[0:00] I'm Commissioner Vincent. I'm the board
[0:01] chair. So, just a couple of
[0:04] things to note to begin with.
[0:09] If you start to chant or if you get out
[0:12] of control, you are in our chambers,
[0:15] okay? At the point that you start to do
[0:18] that and become disruptive, one of our
[0:20] wonderful deputies will escort you from
[0:23] the chambers.
[0:24] So,
[0:26] we are here to discuss some things
[0:28] today.
[0:29] We
[0:31] are all [clears throat] part of this
[0:32] county
[0:33] and we all need to be considerate of one
[0:35] another.
[0:36] That includes your three commissioners
[0:38] and those people in this room.
[0:40] There are differing opinions going
[0:43] either way on things
[0:46] and we appreciate that. That's why we
[0:48] live in the country that we live in. Is
[0:49] that not correct? Yes. So, at the end of
[0:53] the day, everybody has an opinion.
[0:54] Everybody has their concern about the
[0:56] things that go on in our country and
[0:59] that's why we live here and uh
[1:02] and so, we need to respect one another.
[1:04] At the point that you become unruly and
[1:07] start yelling or you start chanting, at
[1:10] that point, you will be removed. So, if
[1:13] that does happen to you and you're
[1:15] frustrated and upset, understand that
[1:17] you have been warned.
[1:18] So, that is the direction we'll be going
[1:21] today.
[1:24] Okay.
[1:26] Agenda items.
[1:29] Interlocal agreement number 26-15
[1:32] between Box Elder County and the
[1:34] Military Installation Development
[1:36] Authority MIDA relating to
[1:41] the status project
[1:43] and then also discussing a resolution
[1:45] 26-11.
[1:47] Box Elder County Commission consent to
[1:49] the Military Installation Development
[1:52] Authority Stratus project. What we're to have is Paul here.
[1:58] Okay.
[2:00] Hillary, can you come up and just kind
[2:01] of discuss some of this with us and
[2:03] let's just talk about some things and
[2:14] I've also asked Austin Pritchett
[2:16] Introduce yourself. Yes, my name is
[2:18] Hillary Venable. I'm here on behalf of
[2:20] my dad. I'm a project area director with our team. I've also asked
[2:26] Austin Pritchett if he'll come sit with
[2:27] me if there's any technical questions,
[2:29] he may answer those
[2:32] in more depth. If that's appropriate.
[2:36] That's fine.
[2:37] Are you good with Austin being up here?
[2:38] No, that's not a problem. It's great.
[2:42] Well, I appreciate this opportunity to
[2:44] speak to you commissioners again and go
[2:47] over the project. I know we've had two
[2:50] wonderful meetings
[2:53] last week where we were able to explain
[2:56] the project and in depth not only here
[2:59] but also in our board meeting and so I'm very grateful and for the
[3:04] opportunity to once again share the
[3:05] information. We'll go over an overview
[3:08] quickly and then if there's any
[3:09] questions at the end we'll
[3:11] will Austin and I will answer your
[3:13] questions.
[3:15] So, I will stay keep my remarks focused
[3:17] on three things. What the purpose of
[3:19] this project area is. Why inviting my
[3:22] dad to be why my dad was involved
[3:25] invited to be involved and how the
[3:26] potential project will align with your
[3:28] priorities here in Box Elder County and
[3:31] your vision for this community's future.
[3:34] To provide some context my dad receives
[3:36] a high volume of increase to create
[3:40] project areas on a regular basis.
[3:42] >> you please explain to them what my dad
[3:44] means? Yes, I will actually. Thank you.
[3:47] My dad military installation development
[3:50] authority
[3:51] Uh, it was created by legislation in
[3:54] 2007, actually at the time when Hill Air
[3:57] Force Base was uh,
[3:59] in
[4:00] jeopardy of of it was on the BRAC list.
[4:04] At that point, uh, they realized they
[4:06] needed to do something to make sure that
[4:07] never happened again. MAIDA was created,
[4:10] um, to help bring in, um,
[4:12] revenue where otherwise would not be
[4:15] recognized to help the build and rebuild
[4:18] the in- infrastructure on the base.
[4:21] Um, that being said, we uh, there along
[4:24] Falcon Hill, we have what's called an
[4:26] enhanced use lease where we're able to
[4:29] develop on uh, otherwise, uh, federal
[4:32] land that would not be able to be
[4:34] developed on. And now those revenues
[4:36] have
[4:37] um, created the opportunity for us to
[4:40] replace the old
[4:41] uh, World War
[4:42] II dilapidated buildings that are there.
[4:44] They're 1200 series. We actually just
[4:47] broke ground, um, this month or I'm
[4:49] sorry, we're April now, in March, on the
[4:51] first replace- replacement building.
[4:53] That building is going to
[4:56] um, be able to rehome 6800 employees,
[5:00] um, with the um, with other replacement
[5:02] buildings following behind it. Um,
[5:04] that's what's wonderful about this
[5:05] opportunity to create a revenue source for our
[5:09] military. So, back to what MAIDA is, we
[5:12] were created specifically to, um,
[5:16] to, uh, provide benefit to the military
[5:19] and also economic,
[5:22] growth and development with for the
[5:24] community it surrounds.
[5:26] Um,
[5:27] what we're what we're discussing today
[5:29] is a very special opportunity.
[5:32] We believe that with this project,
[5:35] MAIDA, Box Elder County, and the state
[5:37] of Utah can come together to strengthen
[5:39] military mission,
[5:40] support long-term economic growth, all
[5:43] while pres- preserving agriculture and,
[5:46] uh, conservation values.
[5:48] Uh,
[5:48] >> [crying]
[5:48] >> now we've talked a [laughter] little bit
[5:49] about what MAIDA is,
[5:52] but we I one thing I wanted you to know
[5:54] is that we do operate as a land use
[5:57] authority within our designated project
[5:59] areas, but we do not act unilaterally.
[6:03] Our involvement is structured,
[6:05] deliberate, and based on partnership and
[6:07] alignment with landowners and local
[6:09] leadership.
[6:11] If that alignment is not there,
[6:13] we do not move forward in the creation
[6:15] of a project area.
[6:17] So, what this project is,
[6:20] the proposed Stratus project area
[6:21] encompasses approximately 40,000 acres
[6:24] in unincorporated Box Elder County.
[6:27] The project centers on the development
[6:28] of a large data center campus
[6:31] supporting AI and cloud computing with
[6:34] on-site energy generation, so it can
[6:37] largely power itself.
[6:40] The proposed area is a strong fit.
[6:42] Actually, it will power itself. The
[6:44] proposed area is a strong fit for this type of development, close to
[6:48] existing natural gas infrastructure,
[6:51] including the Ruby pipeline, supporting
[6:54] supported by long-haul fiber, and
[6:56] located away from the population centers
[6:58] while still accessible to the workforce.
[7:01] At full build-out, the Utah site is
[7:03] planned to support up to 7 and 1/2 to 8
[7:06] gigawatts of power.
[7:08] At a high level, this is about placing
[7:10] the right infrastructure in the right
[7:12] location where it can operate
[7:14] efficiently and with minimal impact to
[7:16] surrounding communities. MAIDA's
[7:19] involvement is specific. This type of
[7:21] infrastructure infrastructure
[7:23] directly supports energy resilience
[7:26] and mission-critical systems tied to
[7:28] military operations.
[7:30] And importantly,
[7:31] in addition to your support,
[7:33] commissioners, we require 100% consent
[7:36] from all participating landowners
[7:39] and [clears throat] the county.
[7:41] We have the landowners'
[7:42] today. We're here for your consent.
[7:47] At its core, this project is about
[7:49] infrastructure that supports military
[7:50] mission, not indirectly, but by design.
[7:54] Reliable energy and secure data systems
[7:56] are no longer optional.
[7:58] They are part of the foundation of how
[8:00] national defense operates today.
[8:06] I want to take a moment to address a few
[8:08] items we understand are very important
[8:10] and concern in the county.
[8:13] First, agriculture.
[8:15] We recognize the importance of
[8:16] agriculture and ranching in this area,
[8:19] and the project has been structured with an agricultural first approach.
[8:24] Development will occur in phase
[8:25] increments, not all at once. Land is not
[8:28] active Land that is not actively under
[8:29] construction will remain in active agricultural use, preserving
[8:34] the region's identity as a working rural
[8:37] landscape, and continuing to support the
[8:39] local agricultural economy.
[8:42] In the our standards and guidelines that
[8:44] will be adopted with this project,
[8:47] agriculture is a permitted use.
[8:50] Um like unto the county's code and
[8:53] regulations currently.
[8:56] Existing ranchers will continue grazing
[8:57] and operating as they do today. The
[8:59] project is is expected to incorporate
[9:02] leaseback agreements, allowing
[9:04] agricultural use of the land to continue
[9:06] throughout the development timeline.
[9:09] The intent is to ensure
[9:10] multi-generational ranching operations
[9:12] remain uninterrupted.
[9:14] And the local agricultural productivity
[9:16] and income stability are maintained with
[9:18] many employment opportunities within the
[9:21] new
[9:22] development.
[9:24] The second area of concern that we've been aware of is that we
[9:29] understand that you're worried about
[9:31] local control and revenue sharing.
[9:34] These are addressed through an
[9:36] interlocal agreement
[9:38] that clearly defines roles and
[9:39] responsibilities, my district's roles,
[9:42] and the county's roles.
[9:44] That includes the creation of a strong
[9:46] local expert participation on a
[9:48] development review committee, corner
[9:50] coordinated on how municipal services
[9:52] are delivered coordination, I'm sorry,
[9:54] on how municipal services are delivered,
[9:56] and a funding structure that not only
[9:58] covers those services,
[10:00] but can also supply county priorities.
[10:04] Whether this is conservation, schools,
[10:05] or or or whatever the county is needing.
[10:09] In In In essence, we will we will create
[10:13] a a review committee that encompasses
[10:15] your planner, your fire
[10:18] marshal,
[10:19] your engineer, and we will approve those
[10:22] site plans in the master development
[10:24] together.
[10:25] Um and the municipal as far as the
[10:28] municipal services, um the county will incorporate the municipal services
[10:35] for the development just as they do for
[10:38] anywhere else in the county. And
[10:40] anything additional with the the fund
[10:42] the revenues received is at the county's
[10:44] discretion on where where it need is
[10:47] needed to be placed in the county.
[10:50] Uh
[10:53] What about the toll on natural
[10:54] resources? I'm
[10:56] >> You're You're interrupting my meeting.
[10:58] The next time you'll be removed.
