
And let us be the city that says no to
data centers when everybody else says
yes. So, when this all falls apart
somewhere down the line and lawsuits are
flying everywhere and data center
developers are going bankrupt and trying
to sue everybody and us as citizens are
losing our health and our wealth. Um
and we're suing
the the proponents of this,
um
the city will not be responsible because
we said no. Please say no. Thank you.
I'll take the caller.
Public comment, go ahead.
Yes, again for the record, Fred Voltz.
I'd like to respond to some of the
things that were said both by the
proponents of the project and by the
deputy city manager.
Uh it is frequently a tactic used that
the public is considered to be full of
misinformation and misconceptions
uh to try and invalidate what the public
has to say and it's not a very
respectful way to treat people. Uh we
are able to read and analyze just as
well as the experts. So, uh that is not
a good tactic to take.
Secondly, uh the quote that uh the
project is going to purchase power on a
long-term basis from places like
Pasadena and Glendale completely defies
the reality that California is very
short of electricity. It's very
expensive and the that's not really a
source. They will be on the spot market
with Boulder City competing against us
and I do wish the project proponents
would finally admit that rather than tap
dancing around that very
straight fact without any further
abracadabra.
Secondly, or thirdly, I'd like to say
that it is very telling when proponents
of a project have to engage two
different law firms and a public
relations firm to promote their project.
If it's so great, it should stand on its
own. They shouldn't need to have help
trying to shepherd it along and cajole
people into supporting it.
Again, nothing came up about their
complete lack of experience running a
data center, so we don't know what sort
of operators they are. All we know is
what they say they will do. We cannot
take that to the bank.
Uh there is no proposed remediation of
the injected chemicals into this
closed-loop system, and there was no
addressing of that issue on any
rational or specific basis. That is a
real problem. There should be a
performance bond
in place so that if this company or the
companies
cease doing business or create
environmental problems, we in Boulder
City have some sort of recourse. That
has not been proposed. That's not been
discussed.
And finally, uh since the format uh
does not allow for the public to ask
questions and get answers, when will we
have a workshop on this whole project
with city officials, with the
proponents, where everybody gets to hear
the answer? That has not happened, and
apparently it's not going to happen the
way the two workshops were conducted.
So,
none of what the proponents or the city
staff have said
give this public in Boulder City any
confidence
that this is a good project. Thank you.
Madam City Clerk, is there another
caller? Go ahead.
How about comment? Go ahead.
Hello, my name is Savannah Beck, calling
again. Um I was just calling to state
that the um company is very trained in
PR and legal terminology. So, when
they're going over these points in their
PowerPoint, they're not giving us the
full information because they could be
held legally liable. Um that's why they
contradicted themselves about
the pee water and when the commissioner
called them out about using that water,
they turned around and said, "No, we
didn't say that." But, they actually
did. Um so, you So, everyone really
needs to like listen to the specific
words that they're using because they're
not telling us the truth. And when
they're saying, "Oh, we actually got
approved for the storage facility, but
now we're going to change it to a data
center." When that wasn't the approval
that they were given before, um that's
why we need need to push back on them
and keep telling them, "No, we do not
want this. They are not allowed to do
that to us. Please stop poisoning
our our water, our community,
everything." Um and quit lying to us.
And that's all I had. Thank you.
Is there another caller? There is. Go
ahead.
I've got a comment. Go ahead.
Hi, can you hear me? I can.
Hi, this is Jasmine Lazaro. I'm a third
generation Nevadan.
The applicants came in with polished
slides and the right words.
They told you the water would be
recycled, the environment protected,
contaminants monitored daily.
And we're asking you to look at what is
actually happening, not the promises,
the record.
US data centers consumed 17.4 billion
gallons of water in 2023 alone.
Equivalent to 160,000
American households.
That number is projected to quadruple by
2028.
And here is what they left out. Data
centers evaporate approximately 80% of
the water they draw.
Not recycled, not returned, gone.
Google consumed over 6 billion gallons
in 1 year.
One single Iowa data center used a
billion gallons, enough to supply all of
Iowa's homes for 5 days.
We are in Nevada, the driest state in
the nation.
More than half of our ground water
basins are already over-allocated.
