Residents opposed to Amazon’s proposed plans to invest $15 billion in a data center in Hobart received a reprieve earlier this month.
The Hobart City Council on Dec. 17 postponed a public hearing on a resolution declaring a 725-acre parcel within Colorado Street and 61 Avenue as an Economic Revitalization Area.
Mayor Josh Huddlestun said the resolution is the first step toward going forward with a development agreement with Amazon Web Services, which provides cloud computing services to businesses.
Amazon’s proposed plans to invest $15 billion in data centers, including one to be built at 61st Avenue and Colorado Street, were confirmed by Huddlestun shortly before Thanksgiving.
The public hearing will be rescheduled for a later date, tentatively the Jan. 7 city council meeting, Huddlestun said.
He confirmed that Amazon is the sole petitioner and will need to provide a statement of benefits, which would include a project description, number of jobs it will provide and community benefits.
Despite the postponement of the public hearing, residents in opposition to the Amazon development packed the meeting room and also protested outside in front of city hall.
Angelita Soriano, one of about a dozen residents who spoke at the meeting, questioned why the resolution had been postponed, the process of establishing Economic Revitalization Areas and whether any steps had been skipped in this proposal.
She referenced her questions to City Councilman Matt Claussen, D-At-large, citing his years of experience serving as a city official.
“Why the postponement?” Soriano asked.
Claussen told her, “Some legal issues were not resolved yet.”
Soriano also questioned him in regard to what, if any, steps had been skipped.
“None were skipped,” Claussen responded.
Another resident, Cody Graf, who had marched outside with a “no data center” sign before the meeting, said he just closed on a home in October on Colorado Street close to the proposed Amazon development.
He said he bought his home on more than three acres because “he wanted to start a life here in Hobart and because he enjoys being outside.”
“Do you want me to move?” Graf said.
Graf, an electrician by trade, said he knows of fellow electricians who won’t sign up to take a job working at 2 1/2 times the pay on the data center in New Carlisle “because it’s a (expletive) show.”
“People take pay cuts not to go there,” Graf said.
“I know in your hearts you think this will save Hobart but why sell out your constituents, your people?” Graf said.
Patricia Corey said she lives in the area being proposed for the data center and it’s in the Ross Township portion of Hobart annexed in the mid-90s.
Corey said recently she began to feel like she was fitting into Hobart versus Merrillville, the town she had identified with more than Hobart.
But now, with the proposed data center, that feeling is no more.
“I’m turned off with Hobart,” she said.
She asked Hobart officials to just say no.
Suzanna Enslen told city officials she has sent 17 questions to Carlos Yanes, a man who lives next door to a data center in Virginia, and has made a video with his thoughts.
She said she will share his answers with city officials, including the mayor, once she gets them and hopes to stream the comments of Yanes if possible.
“It’s coming. I want to come in with trust and transparency,” Enslen said.
Charles Carter Jr. said he had roots in Chicago and grew up in Gary but when he moved to Hobart, in the middle of nowhere, he felt at peace.
Carter spoke of going to the city where “everything is vibrating.”
He said people feel at peace when closer to nature.
“It feels different. The energy is different,” Carter said.
He said he’s not opposed to development but doesn’t believe a data center at that location is the answer.
The data center, once built, could bring in tens of millions of dollars each year to the city, Huddlestun said.
The financial impact for Hobart can’t be determined until the final numbers are crunched, but it’s going to be big money, he said.
Hobart has been buffeted by a series of financial hits, from the Southlake Mall property tax appeal to Senate Enrolled Act 1, which will offer property tax relief to taxpayers by reducing the revenue local governments use to provide services to residents, he said.
“Hobart, residents are struggling,” Huddlestun said. “I want to actually give them relief.”
“We’re going to provide relief to our community,” he said, with money to solve flooding issues through the city as well as improving parks, police and fire protection, and other services.
Debora Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.