[11:01] I'm actually grateful for that question
[11:03] because it was my next point that I was
[11:04] going to make. Water is critical. It's a
[11:07] critical issue in this region. We
[11:08] understand that, and it's become
[11:10] actually the center focus of of this
[11:12] project. The data centers are expected
[11:15] to use
[11:17] close-loop cooling systems. That means
[11:19] water is brought in initially, but then
[11:21] reused over and over again rather than
[11:23] continually consumed.
[11:25] Because of that, the long-term water
[11:26] demand is expected to be closer to what
[11:28] you would see from a large office
[11:30] campus, not a traditional industrial
[11:32] use.
[11:33] So, to that point,
[11:36] I want Austin to explain what a close
[11:38] loop close loop system looks like and
[11:41] then also with the energy portion of it,
[11:44] the cooling system is air cooling so
[11:46] there won't be [crying] any water use on
[11:48] that. So, Austin, if you wouldn't mind
[11:51] Yeah, exactly. It's It's not lost on us
[11:54] that the water in the area is restricted. We have
[11:59] many water rights that we are purchasing
[12:02] with the project
[12:03] and of those water rights a very small
[12:05] fraction will be used.
[12:08] And a lot of that will be taken from
[12:09] very alkaline base water and cleaned up
[12:12] and shared with neighboring ranchers and actually a net positive back to the
[12:16] lake at the end of the day.
[12:18] So, a lot of people are concerned about
[12:19] the water use with
[12:21] power generation. There's new air
[12:24] cooling technologies that are zero
[12:26] water.
[12:27] And in a worst case if we had to be
[12:30] further down the line for those
[12:31] technologies
[12:33] even if we had to use
[12:35] a water using type technology, we're
[12:37] massively
[12:39] over watered by the amount of water
[12:41] rights we have and it will go back to
[12:43] the lake as a net positive over what its
[12:45] prior use was. So, Austin, do you have a number? [clears throat] I mean, acre
[12:52] feet in gallons and
[12:54] >> So, we have on site we've got about
[12:58] 3,000 acre feet
[13:01] that we're purchasing.
[13:03] Up the road we've got other acre feet
[13:06] about 10,000 acre feet in
[13:09] up in Snowville that we have under
[13:10] contract if needed but we just on the on
[13:13] site water we should be
[13:15] well over served.
[13:18] If we get these newer technologies we're
[13:20] talking closer at full build out to the
[13:24] amount of water rights it would take for
[13:25] one farm pivot. So,
[13:27] >> Where's that research coming from? She's
[13:28] got to go.
[13:30] I'm hearing a lot of ifs, shoulds, Okay,
[13:34] we're answering questions, okay? This is
[13:36] not We're not going to be taking a bunch
[13:38] of public comment. We're answering
[13:40] questions right now. This is a meeting.
[13:43] So, if you will please, we've got a lot
[13:45] of questions the commission will be
[13:46] asking. So, please be patient and listen
[13:50] to what's going on. I don't want to have
[13:52] to remove you.
[13:54] Is there going to be public comment?
[13:56] was held last week. So,
[13:58] just let us walk through this, okay?
[14:01] [laughter]
[14:05] Last week in our We had public hearing
[14:08] where we had public comment last week um
[14:11] in our commission meeting. This was This
[14:13] was put out to the public. We had a
[14:16] public comment period last week. We did
[14:18] that last week. So, at the end of the
[14:20] day, please
[14:21] >> public comment.
[14:22] I didn't hear anything about it.
[14:24] was noticed. I didn't hear anything.
[14:30] I'm sorry. It was noticed and it was put
[14:32] out. We had a public comment period last
[14:34] week.
[14:35] So, please be
[14:38] One more comment out of you, you'll be
[14:40] removed. Please be patient, listen to
[14:43] what we're presenting and what Maydis presenting, and let us go
[14:48] forward. Do not interrupt the meeting.
[14:50] Let us go through this and discuss this.
[14:55] Okay, so there is no if on a net
[14:57] positive on water. The exact technology
[15:00] partnerships of the newer power
[15:02] technology are not totally solidified,
[15:05] so there's a few different options. So,
[15:06] only reason I say if, but we're very
[15:08] close on the zero water solutions.
[15:10] >> And then also desalinization, you guys
[15:12] mentioned something about desalinization
[15:14] of waters and stuff like that.
[15:15] >> have water treatment on site cuz where
[15:17] we're pulling from is very alkaline
[15:20] salinated water and we'll be
[15:22] cleaning it up.
[15:23] Is there any water being taken from the
[15:25] Great Salt Lake for this? No. Cuz that's
[15:27] been we've had a lot of questions about
[15:29] us pulling water from the Great Salt
[15:30] Lake. Yeah, no no water is being taken
[15:32] from the lake.
[15:35] The goal is to operate in a water ways a
[15:37] water ways way and we
[15:40] have assurance that we will utilize less
[15:43] than like like Austin [laughter]
[15:45] mentioned
[15:46] what is needed for one farm pivot.
[15:51] Let's move on to the power concerns. I
[15:52] know there's concerns of how this might affect [laughter] the community
[15:59] if their rates will increase or or if it
[16:01] will have a impact on the power grid.
[16:04] This project is designed to generate its
[16:07] power on site. It will not be connected
[16:09] to the grid and it and it will and it
[16:12] will operate from its own power
[16:16] generation.
[16:17] That means it will not rely on the
[16:19] existing grid. Instead, it produces the
[16:22] energy it needs directly at the campus.
[16:25] The intent behind that is simple. It
[16:26] allows the project to move forward
[16:28] without placing additional demands on
[16:30] local power systems.
[16:32] So in practical terms, that means no
[16:34] added pressure on the grid, no increase
[16:36] in electrical rates for residents and
[16:38] businesses and no reduction in
[16:39] reliability for homes, farms or
[16:41] communities.
[16:43] In the future if if there's an if
[16:46] there's an abundance of power, we may be
[16:48] able to
[16:49] sell back power to the local grid, but
[16:53] we will not take the development will
[16:55] not take from the grid.
[17:00] We've approached this project with clear
[17:02] framework, land owner support, alignment
[17:05] with local priorities and a fine benefit
[17:06] to both the military mission and the
[17:08] local economy. We understand the
[17:10] responsibility that comes with a project
[17:13] of this scale
[17:14] and our intent is to move forward in a
[17:17] way that is thoughtful, um, transparent,
[17:19] and aligned with the community. We do we
[17:22] have committed to have multiple, uh,
[17:24] town halls for education, and, um,
[17:28] to to help the communities, the
[17:30] surrounding communities, understand the equipment, the the generation, um,
[17:37] of and the, uh, total buildout, uh, what
[17:40] it will consist of. And we look forward
[17:43] to those, actually. And furthermore, I I
[17:45] look forward to more questions. If you
[17:47] have any, uh, additional questions.
[17:50] Well, and we do have more questions. We
[17:51] appreciate that. You know, a lot of the
[17:53] questions that, uh, that you're
[17:55] answering are questions that we actually
[17:57] have had from our, uh, citizens that
[17:59] have come in. Um, so, one of the things
[18:03] that,
[18:04] um, we've got a lot of questions about
[18:07] is, uh, why is this project moved
[18:10] forward in such an accelerated timeline?
[18:13] That is a very that is a great question,
[18:15] and I appreciate it. Um,
[18:17] first and foremost, we do very extensive
[18:20] due diligence on all of our projects,
[18:22] but this one in particularly. Across the
[18:25] country, um, we've we've done our due
[18:27] diligence, um,
[18:29] as far as what what the project needs,
[18:32] uh, uh,
[18:33] at this caliber, and if it is even
[18:36] compatible with Utah. And sometimes,
[18:38] when a project like this comes along, it
[18:41] is very competitive, and it requires all
[18:44] involved to move, um, exponentially.
[18:47] That's what happened with this, because
[18:49] we have the we have the opportunity to,
[18:52] um, come upon technology that otherwise
[18:55] could set us back could set the, the
[18:57] development back multiple years, but we
[18:59] have the opportunity to potentially
[19:02] receive that equipment at a much
[19:05] exponential, um,
[19:07] timeline. And that is why we, as a, as a
[19:10] group, have moved us forward
[19:14] exponentially.
[19:20] Hillary, I have a question again.
[19:22] >> Yes.
[19:23] You were talking about this being a MIDA
[19:25] project. What percent of this project
[19:27] would actually be considered military
[19:29] use?
[19:31] That is that is also a great question.
[19:33] As you know, MIDA is in existence for
[19:36] number one, the military focus and
[19:39] military benefit mission, two, economic
[19:42] development. Um
[19:44] one of the main the things that I'm most
[19:46] excited about this project is
[19:48] we will be able to utilize revenues to
[19:52] um well, besides the national security
[19:56] and energy resilience that will provide
[19:59] um our military here nationally and and
[20:01] as we all know here in this in this
[20:04] room,
[20:05] uh
[20:07] energy independence is
[20:10] our has become a national emergency. And that will help
[20:15] this this campus will help provide uh
[20:19] assurance for that as well as um
[20:23] there's multiple projects throughout the
[20:26] installations in Utah that this project
[20:29] will help benefit and help um
[20:31] fulfill. Um
[20:32] for instance, we just
[20:34] the building that I just told you about
[20:36] at Hill Air Force Base with its um
[20:39] the with the new uh
[20:42] Apologize. I'm I'm
[20:43] stammering.
[20:45] The building that's being built right
[20:47] now um with the revenues, but there's
[20:50] projects all over the National Guard and
[20:52] other installations throughout Utah that
[20:54] need
[20:55] uh infrastructure to be replaced and to
[20:57] be um progressed for our for our military
[21:02] men.
[21:04] One of the one of the other concerns is
[21:05] what about pollution in our communities?
[21:07] Yeah, that's a great question as well.
[21:09] Uh MIDA is the land use authority.
[21:11] However, we do
[21:14] um
[21:15] we do follow the regulations of state
[21:17] permitting. So, your air, your water,
[21:19] your environmental, all of that will be
[21:21] regulated by the state and we and we
[21:23] will require the development to
[21:26] um follow those standards.
[21:30] Okay. I don't know if this is for Austin
[21:31] or for you, but um what if any
[21:33] environmental or water impact studies
[21:35] have been completed to date and what
[21:36] additional studies are planned in the
[21:37] future prior to the
[21:39] building permits?
[21:41] Yeah, that's that's also a great
[21:42] question. Um
[21:44] right now we've finished the due
[21:45] diligence and we're moving on to all of
[21:47] the impact studies. So, I I will let
[21:49] Austin speak to that, but with our
[21:51] standards and guidelines
[21:53] they uh the development will need to uh
[21:56] prepare a traffic study, environmental
[21:58] study. They will be working with the um
[22:02] state for their air approval,
[22:05] permitting, etc.