When they told you water would be
recycled,
Microsoft pledged a 95% reduction in
evaporative water use.
They then changed their reporting method
methodology, so the numbers looked
better.
Google celebrated replenishment while
consumption climbed 28% in a single
year.
XAI launched a gray water project,
announced it would only cut aquifer use
by 9%, and put it on indefinite hold.
Indefinite hold. That is what their
promise looks like in practice.
Now, let me say what no one else will,
but also a lot of people know.
This is not just about data centers.
This is about billionaires deliberately
engineering a water shortage and
positioning themselves to profit from
it. The same executives building these
facilities are investing in water rights
and water infrastructure.
They are not unaware of the scarcity
they are creating. For some of them, it
is the plan.
Secure Secure the ground water now,
control the resource, sell it back
later.
And while that happens, the federal
government, under pressure from tech
industry lobbying, moved in 2025 to gut
clean water act oversight and fast-track
data center permits. They are not just
taking the water, they are dismantling
the laws that would make them answer for
it. Our community is not a sacrifice
zone for someone else's investment
portfolio. We are not against progress,
we are for accountability.
We are for binding transparency
requirements before a permit is signed,
not after. We are for our neighbors'
water still being here for their
children. We are for a future where
water belongs to the people who live
here, Ma'am, your time is up.
>> that has never set foot in Henderson and
» that has never set foot in Henderson and
never will. They came today with
promises and no
proof.
>> Thank you.
Is there another caller? Oh, thank you.
Hi, my name is Amanda Farrar. I'm a
resident here in Boulder City, and I
spoke earlier in the meeting, and I'm
calling back with uh some further
comment and information, and I
appreciate you guys listening to
everyone's comments tonight. I did some
research on the size of the estimated uh
the estimated size of the data center
buildings that are built on 88.5 acres
of land, the size of the parcel we're
discussing, and also research on the
size of Walmart stores as a comparison.
And what we're actually considering for
the gateway to our beautiful Crane Town
that we're talking about starting with
two buildings, um but the word building
is actually a misnomer because the two
buildings that we're talking about
together, uh we can actually estimate as
being the size of 14 regular Walmart
stores.
Or, because those stores come at
different scales, eight very large
Walmart Supercenters
or about 35 Walmart Neighborhood Market
stores.
That is the scale of
what would be likely only phase one of
the data center project uh that is being
discussed. And on top of having a
footprint
of the size of 14 Walmart stores, we are
talking about a monstrosity
um that is estimated to be about 40-ft
tall.
Um this is incredible. I remember
about 2 years ago, there was an
application by a local church for a
senior apartment complex that was turned
down because of opposition by
surrounding neighbors who were concerned
about what poor elders would do for
their property values.
That project was not approved. It was
not built. Um it was my understanding
that the input um by neighbors was uh
was what stopped that project. So, I ask
why in the world would we recommend a
massive eyesore that's intermittently
noisy, creates light pollution, and a
town where our previous goal was to be a
dark skies area.
Uh it creates few jobs. It uses our
precious water supply. It gives off
heat.
It could put enormous strain on our
power grid uh which would likely raise
our power bills over time.
But, in addition to all that, a data
center is a massive liability for
Boulder City. Um I've heard that the
developers haven't done this before.
There are red flags everywhere,
and I urge you guys on the planning
commission uh to listen to all the
concerns that have been expressed, and
to recommend against the data center
project.
Uh thank Thank for listening.
Thank you. Is another caller go ahead.
Public comment go ahead.
Should I speak now or wait a moment? Oh
no, go ahead.
Hello, my name is Carol Schultz as there
earlier. I did listen to the city
surveyor speak and he was talking about
technology and the way we're going and
we shouldn't miss the the boat. I just
wanted to say since all this started in
very short period of time ago,
I've become a studier of everything data
centers
and listening to absolutely everything I
can, reading everything I possibly can.
And from what he said, he's completely
wrong.
The technology is going the direction of
quantum compute.
And let me give you an example of that.
If you have an army of drones
and they're
out there on the war site and someone
drops a bomb, a dirty bomb inside your
country on that data at that data
center,
all the drones fall out of the sky. But
with quantum compute, they don't.
That is the future.
