SUNBURY — As the city of Sunbury continues to study the impact of a proposed Amazon data center, City Administrator Daryl Hennessy announced Wednesday that two experts will speak at an upcoming special council meeting.
Council will hold the special meeting on Thursday, June 25, at 6:30 p.m. in Big Walnut High School’s auditorium. The meeting’s focus will be on how data centers’ water and power usage affect surrounding areas.
Speakers for this meeting include Brian Coghlan, Chief Operating Officer at Del-Co Water and President of the WateReuse Association – Ohio Section, and John Seryak, managing partner of the consulting firm Go Sustainable Energy, according to a city Facebook post.
Hennessy explained during Wednesday’s council meeting that Sunbury was a founding member of the Ohio WateReuse chapter, and the purpose of the organization is “to advance water recycling programs and regulations in the state of Ohio.”
“As the president of that organization, [Coghlan] will be able to provide an update in terms of what is happening with water reuse as an option for providing something other than potable water to support a data center,” Hennessy said.
Hennessy told council that Del-Co also provides water to most communities in Delaware County, so Coghlan will be able to discuss water quantity and quality in the area as well.
Seryak will discuss power generation and the issues of on-site versus behind-the-meter. Additionally, he’ll explain the region’s energy grid and the impact of data centers on consumer electric prices, Hennessy said.
“Go Sustainable Energy is a consulting firm; they don’t sell products, they don’t offer design services or conduct installations, they basically provide consulting services,” Hennessy said.
“I thought that was an important distinction so that we weren’t working with somebody [we] thought had conflicts in the sector.”
June 25 meeting format and a look ahead
Both Coghlan and Seryak will begin the conversation with a 20-25 minute presentation. Members of council and audience members will then be able to ask questions for the next 35-40 minutes.
Unlike public comment portions of city council or planning and zoning commission meetings, attendees will not be able to speak at a microphone.
“Members of the audience will be invited to write their questions on a piece of paper that will be read to the speaker by a member of city staff,” according to the city’s Facebook post.
Hennessy did say the city has shared the summary of previous public comments from both council and planning and zoning meetings, which are on the city’s website, with the two speakers.
Below is the public comment summary Hennessy referenced:
The city anticipates holding two more meetings like the upcoming June 25 meeting, potentially in August and October.
“Fear not, we are going to talk about these other topics as well,” Hennessy said.
“I’m trying to work on [getting] a representative to speak on noise. I know there has also been this question about what has changed with data centers over the past decade or so, and I’m looking for a speaker to help us understand what is happening in the data center space.”
Hennessy also wants to find someone to discuss community benefit agreements, economic development and environmental and health concerns.
Mayor Joe St. John mentioned that members of the public had suggested speakers for these meetings.
“Everyone who has been suggested, we have talked to on some level,” Hennessy replied.
However, with the moratorium in effect, an environmental and health official told the city they wouldn’t be able to assess the site until the city knew more about the site’s future.
“[The official] did indicate to us that once we knew more about the [site], [an assessment] may be a resource for us to use,” Hennessy said.
“We continue to reach out, so if you have other speakers that you want us to talk to, we will talk to them about being at this event.”