[22:07] Yeah, that that's right. We're we're
[22:09] working through the state with our air
[22:10] permitting.
[22:11] Um and that that's a a long process. You
[22:14] have to do a lot of monitoring and
[22:15] making sure that the air is fully taken
[22:18] care of. Um and then also the water as well, change use
[22:22] applications when you go from one use to
[22:25] another and they dictate how much, you
[22:27] know,
[22:28] because potentially farming or using it
[22:31] for pivots is used certain amount of the
[22:33] year, now you're going to be using it
[22:35] more constantly. The reductions in water
[22:37] and how that should be used
[22:38] appropriately. All of those are going
[22:39] through third-party professionals that
[22:42] are really respected by the state.
[22:44] Okay, very good. Can you can you talk a
[22:46] little bit to about the jobs?
[22:49] That was one of the questions that was
[22:50] asked is MIDA stating that uh there'll
[22:53] be an estimated um 2,000 jobs
[22:56] that will be created. Can you talk to
[22:58] that a little bit and maybe, you know,
[23:01] uh
[23:01] Mhm.
[23:02] >> [laughter]
[23:02] >> kind of those jobs, what that looks like
[23:04] financially, as well, and Sure.
[23:06] Uh the the total build out will is
[23:09] expected to take
[23:11] approximately 10 years, and through that
[23:13] uh development, we'll have We expect to
[23:15] see somewhere along the lines of 4,000
[23:19] temporary construction jobs, permanent
[23:22] jobs that will be uh that will stay with
[23:25] the development, approximately 2,000,
[23:27] and those will be
[23:28] um we're pri- prioritizing local hiring
[23:33] and provide long-term career paths. Um
[23:36] Data center management, IT, engineering,
[23:40] etc. They'll be high-paying jobs um that
[23:43] will stay with the development. The
[23:45] construction jobs, will they be local at
[23:46] all, or will they all be from out of
[23:48] state?
[23:49] Um I
[23:51] That would be I would say all of the
[23:52] above, but we would prioritize local construction workforce.
[24:01] Can you talk a little bit to the uh What
[24:04] is the basis
[24:05] for the level of tax incentives being
[24:07] proposed for the data center project?
[24:10] Sure.
[24:12] I'd like to state that we have very
[24:14] strategic thinkers and advanced uh
[24:17] finance team that helps uh put together
[24:19] these numbers. I won't I won't speak to
[24:22] the calculation um cuz I'm not prepared to, but what it What I
[24:29] am prepared to state is that with the
[24:31] energy and compute campus alone, um the
[24:35] developer has committed to phase one 3
[24:38] gigawatts of power, which would turn uh
[24:41] in turn provide the county with $30
[24:44] million annually um of revenue. Now,
[24:48] these funds uh are unrestricted. We
[24:52] There's no um
[24:54] Once you take care of the municipal
[24:56] services that we agreed to and we and
[25:00] you agreed to provide which is just the
[25:02] normal municipal services that you do
[25:04] already in the county. Um
[25:07] the county has the ability to use those
[25:09] additional funds as
[25:11] at their discretion. Now on full build
[25:13] out we expect the revenues just for the
[25:16] energy and data campus to be uh at least
[25:20] 108 million annually. And again the same structure unrestricted use it
[25:26] your at your discretion after municipal
[25:28] services are covered.
[25:31] So um
[25:32] so this is going to be built in segments
[25:34] proposed to be built in segments.
[25:36] >> That's right. So um you you said once
[25:40] that the first two segments would be
[25:42] built simultaneously.
[25:44] That's right. So it became
[25:46] >> [clears throat]
[25:46] >> basically a phase one became three gigs
[25:48] instead of one and a half gigs at a So
[25:51] on just the first phase phase one with
[25:54] two segments will be three gigabytes.
[25:57] >> Yes.
[25:57] >> And then as you
[25:59] feel the need or get to that point then
[26:01] you will make that decision to continue
[26:03] to build right?
[26:04] >> That's right. And then when it's online
[26:07] [clears throat]
[26:08] the next segment it's online then those
[26:10] payments will come when?
[26:13] So I I don't know the answer to that but I
[26:17] believe it's the next tax the next
[26:20] tax um
[26:22] assessment.
[26:23] >> on January 3rd it won't come till the
[26:24] next January. Is that what you're
[26:26] saying? One of the one of the one of the
[26:28] things that we have because this was a
[26:30] concern that we would have
[26:31] infrastructure in place and no revenues
[26:35] to support it. The developer has
[26:37] committed to prepayments of uh for the
[26:41] for three years $5.4 million a year to
[26:44] help cover those expenses that so that
[26:47] the county can gear up for this to um
[26:50] put in a PO for fire equipment or higher
[26:55] life safety, police,
[26:58] EMTs, fire,
[27:00] so that they're taken care of and are
[27:01] able to to gear up for what is
[27:04] happening. So, yes, we do recognize that
[27:06] there will be delay and that is why the
[27:09] developer has, um, agreed to pay those up front
[27:15] costs. Okay, thank you.
[27:19] How will these Jackson County's affect
[27:21] the county school district and other
[27:22] taxing entities over time?
[27:25] Only positively.
[27:27] At full build-out, the county, like we
[27:29] said, will will receive over $108
[27:31] million annually from the energy
[27:33] compute, but from any of the mixed-use
[27:36] development,
[27:37] um,
[27:39] advanced manufacturing, etc., there's
[27:42] going to need to be some eateries or a
[27:44] extended-stay hotel,
[27:46] the county will also receive their 25%
[27:50] of the municipal taxes, which will be,
[27:53] distributed to the taxing entities in
[27:55] the county.
[27:57] On the income
[27:58] >> So, along that line, and maybe I can
[27:59] take it you're all saying the one. So,
[28:01] the map that we've been presented shows
[28:03] three different parcels. We have, one
[28:05] that's southern Hansel Valley, one right
[28:07] at the exit of Hansel Valley 84, and one
[28:09] that's closer to Locomotive Springs.
[28:10] We've seen a lot of feedback and a lot
[28:12] of things from the public comments to
[28:14] our emails, etc., referencing Locomotive
[28:16] Springs. Um,
[28:19] tell us, so the public's aware, where
[28:21] are we thinking as far as if you're
[28:22] going to put a data center, the energy
[28:24] production, what's going to go in which
[28:27] of these parcels? What's the plan? The
[28:29] build-out plan for these three parcels,
[28:30] just so we have an idea. Sure. I'll talk
[28:33] to that, loosely, and let Austin, we are waiting for a full master plan in
[28:39] which we will review and and go through
[28:42] the proper approvals for that, but we
[28:44] plan to start in Hansel Valley.
[28:46] That's where all these numbers that we
[28:48] are discussing today are coming from.
[28:51] Um and that will be the data the
[28:54] majority of the data in compute.
[28:57] Yep.
[28:58] Yeah, so the so the cat the catalyst of
[29:00] the project is the Ruby pipeline, which
[29:02] uh goes through the center of that
[29:04] Hansel Valley, right? And so that's
[29:06] where it will start and grow out from.
[29:08] Um and then the Hansel Valley will be
[29:10] the first cuz it's closer. Um
[29:14] and then Locomotive will be
[29:16] a sec a secondary phase, so it will
[29:18] start in that South Hansel. And then the
[29:20] stuff off the exit is going to be
[29:22] additional services that will be
[29:23] beneficial to the to the project.
[29:26] So there won't be any data or compute on
[29:28] that piece.
[29:30] And those won't go in
[29:32] unless the data center and the in that
[29:34] first phase is got to happen before any
[29:36] of those other phases.
[29:37] >> Absolutely. Yep. All of all all of the
[29:39] momentum in the reason for is is these
[29:43] uh power generation and data center
[29:45] pieces. And then obviously ancillary
[29:47] things will come after the fact. A lot
[29:48] of advanced manufacturing that wants to
[29:50] be nearby.
[29:51] Um the state has had to turn away a lot
[29:54] of advanced manufacturing because the
[29:56] power availability currently on the grid
[29:58] is not sufficient. So a lot of those
[30:00] groups will come into this area as well
[30:01] now that there's power.
[30:05] I'd like to also state that we are fully
[30:08] aware of some of the concerns uh keeping
[30:12] the area as natural as possible. We've
[30:14] incorporated into the standards and
[30:16] guidelines that will be adopted with
[30:17] this project dark sky standards so that
[30:20] we um are mindful of that. We also are
[30:24] mindful of the free range or free
[30:27] roaming agriculture and the developer
[30:30] has committed to ensure that there's
[30:33] appropriate fencing um so that we can um
[30:37] provide safety on that end as well.
[30:40] What about noise?
[30:42] will also we did actually
[30:44] incorporate a standard into the
[30:45] standards and guidelines on noise, but
[30:47] we'll continually monitor that and make
[30:49] sure that we stay compliant.
[30:59] Any other questions, Commissioners?
[31:02] Yeah, well the project
[31:03] this big we're finding it's just about
[31:05] impossible to understand every issue that's come
[31:09] along.
[31:11] We also understand that in the event
[31:13] that that we vote for this
[31:15] after that happens, we lose control.
[31:19] And I and I I'm sorry that you feel that
[31:22] way. We want you to know that this is a
[31:25] partnership. Yes, MAIDA has land use
[31:28] authority in our project area
[31:31] specifically, but not outside of that
[31:33] not outside of the project area.
[31:35] And we encompass a committee so that
[31:40] the county's concerns and expertise is
[31:43] also acknowledged on the development
[31:46] review.
[31:47] And of course, we'll have continual
[31:49] communication.
[31:51] Myself, MAIDA, the county, the developer
[31:55] to make sure that we are all aligned.
[31:57] It's not a unilateral like I mentioned
[31:59] before, this is a partnership.
[32:01] Well, that's part of the question too is
[32:02] like we've talked about these town hall
[32:04] meetings and and the way these town hall
[32:06] meetings are effective is that people
[32:07] come and they have concerns. That's We agree and understand that in in the
[32:12] project area
[32:14] I understand that, but when we're
[32:15] talking about the outside area and we
[32:16] have our folks come with concerns, we
[32:18] need MAIDA to continue to be able to say
[32:21] if moving forward this project and we
[32:23] have those town hall meetings and
[32:24] there's questions or issues that you
[32:26] guys can address those meetings that we
[32:28] can get answers and then figure out to
[32:29] take care of the situation.