And 18 to 24 24 months to build one of
these things, we're going to be that
much closer to quantum compute. That is
the way everything is going.
China's not building data centers.
France isn't building data centers.
You know,
this is just a probability thing going
on for these big companies.
And we can find better ways to make
money out of our valley. Let's be more
creative.
But I encourage everybody that's there
on the commission
to fact check all of us who've been
studying the facts from all of the
papers written by all the colleges and
all of the special tech companies are
saying one thing, but they never get
around to the specifics. And if you read
the 10-page Harvard paper yourself, it's
available online.
Maybe you can say, "This is no way." And
you can tell the city council, "These
people are right."
Thank you for your time. And I only had
to wait on hold for 30 minutes this
time. But, you know what? It's better
than not getting picked up at all. Thank
you.
Is there another caller? Uh-huh.
Go ahead.
Public comment, go ahead.
Hi, this is Sharon Newby, Boulder City
resident. And um
I just I agree with everything that I've
heard tonight. And I probably know more
about data centers than I ever wanted to
know. I never even heard of one before
all this started.
And uh just a couple of things that have
stood out to me. The fact that they've
already invested 12.5 million in this
project, which they have no approval
for.
Uh the fact that they're going to get
water from California or Arizona, that
was the most ridiculous thing I've ever
heard. Cuz that we know that comes from
the Colorado River.
Um that they have the generators
and they're only going to do 100 hours a
year. Well, we just had winds up to how
much, you know, who knows what's going
to blow the dirt into these places and
cause problems all the time.
And uh the last thing
I want to thank uh
Beth and Matt and Steve [clears throat]
and Shanna and uh Kevin Smith for their
questions, which were good questions.
Thank you. And um
I have so many notes here, I don't even
know where to go next.
Um [clears throat]
Kathleen McGarry, thank you. Thank you
all for coming and stating your
opinions. Thank you for listening,
planning commission. And I hope that you
decide to deny this petition or whatever
it is. Thank you.
Is there another caller?
Tony?
Public comment.
Hello?
» [clears throat]
» There's another comment. Okay. Public
comment, go ahead.
Oh, hello. Thank you for taking my call.
This is Julie Kemp. I was also in there
earlier, and I had to leave, so I was
listening online, and I heard the
presentation, and I just wanted to say
that, I mean, honestly, the presentation
was so
Let me turn off the computer. Um
Uh sorry, could you Do you need to
Should I repeat myself? No, we can hear
you.
Oh, okay. Okay, sorry.
Um that the presentation was I mean,
honestly, it was sort of a joke. It
really did feel like I was listening to,
you know, kids in, um you know,
elementary school doing some kind of
project with It was just so
unprofessional.
Um the other thing that comes to mind
is, um so, my background is in
information technology, database
development, and I've also studied
cybersecurity. And so, I I handle cyber
awareness training at my company, and
one of the things that we talk about is,
you know, when someone calls you on the
phone, or, you know, you get some kind
of message on your computer, and and
they make you feel like this is an
emergency, you got to take care of this
right away, that's that's like the first
sign that there's something wrong. And I
feel like there's this such a sense of
urgency with this, like there's some
kind of emergency. Like, what are we
trying to fix here? I mean, if if
Boulder City needs a way to make money,
which it doesn't sound like there's like
some emergency, but even if there is,
hey, you want you guys want to make more
money, then great. Why don't you get the
community together, have a have a a town
hall with the commissioners and the
planners, and the whole community make
sure everyone knows about it and have
have conversation and see what kind of
ideas the community has for bringing
different industry to Boulder City that
fits more in line with
um
you know, energy sustainability. Um I
mean that's I thought the solar panels
are great that would be something that's
wonderful for our community. We do we do
need sustainable energy um and and so
anyway, those are my thoughts and I do
hope that you just flat out say no
because there is some fake emergency
going on here and I mean I don't even
know we're hours into this meeting 3
hours basically mostly of people saying
no. So if you all vote yes, I I can't
even imagine why you would vote yes. It
really makes no sense. So thank you
again for taking my call.
Public comment, go ahead.
My name is Deal Snyder and I'm a 40-year
resident. I'm glad to hear the planning
commission asking such good questions.
