Residents of St. Joseph County share concerns during Data Center information session

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- Wednesday night, Jan Cervelli hosted and moderated an information session at the Harrison Library focused on the Microsoft data center coming to St. Joseph County.

With so many residents showing up to voice their concerns, the meeting room overflowed into standing room only.

Residents were asked to submit questions to the panel, which consisted of Bill Schalliol, who is the Economic Development Executive Director of St. Joe County. During the session, he confirmed that there is an NDA in place regarding the development of the data center.

Also on the panel was Ben Inskeep, program director at Citzens Action Coalition, and Sam Carpenter, Executive Director of the Hoosier Environmental Council.

The panel was able to provide estimates for power and water usage but couldn’t provide any specific details concerning the build.

Schallio confirmed that Microsoft would be paying for the energy usage, not residents, and that there is already a plan in place with the City of Mishawaka to distribute water to the data center.

Many residents felt unsatisfied with the answers provided by the panel.

“Some of the things I’ve heard just made me want to groan and leave,” said Liam Fuller, a resident of St. Joseph County. “It’s frustrating because we all live in the community. We deserve to know what’s going on.”

The panel was unable to address every question submitted during the session. Any questions they didn’t get a chance to read; they agreed to provide responses online at panel host, Jan Cervelli’s, website.