[32:31] >> absolutely. We're definitely committed
[32:32] to that. We want that. This is like I
[32:34] said, we're here because we understand
[32:37] that it that it provides a true military
[32:41] focus with the
[32:43] satisfying the energy need that this country that the country has.
[32:48] We're here That's why we're here.
[32:50] Military focus,
[32:52] economic development.
[32:54] And can And can There's still some
[32:56] questions about the natural gas. Can you address that a little bit as to
[33:00] why the natural gas is so so vital?
[33:06] And Oh, and not solar. Here, I'll I'll
[33:08] have Austin speak to the technical side.
[33:12] Yeah, so right now natural gas is is a very desired energy source for the
[33:17] big users who are willing to come in and front the kind of capital it takes
[33:21] to actually get power up and going. Even
[33:24] power companies themselves across the
[33:26] nation are refusing to produce more
[33:28] power because it doesn't financially
[33:30] make sense. And so this is the This is
[33:32] the resource that
[33:34] the the capital that's willing to outlay
[33:37] that capital and get energy online
[33:38] wants. Um
[33:40] and then I think I know you guys know
[33:42] and maybe the community knows that that
[33:44] Ruby was put through
[33:46] uh the county as was supposed to be a
[33:49] net benefit. And I think it was for a
[33:51] minute, but it's gone down because it
[33:53] wasn't utilized and and had a
[33:55] bankruptcy. And now with us being able
[33:57] to utilize that asset, it will again
[34:00] become a net benefit. Um
[34:02] and then the unused, the amount of capacity
[34:07] that's on that because it did go
[34:09] bankrupt, right? It just
[34:11] it's really a great scenario for us to
[34:13] have all the
[34:15] natural gas ability there to to produce
[34:18] this power. And it's the desired power
[34:20] source
[34:21] to invest this type of capital. Yeah,
[34:23] can I Can you Can you talk a little bit
[34:24] about to the research of things? I mean,
[34:26] what What research have you done to get
[34:29] to this point and and why and those type
[34:32] of things as well. Just about the
[34:33] natural gas or about all things
[34:35] considered.
[34:36] >> and the research and why you have chosen
[34:39] here. We understand that that that the
[34:41] pipeline is probably one of the big
[34:43] drivers, but but what other research did
[34:45] you do to to
[34:47] land here and understand that this is
[34:49] where you wanted to come. Yeah, there's
[34:51] a nexus of fiber and how fast that gets
[34:54] to different areas of the nation.
[34:56] Um
[34:57] so it's it it's situated very well for
[34:59] that, the pipeline, and then where we
[35:03] the spot that we picked is on the other
[35:05] side of a of a small mountain range. The
[35:08] air quality is such that it will be
[35:11] really well situated to take on what
[35:14] we're doing and and not affect anybody
[35:17] negatively. Um it's in what's called an
[35:20] attainment area as instead of a
[35:22] non-attainment or right across the line
[35:23] over where it is attainment because
[35:26] models have been done and it's a great
[35:27] place to do it. So all of these factors
[35:30] considered,
[35:32] um
[35:32] and then
[35:33] the amount of land it takes to do a
[35:35] campus like this
[35:37] in a different area you may have a
[35:39] couple hundred land owners. Out here
[35:40] we've got, you know, I think we've got
[35:42] 15 and then another two after our last
[35:44] meeting that have then approached us who
[35:47] were first against it and then
[35:48] approached us of wanting to be a part of
[35:50] it as well now that they understand what
[35:51] it is. So it's it's kind of got all the
[35:54] factors that it's really perfect.
[35:55] >> Are there places that people can find
[35:57] that research?
[35:58] Um yeah, we're going to have a fact
[35:59] sheet on our website where everyone can
[36:01] ask these questions and there'll be
[36:03] questions submittals as well and we'll
[36:05] add to the fact sheet as we go. Why so
[36:07] much land?
[36:09] Um you know, it started a lot smaller
[36:12] than this. Um but then when at first
[36:15] when we started it was just like, "Okay,
[36:17] how how does this work? Where's a good
[36:18] place for this?" And then when the
[36:21] military authority came into play and
[36:24] then we got talking to the state leaders
[36:25] about how many groups and military
[36:29] focused groups have been turned away
[36:30] because of lack of power. You know, it
[36:32] just kind of started growing
[36:34] and growing
[36:36] till it got this big because there are
[36:38] that many uses. Now, whether it it goes
[36:40] that big
[36:42] it is to be determined, but
[36:45] all of these landowners wanted in and we
[36:46] said, "Okay,
[36:48] let's let's let you in and we're hoping
[36:50] that if the demand is there, you know,
[36:52] that we can grow to this size and it
[36:54] will just keep being a huge net benefit
[36:56] for the county and the state."
[36:59] So, I have another couple questions.
[37:01] You mentioned Maeda as a land use
[37:03] authority.
[37:05] So, Box Elder County has a land use
[37:07] authority. So, in the in if this happens
[37:10] and construction plan is put together,
[37:14] how do you resolve differences? Who I
[37:16] mean, who has the biggest stick, I guess
[37:18] is the question. That's a great question
[37:20] and that's why we put together the
[37:23] do the two things, the development
[37:25] review committee
[37:26] with members of the experts in the
[37:29] county, your planners, your engineers.
[37:31] There's it will be a total it will be a
[37:34] 18 eight-member team, one executive
[37:38] leadership from Maeda,
[37:40] uh six from the county, uh your experts,
[37:44] and one
[37:45] non-voting landowner.
[37:47] Um also, we have our interlocal uh
[37:50] agreement. So, we'll work together to
[37:53] provide the resources and to end the
[37:55] partner
[37:56] under that agreement as well.
[38:00] Okay, thank you.
[38:02] One of the questions that's been posed
[38:03] to us in the emails and things we've
[38:04] received um
[38:06] is what specific protections will be
[38:07] implemented to ensure the Locomotive
[38:09] Springs and Gunnison Bay
[38:10] that are both critical habitats
[38:12] supporting migratory migratory bird
[38:13] populations are not negatively impacted
[38:15] by the project's footprint or water use.
[38:18] Yeah, I appreciate that question as
[38:20] well. It's been the developer's focus
[38:23] entirely to make sure that we are
[38:25] mindful of all these questions that are
[38:27] coming from the community. In fact, the
[38:29] Dark Sky
[38:31] standards were put into the into our
[38:33] standards and guidelines specifically
[38:35] from questions that we received from your community members.
[38:40] What we'll do this this also will will
[38:44] look [snorts] at as we do our studies
[38:46] and if they're in the in the vicinity,
[38:49] we'll make sure that there's
[38:51] um implement buffer areas, whatever we
[38:54] need. I don't have the the answer to that at
[38:58] this point, Austin.
[39:00] Yeah, there's there's a couple different
[39:02] groups um out there um
[39:04] that their names are slipping my mind
[39:06] right now, but um
[39:07] they have kind of these guidelines on
[39:09] how to do it right. And we have every
[39:11] intention of working with those groups
[39:13] to make sure that we're doing it in a
[39:14] way that is non-impactful
[39:18] um to to the migratory
[39:21] migration of the birds and
[39:24] everything else that has to do with
[39:25] wildlife, etc. We are very committed to
[39:28] making sure that we have the least
[39:30] amount of impact or if we can even do
[39:32] something to make a positive impact, we
[39:35] we're committed.
[39:36] Another thing people are kind of
[39:37] concerned about is the [clears throat]
[39:39] raise of natural gas costs to the
[39:41] residents.
[39:43] Can you speak to that a little bit?
[39:46] » [snorts]
[39:46] >> Um
[39:48] so the capacity on the pipeline is to
[39:51] that we're going for is totally unspoken
[39:54] for right now. So, it wouldn't be
[39:55] affecting any current contracts that are
[39:57] coming off of that gas pipeline.
[39:59] There's a there's available capacity
[40:01] that is just
[40:03] dormant. And so, it should not have
[40:05] effect on any other contracts that are
[40:08] currently on that pipeline.
[40:11] So, another question, the longevity of
[40:13] the proposed project,
[40:16] um
[40:16] it seems like uh what you're asking from
[40:19] the county is a guarantee
[40:21] and what the county is getting back is a
[40:22] promise.
[40:24] So, if there is not going to be any fuel
[40:26] used down the road, I mean I mean
[40:29] technology changes. It's probably
[40:30] changed since we've started talking,
[40:32] right?
[40:33] So,
[40:34] if this changes in 5 years, if it
[40:37] changes in 10 years, what happens then?
[40:39] Because if we don't get the fuel use,
[40:42] then what comes back to the county
[40:44] diminishes and we still have the
[40:45] guarantee to the developer.
[40:49] Yeah. So, what's your vision?
[40:51] Sure. I will say this. Uh
[40:54] Paul Morris and myself have discussed
[40:56] about this at length and the capital that's coming
[41:00] >> so everybody knows, who's Paul Morris?
[41:01] Just
[41:01] >> Oh, Paul Morris is is Hillary's partner
[41:03] in MAGDA. Okay. Um
[41:06] He's the executive director of MAGDA.
[41:07] Perfect. Executive director of MAGDA.
[41:10] So, yeah. We've talked about this at
[41:11] length and all of the energy
[41:13] consumption, the tax on that is where
[41:16] that county revenue comes from. So,
[41:18] whether that was from natural gas energy
[41:20] consumption, from what the
[41:22] >> [screaming]
[41:22] >> from some other energy consumption, as
[41:25] long as that energy's being purchased,
[41:27] those taxes will remain. It's pretty exciting, I
[41:29] know.
[41:30] >> [laughter]
[41:33] » I've never seen anybody do that for you
[41:35] yet, Austin. I think that's [laughter]
[41:36] great.
[41:40] So, if I understand and in the inter-
[41:42] local agreement that that's before us
[41:44] right now, um they have put in there
[41:46] that uh
[41:47] you again will have to report water um
[41:49] just like under a bill that was passed
[41:51] this last session under HB 76 on
[41:54] reporting requirements. Even though
[41:56] MAGDA would be doing this, you would
[41:58] still have to follow those guidelines.
[41:59] Is that correct?
[42:00] >> Absolutely. Yes.
[42:01] Okay.
[42:03] So, MAGDA is a subdivision of what?
[42:07] We're a state land use authority.
[42:09] So, if we make this agreement, we're
[42:11] making it with MAGDA or we making it
[42:13] with the state of Utah?
[42:14] >> You're making it with IMIDA, the
[42:15] Military Installation Development
[42:17] Authority.
[42:18] But you are a subset of the state of
[42:20] Utah, right? Yes, that's correct. We're
[42:22] a state authority.
[42:23] And and you'd be the ones granting
[42:25] um
[42:27] tax breaks, so to speak. It would not be
[42:29] the county actually providing those.