If you look at the mechanics of this in
terms of the resolution,
um Mr. I believe it's Lambers package
will be a chance to this as
part of the package. It's an addendum.
It's referred to and has become part of
it. I don't feel that a lot of
information is correct with warrants not
passing it. And if you look at the the
resolution itself, it's almost like a
counter where the
planning commission is very unfairly
driven down a course that leads to only
several different alternatives.
The passage of it is based on that this
data center is similar to
uh data the um solar fields. And we've
heard many many comments and including
from the applicant that shows this isn't
at all like the solar fields. So, to
pass the resolution based on it being
similar to the solar fields,
I feel would be a mistake. And I
appreciate all the comments. I agree
with everybody. And I want to note that
I've been here the whole time and
telephonically, just like a
councilperson
appearing telephonically, I feel that
I've been at the meeting if I raise um
any kind of appeal or other matter
relating to it. Thanks very much, and I
appreciate the comments of the planning
commission.
Another call.
Thank you. All right, we'll take the
next caller.
Public comment.
Hello. It's My name's Robert Green. I
just wanted to
say what I think
about the data center so far. I've
watched videos like news reports of
communities
that place these in, and they're half
struggling with their water supply.
They're also struggling
with their water becoming dirty water.
What I think about this town so far,
with their whole wanting to put this
data center in, it's going to absolutely
destroy our town
by sucking up the water. They tell
people that they can't water their
plants, wash their grass within a
certain time because of a drought, but
they want to put in something that will
suck up our water. They'll They want to
put in something that has been shown to
produce a bunch of heat. They want put
in something that has been shown
over and over
to ruin communities. That is the only
thing I wanted to say.
Have a good day.
Thank you. Is there another caller?
What?
You.
Anybody else wishing to speak during
this public hearing?
I came just to listen tonight. My name's
Anita Froystad. I came here just to
listen tonight, but I just felt I needed
to get up and say something.
Why are we putting it on our shoulders?
And maybe we should put it back on their
shoulders that they should come up with
a better product.
And maybe they should spend some of
their money
on something that works a little better
that doesn't cause all the issues that
it is. And my other thought is
and I've lived here since I have owned
my home since '77.
If something comes up, and I love
Boulder City, I brag about it to
everybody.
Um
if something would come up where it
turns into a
a
health issue our property's going to go
down.
It could just we could be a little ghost
town.
I mean, this is a big issue
as far as I'm concerned.
And I just think I just needed to say
that.
Thank you, Anita.
Hi, Karen Newcomer again.
Um I just wanted to say that
Boulder City is a lovely town now.
And it's it's listening to all these
people and their reasons and
it just makes me
think that
Boulder City should be continued to be
continued to be known as the home of the
Hoover Dam and not this town that
capitulated to this nightmare.
Thank you.
I guess.
Any other
members of the audience wishing to speak
during public hearing?
Any caller?
We'll wait for the 30-second delay to
give people at home a chance to call in
before I close the public hearing.
You think it's up?
You think my 30 seconds is up? Okay.
Seeing and hearing none, I'll close this
public hearing.
Okay. Prior to um opening up to the
commission, I
I want to make a couple points of
clarification.
Just based on
the numerous comment comments I've
heard. First, I want to thank everybody
for being here, staying 3 hours,
offering your input. Um it's very
appreciated. Um we we hear you. Um
that's part of the process. So, I
appreciate your passion and you sticking
this out. But, I do want to make a
couple points of clarification. Number
one is um just to remind everybody all
of us up here are volunteers. We are not
paid anything. We're not paid for being
here, and we're certainly not paid by
any applicant. I want to make that very
clear. Um we are here because we care
about this community. We live here. And
you have to live here in order to be on
the commission. And if we didn't care
about the community, just like you, we
wouldn't be up here. Not only do many of
us serve on this commission, we do many
other things in the community because we
love it, just like you do.
I wanted to also reiterate what um
Deputy City Manager May said about the
land management process. I heard several
comments regarding how the council did
not listen to you. And I just want to
make it clear that the council
forwarding the application to the
planning commission is not approval of
the project. It's not support of the
project. What it does is the the land
management plan
does exactly what it did tonight and
that is give all of you the opportunity
to have input. It's whole purpose was to
give the public the opportunity to have
input before it was approved. So, this
whole notion and I'm not here to defend
the council's actions, but I'm trying to
um clarify the process.