[42:31] >> That would be us, yes.
[42:34] I just I throw my one sticking point out
[42:35] there that I am concerned about um I
[42:38] just want to throw out it's probably
[42:39] Austin as much as anything, maybe a
[42:41] little IMIDA. Um I've listened to the
[42:43] IMIDA meeting that they had last Friday
[42:45] and there was discussion about how long
[42:47] ago that certain individuals were aware
[42:49] of this in the state level.
[42:52] And um and be straight up as
[42:54] commissioners, we heard rumors,
[42:56] but we didn't hear a lot about it for
[42:57] some time.
[42:59] And it really took push from the three
[43:00] commissioners against some of our local
[43:02] elected officials and some of our our senators and representatives saying,
[43:05] "Hey, what is what is this rumor we're
[43:07] hearing?" It was during the session. And
[43:09] it wasn't until the session was done
[43:11] that finally somebody reached out to us.
[43:14] And yet we know that landowners were
[43:15] talked to long before any of this.
[43:18] Um
[43:19] why why is it the commission was the
[43:21] last to be talked to about this as far
[43:24] as
[43:25] from what I can see as far as the pieces
[43:26] to the puzzle here. IMIDA is important
[43:28] I'm in part of this project. State
[43:30] leaders obviously have a have something
[43:31] to do with this. I'm assuming people
[43:33] talked to the natural gas company, we
[43:35] talked to the developers,
[43:37] but it seems like the county commission
[43:39] is a part of this process, why were we
[43:41] last and just if you can answer that for me.
[43:44] I just really want to know for the for
[43:45] the public's sake as well.
[43:47] If it's all right, I'll I'll speak to
[43:49] this and if you have anything to add. Uh
[43:51] like like we mentioned before, IMIDA has
[43:53] multiple projects that are presented to
[43:56] them daily. And either they meet the
[43:59] military mission or they don't and so
[44:01] then they are excused. Uh sometimes they
[44:05] are
[44:06] due diligence is done on them a little
[44:08] bit longer and then excused. This one
[44:12] when we learned about it mid-February,
[44:14] we started our due diligence under the
[44:17] impression that not only state state
[44:21] legislation and also local
[44:23] municipalities were were
[44:28] talked to. So, as we continued our due
[44:30] diligence
[44:32] and then determined that we wanted to
[44:34] move forward with this project, it was
[44:36] then
[44:37] noted that
[44:39] there was that aspect that was missed.
[44:40] We apologize and know that that is not
[44:43] the mightier way. We want full
[44:45] transparency and I apologize now because
[44:48] of the because of the nature of the
[44:50] competitive competitiveness of this
[44:52] project
[44:54] to come to Utah or to another state,
[44:56] that is the reason why this has been
[44:58] exponentially
[45:00] put into put into motion.
[45:04] Well, night and I actually and and
[45:06] there's been several comments about my
[45:08] comment about drinking from a fire hose
[45:10] and it absolutely has been that way. You
[45:12] know, as
[45:13] we've [clears throat]
[45:14] postponed this last week and now to
[45:17] today and that's the thing is
[45:19] now that we finally have the
[45:21] information, but the thing that's so
[45:23] frustrating for us for commissioners is all of a sudden we're we're we're
[45:28] brought in the last hour and we're
[45:30] expected to hurry. And so, it has been
[45:34] um tons of study, tons of hours on our
[45:37] side trying to understand this and we
[45:40] have landowners that are frustrated.
[45:42] We're trying to explain to them the
[45:44] situation that we're in.
[45:46] That the state's come to us and said
[45:48] this has got to be done. The pressure
[45:50] that we felt with
[45:52] and so, trying to understand all this
[45:53] which
[45:54] today I do drinking from that fire hose
[45:57] at this point now, I understand it. But
[46:00] it has taken several hours and hours to
[46:02] get to this point. And I do want to
[46:05] recognize that your team, commissioners,
[46:07] yourselves, your team, your your legal
[46:10] team, all of your department heads have
[46:12] put exten- extenuous
[46:16] uh time into understanding this.
[46:18] I'm grateful for the development team as
[46:20] well for taking the time to
[46:23] um come prepared with a project that
[46:27] was was easily the due diligence was
[46:30] eight we were able to do that.
[46:32] I appreciate the time that you've spent
[46:34] to to prepare for this day and I
[46:39] whether we have your consent or not, we
[46:41] appreciate the effort that you put into
[46:42] this and I just wanted to say thank you
[46:45] um for that.
[46:46] >> The public needs to also be aware that
[46:47] we did hire an outside legal team to
[46:49] help us. We appreciate Steve uh
[46:53] Hadfield and Annie Hansen from our law
[46:55] offices for helping us. We also did hire
[46:57] an outside
[46:58] uh agency to help in this
[47:00] [clears throat] process as well. Hey Ty,
[47:02] I have one more question if you don't
[47:03] mind.
[47:03] >> Yeah, go ahead, boy. In the event
[47:06] that this gets approved
[47:08] >> [snorts]
[47:09] >> and we find out that because of this
[47:12] fast-moving situation that we wasn't
[47:15] able to understand all the I's and all
[47:18] the T's,
[47:19] is there any situation where we can then
[47:23] work through the challenges with MAEDA
[47:25] or are we out of luck?
[47:27] We will work through this entire project
[47:29] together.
[47:31] What does that mean?
[47:33] We're in a we're in a partnership.
[47:37] So on this committee then we're going to
[47:39] be able to sit at a round table and
[47:41] hammer out the details. That's right.
[47:45] And if we have deep concerns for our
[47:47] citizens, the same way, correct?
[47:50] Oh, that's right. I should point that
[47:52] out and thank you, Austin.
[47:54] Um with a project of this magnitude, um
[47:57] it is
[47:58] not likely, but for sure that one of you
[48:01] will be on the MIDA board, so you'll be
[48:03] able to help
[48:05] with this.
[48:10] You will
[48:12] So,
[48:13] another question. How much influence
[48:15] because we're a subdivision of the
[48:17] state, we all are. How much influence is
[48:21] it going to come from Salt Lake?
[48:24] I'm sorry, I didn't
[48:25] How much influence is going to come from
[48:28] local elected officials from the state,
[48:31] the legislature, the governor? How much
[48:33] input are they going to have into this
[48:34] project? No. The project area is here in
[48:37] Box Elder County and MIDA along with you
[48:42] Box Elder County,
[48:44] we will we will develop this
[48:46] development.
[48:50] Okay.
[48:55] Commissioners, are there any further
[48:56] questions?
[48:58] >> [clears throat]
[48:58] >> Um, yeah, I I actually there was one
[49:00] other thing. I I did some research. Um,
[49:02] one of the things they talked about these data
[49:05] centers is um
[49:06] especially the ones with natural gas is
[49:08] and and even some with solar that they
[49:10] have actually are using battery backups
[49:12] to generate energy or to store energy so
[49:15] that they can use it during off hours or
[49:17] and I guess with the natural gas I've
[49:19] heard that they actually up to 1
[49:20] gigawatt of natural
[49:22] battery backup so that they can cycle
[49:24] and and reduce the amount of uh
[49:27] pollution or whatever you would come
[49:28] from the natural gas generators by using
[49:30] batteries on occasion. Is that something
[49:32] that is being looked at in this project
[49:34] or wherever do we know? So, not that I'm
[49:36] aware of, but the power gen that's
[49:38] producing for the data centers um that's
[49:40] a third-party company that has these
[49:42] really good solutions that have really
[49:45] the lowest I've seen impact on air
[49:47] quality and the the zero water
[49:49] solutions. They'll they'll be deciding
[49:51] on what those backup sources will be.
[49:53] Um there is a diesel fuel line that goes
[49:56] through the site. I'm not sure if that
[49:58] will come into play as a as a resource
[50:00] for
[50:01] backup energy to have uh
[50:03] diesel generators as a possibility, but
[50:05] um
[50:06] yeah, and there's also the possibility
[50:08] of
[50:09] maintaining a bunch of extra natural gas
[50:11] on site in silos, so that if anything
[50:13] were to happen to the pipeline that they
[50:16] still have that reservoir to to rely on.
[50:19] So, um I have not heard anything of
[50:21] batteries. The design isn't fully
[50:23] finished, but uh yeah, that's not
[50:27] anything I've heard so far. And and with
[50:29] the the rebates or whatever you want to
[50:31] call it, tax incentives that you might
[50:33] have would give what is what's what are
[50:36] you what is the company I mean, they're
[50:37] getting this tax incentive, but what are
[50:39] they supposed to do with this tax
[50:40] incentive? What what's the
[50:42] Why do you give it to them?
[50:45] It'll be used for development.
[50:48] Uh the the money that comes from the energy
[50:53] and compute will be utilized to help uh
[50:56] the development out there uh as well as
[51:01] uh
[51:02] they have to the infra- the infra-
[51:03] >> Yeah, who builds the infrastructure is
[51:05] what I want to know. Does the county or
[51:06] >> Nope, absolutely not. The the developer
[51:09] has committed to 100% of all
[51:11] infrastructure improvements. So, the
[51:14] roads, the sewer uh system, which will
[51:17] likely become a district, the the
[51:20] stormwater uh system underneath the
[51:22] roads, the developer will create all of
[51:24] that for the that leads into the
[51:26] development. Um
[51:28] no cost to the county, and then when the
[51:30] revenues come back to the county, uh
[51:32] yes, the municipal those municipal
[51:34] services will be
[51:36] um you will provide uh support um with
[51:40] maintenance and snow plow, the normal
[51:43] municipal services that you would
[51:44] through the county. Um but as far as the
[51:47] cost to the county in developing those
[51:51] infrastructure, that will be the
[51:52] developer. So, if I can compare this to
[51:54] something else that's happened in our
[51:55] county years ago in the 50s, um, we have
[51:58] a large corporation in in Western Box
[52:00] Elder County, Northrop Grumman. And so,
[52:03] most of it's not even county roads.
[52:04] There's a few county roads that do
[52:05] impact us that we have to work with them
[52:07] on and we continue to work with them on.
[52:09] But, most of them are state highways
[52:10] that go out to there and from. So, the
[52:12] state provides the plows and our
[52:14] deputies along with the highway patrol
[52:15] provide the the law enforcement
[52:17] protection. And then on base, they
[52:18] actually provide their own fire and
[52:20] ambulance services. Is that you think
[52:22] that will we provide provide the
[52:23] ambulance fire services to this facility
[52:26] or will they end up maybe having their
[52:27] own?
[52:28] And I mean, obviously we'll provide law
[52:30] enforcement services up into that
[52:32] facility, but I I don't know if the
[52:34] facility would be thinking about
[52:35] contracting with the county for any of
[52:36] those services on the facility itself.
[52:39] Um, just kind of curious to see the take
[52:41] cuz I'm comparing us to what happened in
[52:44] the 50s here in Box Elder County with
[52:45] Northrop Grumman. So, Yeah, absolutely.
[52:48] Uh, yes, we would like to obviously have
[52:51] the county partner with us to work out
[52:53] those services. Um, if amenable and and
[52:57] if if you want to
[52:58] contract with your different local, uh,
[53:01] municipalities around depending on where
[53:04] your resources are.
[53:05] I noticed in the local agreement there's
[53:07] some information about the fact that
[53:09] um, some of the stuff that the company
[53:11] will be required to buy would be fire
[53:12] trucks if possible if they depending on
[53:14] if the fire trucks that are available in
[53:16] the area aren't sufficient. The county
[53:18] taxpayers are not going to buy those
[53:19] fire trucks.
[53:20] >> That's right. We have height
[53:21] restrictions in the development and if
[53:23] they if if by chance we take it to the
[53:26] uh,
[53:26] DRC or the review committee and and a
[53:29] waiver is made for that and a and a a
[53:32] ladder truck is required for that
[53:36] particular height,
[53:38] the developer will cover that cost. Can
[53:40] I speak on that coming from Snowville?
[53:42] What the impacts of that might be and
[53:43] what it looks like?
[53:44] >> Ma'am, no. We I'm sorry.
[53:47] Excuse me. Okay.
[53:50] In further town halls, we can address
[53:52] more more of these questions, for sure.
[53:58] At the university, if you please, where
[53:59] we have room.
[54:02] What?
[54:03] We should have the meeting at the
[54:05] university where there's room for the
[54:06] people that are out in the hall. Sorry,
[54:08] ma'am.
[54:11] It's only your council now.
[54:13] It's not listening to the constituents.
[54:15] >> We'd actually like to We'd like to hold
[54:17] at least two town halls and
[54:21] uh throughout the the county, wherever
[54:23] you
[54:24] >> that'll be covering you.
[54:28] One more time and I'm going to have you
[54:29] removed. I'm sorry. We have to We have
[54:31] to keep control the meeting.
[54:34] We understand that. We We We've
[54:36] addressed that, so.
[54:42] Hi, Robert.
[54:43] The thing is, you've allowed this woman
[54:44] to come and speak three times.
[54:46] And you've allowed the public to speak a
[54:48] lot.
[54:48] >> Ma'am, ma'am.
[54:50] Enough.
[55:06] If there's infrastructure put out there,
[55:09] the sewer system, water line, what
[55:10] happens at the end of the project with
[55:12] all of that?
[55:13] All the infra- All the public
[55:15] infrastructure will be deeded to the
[55:16] county.
[55:18] And then you will maintain with the
[55:21] municipal services funds that you're
[55:23] provided, uh either if at the phase one with three gigs, you'll
[55:29] have the additional $30 million
[55:31] to um provide those, or at full build
[55:34] out,
[55:36] you'll have the additional million or
[55:38] so.
[55:39] $108 million or so.
[55:44] And when we talk about the
[55:45] infrastructure they're going to build,
[55:47] um
[55:48] who how do we know that they're just not
[55:50] going to throw up whatever they want to
[55:51] throw up to make it look good? Um we
[55:54] for the development, we have a specific
[55:57] set of standards and guidelines that um
[55:59] will be adopted for this, but all of
[56:01] those standards will be in line with
[56:03] what the county uh requires for your
[56:05] roads and and infrastructure.
[56:09] And will there be any residential um
[56:12] out there?
[56:13] There's no residential. Uh we've got
[56:15] some workforce housing temporary. Okay.
[56:18] Um and and like I said, the if
[56:22] Austin, would you like to talk more to
[56:24] the master plan? Yeah.
[56:28] there will be some temporary on
[56:30] site cuz you don't want all of those
[56:31] construction workers traveling back and
[56:33] forth on the 84 every day if you don't
[56:35] have to.
[56:36] Um and there will be some
[56:39] amenities around that, but no long-term
[56:41] residential will be going out there.
[56:43] So, the residential that could accompany
[56:45] this would most likely be closer to
[56:47] here.
[56:48] New developments around here that have
[56:50] been approved but haven't been built
[56:51] yet. There's there's quite a few, so I
[56:53] think all of those would get some
[56:56] much needed firepower behind them as
[56:59] there's going to be some demand.
[57:05] Let's
[57:09] What's
[57:10] It sounds like you have a concept of a
[57:12] plan.
[57:15] » [laughter]
[57:19] » I noticed we also have in here that we
[57:21] uh any damage to any county road
[57:24] pertaining to this project will be
[57:25] covered and replaced and and paid for by
[57:27] Midas. Is that correct? Or or by the
[57:30] business, one of the two? Yes, the
[57:31] developer will will make [clears throat]
[57:33] sure that before anything is deeded over
[57:36] there's a strict inspections. Okay.
[57:41] I think that's the concern of our of our
[57:43] citizens is just what's going to put on,
[57:45] you know, this project and what it's
[57:47] going to put on their backs. And I think
[57:49] that's the concern that they have. And
[57:52] that's why going forward all these
[57:53] things that we've talked about that we
[57:55] needed costs, we needed upfront money
[57:57] before we could even start doing
[57:59] anything with the
[58:00] project. [clears throat]
[58:04] What is the state's contribution to all
[58:05] this as far as not myda, but the state
[58:08] of Utah, obviously they're going to see
[58:09] some money back from this. What do they
[58:11] what are they going to put in?
[58:12] The agreements haven't been finalized,
[58:14] but yes, um
[58:16] by law by myda law, the state is um
[58:20] is
[58:21] does have the option to benefit in these
[58:25] projects.
[58:30] » [snorts]
[58:35] » Let's see.
[58:42] Um
[58:49] So as I'm reading into this contract, it
[58:51] says um
[58:54] the agreement shall continue until the
[58:56] earlier of the expiration of the maximum
[58:58] period allowed by law or the date on
[59:00] which the project area ceases to exist.
[59:04] Who makes that decision?
[59:08] The project area will likely never cease
[59:10] to exist uh because well the it myda
[59:14] will will be
[59:17] responsible for the project area
[59:20] um once infrastructure is created or I'm
[59:23] sorry, constructed. So you're confident
[59:25] myda will be here for 50 years.
[59:28] Yes.
[59:28] >> Most of us aren't going to be here, so.
[59:39] I did hear a comment um multiple comments either
[59:43] through social media or actually here in
[59:46] the room. We are we are excited for the
[59:49] opportunity to build something that will
[59:51] allow
[59:52] uh your local residents or the local of
[59:55] Utah to be able to stay within Utah um
[59:58] and and have provided high-paying uh
[1:00:01] jobs that can allow them to stay and
[1:00:04] even farm as well.
[1:00:06] that that is actually one of the
[1:00:07] comments I hear quite often and I and I
[1:00:09] actually brought it up a couple times
[1:00:11] with the
[1:00:12] um
[1:00:13] I hear these data centers come in and
[1:00:14] they say that they're going to provide a
[1:00:15] lot of jobs,
[1:00:17] but then they don't.
[1:00:19] What is their
[1:00:21] you know, an agreement or whatever to
[1:00:22] hold their feet to the fire to say,
[1:00:23] "Hey,
[1:00:24] you know, you guys told us you're going
[1:00:25] to have 1,000, 2,000 jobs, you ended up
[1:00:27] with 200."
[1:00:28] Is there anything that we can go back
[1:00:30] and say, "Wait a minute, you know, you made all kinds of promises up front,
[1:00:33] but didn't fulfill your promises."
[1:00:36] Sure. Um I can speak to
[1:00:40] the different DOW
[1:00:43] contracts that'll be going in the the
[1:00:45] defense contracts and that will provide
[1:00:48] multiple jobs and also would like to
[1:00:51] talk to some of the other options.
[1:00:53] Yeah, so as a rule of thumb and
[1:00:55] obviously this gets to scale um as a
[1:00:58] rule of thumb for each gigawatt it's
[1:00:59] like 1,000 jobs. And so, we we project
[1:01:03] many, many more. The 2,000 is a pretty
[1:01:05] low benchmark to hit. That's why we keep
[1:01:07] saying it. Um and then in in addition,
[1:01:09] like I mentioned, the state has turned
[1:01:11] away so many
[1:01:13] high energy use manufacturers and
[1:01:16] defense manufacturers cuz they don't
[1:01:18] have the energy grid here.
[1:01:20] We are talking to many that will come to
[1:01:22] this site as well, and each one of those
[1:01:24] is
[1:01:25] a more traditional employer that there's
[1:01:27] hundreds of jobs per
[1:01:29] um
[1:01:30] so yeah, there'll be
[1:01:32] many many more than just the 2,000 that
[1:01:34] we're talking about, but that's the
[1:01:35] benchmark we want to put out there to
[1:01:37] say, you know,
[1:01:38] we we know we're going to hit this. It
[1:01:41] could be a lot more when you throw the
[1:01:43] manufacturing in and then the real
[1:01:44] numbers behind like a per gigawatt
[1:01:46] amount of jobs that it creates. We keep
[1:01:49] talking about the state benefit. What is
[1:01:51] the state benefit? Really, what is the
[1:01:53] benefit to the state?
[1:01:59] Being first to the table to help this
[1:02:01] national energy
[1:02:04] lack of energy.
[1:02:06] That we can that Utah can can provide
[1:02:10] our national or our military national
[1:02:13] security.
[1:02:17] Okay.
[1:02:20] So, okay, if we get this growth with the
[1:02:23] employment cuz this happened in the 50s
[1:02:25] here with the Northrop Grumman. We had a
[1:02:26] huge
[1:02:27] How are we going to take care of the
[1:02:28] local communities
[1:02:30] with if we end up with growth with more
[1:02:32] employers, that's going to add more
[1:02:34] students possibly to our school system.
[1:02:37] Obviously, we know we have we've got to
[1:02:39] deal with fire EMS what we're trying to
[1:02:41] figure out and
[1:02:43] where do we how do we take care of
[1:02:45] Snowville fire or we have end up
[1:02:47] creating a Howl fire department over the
[1:02:49] hill that's closer that's right there in
[1:02:50] the same vicinity.