The council forwarding it Well, first of
all, let me just back up.
The company
has been a great community partner since
the day they walked in city hall. I want
to reiterate that. They are um the
utmost professionals and them coming to
the city to say, "Hey, yes, we have this
land, but
here's an opportunity for the city as
well as us to to do something with it
that's different. That yes, it is
lucrative more lucrative for them. It's
more lucrative for us.
They had to The city couldn't shoot it
down before it came to you. You have to
operate in a public setting where all
the discussions and all the decisions
are made out in the open. That is the
purpose of this process. I hate to see
people thinking that the council's doing
something nefarious when they are doing
exactly what the city code has told them
to do and that's what we are doing as
well. This is your the whole the land
management plan was for us, the
citizens. So,
and and you
showed up. So, kudos to that.
Um
I'm going to
save I have a couple more comments but
I'm going to save them. I'll let other
planning commissioners speak.
I just want to address I think it's
great everybody came out. I've been on
the planning commission for going on my
eighth year and it makes it a lot better
when you guys come in and you interject
and you help. I think
you know, we are just the first step.
You know, the city council is the next
step where everybody needs to show up.
Um little disappointed we had we went on
for so long looking at the audience
we've lost half of the people
that didn't even stick around for the
vote. So I know that everybody's
passionate they want to say something
but just listen to the people ahead of
you and make sure that we're just not
repeating the same thing over and over
and over
and and we want everybody you know, you
get to sign a
petition. You show up. You show your
face but it's like I felt like we kind
of lost our momentum for you guys but
you know, the passion and everything is
there. We appreciate that and we
appreciate everybody taking time out of
their their schedules and researching
and everything else. So thank you guys
for that.
Any other comments from the
commissioners? Okay, I just I just
go ahead Steve. Yes. Yeah, I just want
to chime in
and again express my appreciation for
everyone that showed up tonight and and
this is the process, right? Having this
opportunity to come and let your voice
be heard and and it's the beginning of
this process and what I would add is
that I hope everyone recognizes that the
vote tonight is is not an endorsement or
a denial of of this project itself. The
authority of this commission is to
determine whether or not the applicant
has met the threshold of being included
in the land management process.
And arguably that is a very subjective
threshold. It's a low one.
It's a low threshold honestly but it is
the beginning if you if you read the
Boulder City code and and and assistant
city manager Maze
referenced this, but the purpose is to
ensure effective and sound practices
surrounding the management of city-owned
real estate. It is the first step
towards determining the viability of the
of the lease of city property in this
instance or the sale. In this instance,
it's the lease of city property. So,
again, this vote is simply to determine
whether or not this project goes on the
land management process.
It's not an endorsement. It It's It's
not stating that this project is even
going to be successful. Many of the
concerns, I believe, that were mentioned
tonight could be
reconciled contractually.
Who stands in in the authority to do
that? The city. The city is the
landlord. The city can dictate the terms
by which this project has to adhere to.
And so, many of those concerns can be
resolved contractually. Some of them
will never be, granted. And and I
appreciate everyone for sharing those
feelings,
many of which cannot be reconciled by
this body at all. Some people will never
be convinced that a data center is good.
Some people will never be convinced to
the opposite. That's just how it works.
But, this is the process and I applaud
you for coming here, spending the time
to let your voice be heard, and I
promise you that it is being heard and
the city council will hear it. But, it's
important to understand what this
process is and what it is not.
Thank you, Commissioner Morris. Does
anybody else have any comments?
I just you know, at the end of the day
it was like we're
we're
voting on whether it's the proper use of
the the
land and we're we're going to change
what it's going to be. And I think
everybody, you know,
thought it was going to be for solar
battery storage and now it's going to be
for something else. It's kind of reminds
me of, you know, when the church came in
front of us and wanted to do something
besides a church. They wanted to do
low-income housing. It all sounds like a
great idea.
But
you know, basically we're we're voting
to change the use of that that property.
Thank you, Commissioner Red. I'll just
make one more comment and then we can
call for a vote.
Um
like Commissioner Morris said, our job
is determine if a data center would be
appropriate on that land. If there was a
data center, do I think that that land
would be the place to put it?
Absolutely. But with that being said,
also I want people to remember that it's
important that the city, regardless of
you if you're very opposed to a project
or you are in favor of it, it's
important to consider, you know,
somebody said we need to be creative.
This is a process where people bring
their ideas forward and you can be
totally against them or all in favor of
them, but
that's what this, you know, this
company's trying to do. However, you
know, this is the hottest topic, one of
the hottest topics in the country
on top of our hottest topic is our lack
of water.
And regardless of how I personally feel
about the project or the applicant, this
town is not ready. It's not and I don't
I want to see the applicant be
successful and I want Boulder City to be
successful. I don't think that can
happen right now. I think there needs to
be
I think we need to be proactive by
creating policies, laws, codes,
whatever.
Um
so people know we're not just reacting
to and you know, the land management
process is transparent, but there should
be
more structure, in my opinion. There's
several success stories out there
um with data centers operating all over.
You don't hear them because people
aren't vocal about things that are
running smoothly. They're vocal when
there's
they're afraid of changing their
community, something changing their
community, or
um
that type of thing. So,
I um
again, once again, thank you guys for
your input, and I will entertain a
motion.
I'll recommend I'll recommend denial of
resolution 1280.
Second.
All those in favor?
I. I.
Any opposed? Nay.
Motion carries.
» [applause]
» Uh
>> [applause]
» [applause]
>> item number four.
» item number four.
Item number four is um a monthly
allotment.
No report.
Thank you, Nakisha. And our final item
is public comment. This public comment
can be about any matter. I will now open
the public comment.
I am.
Two or three times, right?
Did you say right now is the public
comment for Yes, and it can be a on any
um topic. Okay. Johnna Malor. I just
want to say thank you.
Really. Thank you, Johnna. Have a good
night.
Cheryl Belob, and I just want to say
thank you to all of you who voted nay.
Kathleen McGarrity, I want to thank you
all wholeheartedly and I want to say
that many consider this a miracle.
So,
I am humbled to be wrong and I want to
apologize to you for my doubt and I
thank you wholeheartedly. Thank you
sincerely.
Adam Schultheis, what a joy. You didn't
sell your soul to the devil, accept
Steve Morris.
Any other public comment?
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And my
cousin in Milwaukee thanks you, too.
All right. I know you all want to go
home. Thank you. Have a good night. We
appreciate all you do.
Brandon Smith, for the record. Thank
you. Thank you. Thank you. Um, you guys
will be the commission
that goes on to um
set the bar pretty high going forward.
Thank you for your consideration.
I'll take the caller.
Public comment, go ahead.
Hi, my name is Tommy Love. Um, I just
wanted to say thank you for listening to
us and hearing us. Um, and I'm really
impressed that everybody got to spoke
up, but that is the point is even if we
are repeating ourselves, even if
multiple people are saying the same
thing, the point is to make sure that
our voices are heard as individuals.
Um, so I'm really proud of everybody's
for speaking up today, even though it
took your guys's time. Thank you so
much.
Any other callers, Madam City Clerk?
Oh, yeah.
Public comment, go ahead.
I just want to say thank you guys on the
the Planning Commission um
for denying that and shame on those of
you that actually said yes for it.
Ridiculous for those of you. Thank you.
>> Can you state your name for the record,
» Can you state your name for the record,
please?
Public comment, go ahead.
>> [laughter]
» [laughter]
>> Yeah, Neil Sonnenberg and
» Yeah, Neil Sonnenberg and
thanks so much for voting this down.
Everybody felt very strongly about it. I
just want to point out in operating the
Planning Commission because I did serve
as chair of the Planning Commission.
It's important that all understand the
mechanics of it. This wasn't about
whether to put it forward or not. The
only thing tasked to the Planning
Commission was to determine whether the
data center
was similar to the solar farm. That was
it. And I'm sorry that that was missed
and maybe a class could be held, but I
appreciate all of you in analyzing all
of this. Thanks very much.
Oh, I was already checked out. Sorry.
[laughter] Any other public comment?
Seeing any
Is there a caller? Seeing and hearing
none, meeting adjourned.
» It's 12.
I'm sorry.