[1:02:52] How do we deal with that kind of
[1:02:54] infrastructure and cost to our community
[1:02:57] because
[1:02:58] more homes, more people, we got to
[1:03:00] figure something out. We may have to
[1:03:02] build sewer systems
[1:03:04] to deal with some of these other folks
[1:03:05] that move in if it's say somebody you
[1:03:07] know, Snowville decides to allow people
[1:03:09] to grow. Well,
[1:03:11] right now in the county all in most of
[1:03:12] the unincorporated in a lot of the
[1:03:13] county, it's half acre lots best case
[1:03:16] scenario because of septic. So, if
[1:03:18] you're going to go more dense than that,
[1:03:20] then you're going to have to start
[1:03:21] thinking about sewer systems, and that's
[1:03:22] expensive infrastructure. Do you have
[1:03:24] any solutions or ideas for how we deal
[1:03:26] with that going into this situation?
[1:03:30] I don't have your solutions, but I what I have is the revenues that will
[1:03:35] come back to the county, and you can
[1:03:36] utilize those revenues however you deem
[1:03:39] fit for the county.
[1:03:42] Yes.
[1:03:43] There was a There was a study done by
[1:03:45] [snorts] Idaho in reference to these
[1:03:47] data centers in Virginia, actually. Um
[1:03:50] a lot of people were concerned about,
[1:03:52] obviously,
[1:03:52] >> It was done by Idaho or Virginia, which
[1:03:53] one? I'm just
[1:03:54] >> It was It was in Idaho, but it was about
[1:03:56] the Virginia data centers. Um
[1:03:58] and uh they were talking about the tax
[1:04:00] reinvestment the state was putting back
[1:04:03] into the project. And it said, "For
[1:04:05] every $1 reinvested back in,
[1:04:07] the impact
[1:04:09] on the community produced $8. So, for
[1:04:12] every $1 into the project, there was $8
[1:04:15] in revenue
[1:04:16] back to the taxing authorities.
[1:04:18] So, just by all of the things that come
[1:04:21] with this, you're going to have
[1:04:22] additional retail demand, right? You're
[1:04:24] going to have an additional
[1:04:25] housing that's going to come in, and all
[1:04:27] of the other jobs and ancillary jobs and
[1:04:29] things outside of this project. There's
[1:04:31] studies been done that will show that it
[1:04:33] will be not only the benefit of this
[1:04:35] revenue, but
[1:04:37] you know, a lot more
[1:04:39] that comes along with it. This should
[1:04:40] fund all of that.
[1:04:43] So, if the revenue that you're talking
[1:04:45] about comes back into the county, the 30
[1:04:46] million, the 108 million,
[1:04:48] or wherever it goes from there,
[1:04:51] the county would be able to
[1:04:53] basically walk back to these cities and say,
[1:04:56] "We're going to give you this portion to
[1:04:57] help with this cost for infrastructure."
[1:04:59] Is that your understanding?
[1:05:01] Once municipal services are taken care
[1:05:03] of,
[1:05:04] >> [clears throat and cough]
[1:05:04] >> the county has full discretion.
[1:05:08] Okay.
[1:05:20] » Let's see.
[1:05:29] Sure covered up with it.
[1:06:09] Can't think of it. Oh, is there Okay,
[1:06:11] the other question I do want to ask I
[1:06:13] know we talked about water pollution.
[1:06:15] What about the
[1:06:18] study this far as ground? Um I know
[1:06:21] this same area was talked about
[1:06:23] 10 15 years ago and dealing with the
[1:06:25] landfill.
[1:06:27] And there was talk about an earthquake
[1:06:28] and things like that. So is that is that
[1:06:30] something that's going to be has been
[1:06:31] considered, talked about? Is that a
[1:06:33] concern?
[1:06:36] Yeah, we we've done all our geotechnical
[1:06:38] studies and where the where the site is
[1:06:40] sits, there is a
[1:06:43] that earthquake that you're referencing
[1:06:46] is is quite a ways away. Okay. Um even
[1:06:48] though it goes by the same name, but uh
[1:06:50] yeah, it's uh there's no
[1:06:53] there's one fault line that's like
[1:06:54] 750,000 years old and very dormant.
[1:06:57] >> Yeah. Um and the geotechnical
[1:07:00] professionals have said this site is
[1:07:02] very buildable and good. Okay. Good to
[1:07:04] go. Yeah.
[1:07:05] So have you drilled core samples to to
[1:07:08] and you've done all that? Yes. And the
[1:07:10] studies available for people to review
[1:07:12] or no? The geotechnical? Yeah. Yep.
[1:07:18] Where would they find that?
[1:07:20] Um we don't have it publicized
[1:07:22] currently, but [laughter]
[1:07:28] I mean, nobody's asked for it up until
[1:07:30] this point, but yeah. But it could be
[1:07:32] publicized.
[1:07:33] >> be publicized, right? We we will we will
[1:07:34] publicize all all of the all of the
[1:07:36] information. All the studies should be
[1:07:38] where the public can look. Yeah, all all the studies that are required, all
[1:07:42] the state studies, impact studies,
[1:07:45] they'll all be part of the master
[1:07:46] development plan and site plan,
[1:07:48] um which will be studied by
[1:07:50] the development review committee, which
[1:07:54] will be
[1:07:55] members of the county.
[1:07:59] But yes, if you would like a copy of that, I'm
[1:08:02] sure Austin would provide.
[1:08:10] So, you mentioned once
[1:08:12] uh talking about the purpose of the
[1:08:13] project.
[1:08:16] And I'm a little vague on that. Can you
[1:08:18] help me understand really what the
[1:08:19] purpose is?
[1:08:21] The millionaires and the billionaires.
[1:08:25] Why it is involved because we we we are
[1:08:28] involved in projects that have a clear
[1:08:31] military mission because of the
[1:08:34] energy deficiency that the that the country has, this will provide a
[1:08:41] segue into
[1:08:43] the energy compute and data storage that
[1:08:47] our our military needs. Um this will
[1:08:51] help the the energy the lack
[1:08:56] of energy and it's just the start it's just the start and
[1:08:59] that's the that is the full military mission and
[1:09:03] why and why it is involved is because we
[1:09:06] can give this opportunity to Utah to
[1:09:08] bring
[1:09:11] energy independent energy
[1:09:13] to the state.
[1:09:15] I'm I'm sure that most of us don't
[1:09:17] understand the requirements and the needs of the
[1:09:21] military as far as
[1:09:23] artificial intelligence and even
[1:09:25] computing stuff. I'm sure that most I
[1:09:27] don't. I'm guessing that most of these
[1:09:29] folks don't either.
[1:09:31] It'd be nice to have someone who does
[1:09:33] know that and analyze that and give us a
[1:09:35] an idea.
[1:09:37] Absolutely. Yeah.
[1:09:39] >> You're hard to hear. Can you talk into
[1:09:40] your phone?
[1:09:41] Sorry.
[1:09:44] I said I don't really understand what
[1:09:46] the the military's would need. And I'm
[1:09:50] pretty sure that most of us don't. It'd
[1:09:52] be nice to have a summary of what that
[1:09:54] would what that really means to us.
[1:09:56] Yeah, there's there's several um there's
[1:09:58] several studies and videos out there
[1:10:01] that I've seen um
[1:10:03] on who's producing the most compute
[1:10:05] power right now and what would happen
[1:10:08] in a future
[1:10:09] you know, conflict if we're
[1:10:12] outpowered and outcomputed by the
[1:10:14] competitors. I had a actually on another
[1:10:18] project military related a friend of
[1:10:20] mine that was over in Ukraine and all
[1:10:23] they're doing right now is drones
[1:10:25] computing to make sure that those drones
[1:10:27] can fight, right? And so it's extremely
[1:10:30] important when you've got countries like
[1:10:32] China that are producing hundreds of
[1:10:35] gigawatts a year and here in America we're we're very far behind. And so if a conflict
[1:10:41] like that were to come, we want to be
[1:10:43] able to protect ourselves. It is
[1:10:44] national security to have power and and
[1:10:47] compute power going forward.
[1:10:49] Yeah, I'm I mean I um
[1:10:52] I'm sure that all of the technology and
[1:10:54] all of the equipment that they use runs
[1:10:57] off that same technology, but I don't
[1:10:59] know what it is, you know.
[1:11:01] I know my tractors run off the same
[1:11:03] thing, you know, so.
[1:11:06] It'd be nice to know that.
[1:11:10] And that that's something we can include
[1:11:12] in the fact sheets is what how this is
[1:11:14] used in the military.
[1:11:16] Yeah, that it'd be nice to know, you
[1:11:17] know, because we live in a digital age
[1:11:19] and I'm been around long enough to know
[1:11:21] that just cuz it's digital doesn't mean
[1:11:23] it's true.
[1:11:24] It'd be nice to have some solid facts
[1:11:28] to review.
[1:11:32] I'm just curious what my door the
[1:11:34] developers probably or you're from that
[1:11:36] side um
[1:11:38] would say if if I said, "Hey, I want to
[1:11:39] I want another week to figure this out
[1:11:41] to make before I make a decision."
[1:11:43] Um I just like to get your response if I
[1:11:44] said, "I'm going to ask for one more
[1:11:46] week because I think I want to gather
[1:11:47] just some a little bit more
[1:11:48] information." I've been like I said
[1:11:50] inundated over the weekend with a ton of
[1:11:52] information from a lot of folks.
[1:11:54] Um we've been asking questions. You you
[1:11:55] saw a number of questions we've sent to
[1:11:57] you over the weekend that came from
[1:11:58] these these constituents and folks.
[1:12:00] Um but there's there may still be a
[1:12:02] couple others, so I guess that's what
[1:12:03] I'm asking is if we said, "Hey, could can you wait one more week for us
[1:12:09] to gather more information just to
[1:12:10] gather a little bit more information
[1:12:11] before we make a final decision."
[1:12:16] » [applause]
[1:12:20] » Of course we would respect we respect
[1:12:22] that. We respect the need and again we
[1:12:24] appreciate that all of the research that
[1:12:26] you've done and the time that you've put
[1:12:28] into this. Um I the reason why we're
[1:12:31] expediting is because we have this
[1:12:33] opportunity to receive the the the zero
[1:12:37] water
[1:12:38] turbines [clears throat]
[1:12:39] and and the
[1:12:41] and that that technology
[1:12:43] uh jumped the line for that, but of
[1:12:45] course I would respect your uh need for more time.
[1:12:50] Okay.
[1:12:54] Well, and honestly, we have asked
[1:12:58] you tons of questions this week, and one
[1:13:00] of the big things is is a lot of the
[1:13:02] questions that that we're asking today
[1:13:05] have come from our citizens.
[1:13:07] The questions that you've sent us and
[1:13:08] the concerns and those type of things.
[1:13:11] And so, that's [clears throat] why a lot
[1:13:13] of these questions we're asking have
[1:13:14] come from you. There's There are I've
[1:13:17] had several questions as well that have
[1:13:19] been asked that I've asked that have
[1:13:20] been answered, but we wanted you to hear
[1:13:23] those questions as well, plus have your
[1:13:26] questions answered. So,
[1:13:29] we appreciate you sending those questions, um,
[1:13:33] online.
[1:13:35] Thank you for the opportunity
[1:13:37] once again to present in front of you
[1:13:39] and answer the questions, and we hope to
[1:13:41] have more opportunities in town halls
[1:13:44] to, um,
[1:13:46] to help educate not not just ourselves
[1:13:49] yourselves, but the whole the county as
[1:13:51] a whole and the state as a whole. We're
[1:13:53] excited for this development. We're
[1:13:54] excited what it can do for the state,
[1:13:56] for
[1:13:57] the county, and military.
[1:14:00] Do you have any problems with us sharing
[1:14:02] with the public? I mean, obviously,
[1:14:04] we've we've been waiting to get
[1:14:05] everything for this, uh, interlocal
[1:14:07] cooperative agreement.
[1:14:09] Um,
[1:14:11] but if we were to say, "Hey, we want to
[1:14:12] share what what we're talking about as
[1:14:14] far as the information in the interlocal
[1:14:15] agreement and saying this is what we're
[1:14:17] working toward." Is that a problem if we
[1:14:18] share that with our public?
[1:14:20] That's fine. You can talk to it. What?
[1:14:23] That's fine. You'd be fine with that.
[1:14:24] So, we can say, "This is what we're
[1:14:26] working toward." And we've been asked I
[1:14:27] would just just let the public know
[1:14:29] we've been asking lots of questions
[1:14:30] since we were made aware of this. And,
[1:14:33] uh,
[1:14:34] unequivocally say that I know all three
[1:14:36] of us and and Austin, you can back you
[1:14:39] can you don't have to back us up, but
[1:14:41] all three of us were a hard no when this
[1:14:43] started, um,
[1:14:44] because of some concerns and the
[1:14:45] questions, and you've been answering
[1:14:47] questions. We do appreciate that.
[1:14:49] But
[1:14:50] there's like I said, this is
[1:14:53] coming fast and we were the last at the
[1:14:55] table and that's one of the concerns we
[1:14:56] have is the fact that we were last at
[1:14:58] the table.
[1:14:59] And that's one of the concerns we have
[1:15:00] right now as a commission as we're going
[1:15:02] through all this information. We just
[1:15:05] As has been mentioned by Commissioner
[1:15:06] Bingham, if we do this, it it is
[1:15:09] irrevocable and that is a concern we
[1:15:11] have as a county is we want to make sure
[1:15:13] that we're making the right decision for
[1:15:14] the citizens of Box Elder County moving
[1:15:16] forward and that's why we want to make
[1:15:17] sure that we we've done it right. So I
[1:15:19] think that's my concern. You have
[1:15:21] anything you want to share with us about
[1:15:22] that as your concern wise?
[1:15:24] No.
[1:15:24] That would be understandable. I will say
[1:15:26] the the rush [snorts] that Hillary
[1:15:28] speaks to is there are five groups that
[1:15:31] will front this that will get this over
[1:15:33] the line and we have the chance to
[1:15:36] kind of like she said jump the line and
[1:15:38] we've been told
[1:15:39] that that needs to happen this month
[1:15:41] whether that's true or not, but that's the reason for the rush.
[1:15:48] When I [clears throat] would echo
[1:15:49] Commissioner Perry, we've had lots of
[1:15:53] discussion trying to figure this out and
[1:15:54] understand this and and um
[1:15:58] although you know, through the studies
[1:16:00] and those type of things
[1:16:02] um we've learned a lot, but it's
[1:16:06] couple of concerning things and
[1:16:07] Commissioner Perry
[1:16:08] spoke of this is that we were brought in
[1:16:10] at the last at last hour.
[1:16:12] And then expected to just run with this.
[1:16:16] For us that was um frustrating and hard
[1:16:19] for us. Also over the weekend the amount
[1:16:22] of emails [clears throat]
[1:16:23] and those type of things that we've got
[1:16:24] from our constituents and from our
[1:16:26] citizens.
[1:16:28] Um
[1:16:28] and so
[1:16:29] I um
[1:16:31] I don't know. I I would concur with
[1:16:33] Commissioner
[1:16:34] uh Perry um
[1:16:36] and echo his same thoughts.
[1:16:38] And I'm sure Commissioner Bingham can
[1:16:40] speak to that as well if you'd like, so.
[1:16:42] Yep. Yep, I feel like there's more to be
[1:16:45] understood.
[1:16:46] Well, and I just put a We did We did say
[1:16:48] in a in our previous commission on the
[1:16:50] 3rd when we had public comment and when
[1:16:52] we met the last time, um we had public
[1:16:54] comment and we did pass a resolution
[1:16:56] saying we were We are interested.
[1:16:58] This is not to say that we're not
[1:16:59] interested in the project. That we're
[1:17:01] interested in it cuz just to give you
[1:17:03] some idea, um I pulled some numbers this
[1:17:04] morning.
[1:17:06] Um Box Elder County, if you take all the
[1:17:08] property taxes that are paid in this
[1:17:09] county, it's $75 million roughly $76
[1:17:11] million a year for every property tax
[1:17:13] that's paid in this county.
[1:17:14] And this return that we're talking about
[1:17:16] with full development would be $108
[1:17:18] million, which is far and exceed that.
[1:17:20] Um but there's there are costs that are
[1:17:22] going to be associated with this where
[1:17:23] we have to build out sewer systems,
[1:17:25] build fire departments. There's going to
[1:17:26] be things that have to happen that are
[1:17:28] going to cut cost cut into that cost.
[1:17:30] But it is a significant amount and uh so
[1:17:33] there is a
[1:17:34] That is part of what I just got that
[1:17:36] information this morning as I'm looking
[1:17:37] at it. And so that's why I want to be
[1:17:39] able to to mull that over. Um and so I
[1:17:42] am I want to move I want to continue to do that, but I would be make I'd be
[1:17:47] willing to make a motion if the chair is
[1:17:48] interested in a motion at this point.
[1:17:50] I'll I'll be great. Okay, my motion
[1:17:52] would be that uh
[1:17:54] we table the two items until next Monday
[1:17:57] and we reschedule another commission
[1:17:59] meeting for next Monday to address these
[1:18:01] issues once we've had time to share with
[1:18:03] the public the information we've been
[1:18:05] presented in the last 24 to 48 hours so
[1:18:08] that it's out there for the public to
[1:18:09] see
[1:18:10] and that uh we can
[1:18:13] come back and and make a decision
[1:18:16] next Monday.
[1:18:18] That would be MY MOTION.
[1:18:18] >> THAT.
[1:18:19] >> [applause]
[1:18:22] [cheering]
[1:18:24] >> HAVE A HAVE A MOTION BY COMMISSIONER
[1:18:26] Bingham or Commissioner Perry to table
[1:18:29] um the two items before us and a second
[1:18:31] by Commissioner Bingham.
[1:18:33] If there's no further discussion, all in
[1:18:35] favor?
[1:18:36] I.
[1:18:37] Motion passes.
[1:18:41] Do we need to decide what time our
[1:18:43] meeting will be on that Monday?
[1:18:45] Should we do 10:00 a.m.?
[1:18:49] 6:00 a.m.?
[1:18:52] Sorry. I want 4:00 a.m.
[1:18:55] Just kidding.
[1:18:56] >> [laughter]
[1:19:02] » Mr.
[1:19:03] What time would you like to do?
[1:19:05] No preference.
[1:19:06] Then any will work for me.
[1:19:08] Um
[1:19:10] Let's look at the schedule real quick.
[1:19:13] You got a career schedule.
[1:19:18] You want to go
[1:19:20] 4:00 in the afternoon like our afternoon
[1:19:21] meetings are?
[1:19:22] >> Okay with me.
[1:19:23] So I say we schedule a meeting for 4:00
[1:19:26] on Monday the 4th.
[1:19:29] Okay. Is that a motion?
[1:19:31] That is a motion to go 4:00 on Monday
[1:19:33] the 4th. We'll have another meeting.
[1:19:35] I'll second it.
[1:19:36] Motion to
[1:19:38] have a meeting Monday
[1:19:41] May 4th at 4:00 in these chambers.
[1:19:45] Um
[1:19:46] then be approved by Commissioner
[1:19:49] Perry made the motion second.
[1:19:53] Will that work for you folks? I'll be
[1:19:55] here.
[1:19:56] Okay.
[1:19:57] Have a second by Commissioner
[1:19:59] Bingham.
[1:20:00] >> Yes.
[1:20:01] You know what? Yes, sir.
[1:20:03] We have the possibility and I think we
[1:20:05] ought to do this for May 4th. I would
[1:20:06] like to fix my motion. I think May 4th
[1:20:09] 4:00 p.m. at 4:00 p.m. But we'll have it
[1:20:11] at the county Well, is it is it
[1:20:13] available?
[1:20:15] Verify that it's available, but I would
[1:20:17] like to I think if we can I'd like to
[1:20:18] I'm going to just verify real quickly,
[1:20:20] but I'd like to hold it in the
[1:20:21] fairgrounds in the fine arts building
[1:20:22] which is a larger facility for more
[1:20:24] people can be there. So let me just
[1:20:26] verify
[1:20:27] >> [applause]
[1:20:28] >> Let me just verify real quickly. We're
[1:20:29] going to find out if that that building
[1:20:31] is available real quickly, and then we
[1:20:32] will finish that motion.
[1:20:51] We're good? Okay.
[1:20:53] All right, the fairgrounds is available,
[1:20:54] so that my motion would be at 4:00 p.m.
[1:20:56] next Monday at the county fairgrounds is
[1:20:58] where we'll have the meeting. Second.
[1:21:00] Have a motion by
[1:21:02] Commissioner Perry to meet at the 4:00
[1:21:04] at the
[1:21:06] fairgrounds next week, and a second by
[1:21:09] Commissioner Bingham.
[1:21:11] All in favor, say aye. Aye.
[1:21:14] Okay.
[1:21:15] Appreciate it.
[1:21:15] >> I make a motion that we adjourn. Second.
[1:21:18] I have a motion by Commissioner Perry to
[1:21:19] adjourn, and second by Commissioner
[1:21:21] Bingham. All in favor, Aye. Thank you so
[1:21:24] much for being here. We appreciate you
[1:21:26] coming today.
[1:21:29] And I need a bag.
[1:21:32] I have one out in the car.