County Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Chair calls to order the  public hearing for bill 26-002 supplemental   appropriation estimated expenses estat and MSDE.  Mr. Standless, whenever you're ready. Robbie San,   County Treasurer on behalf of the county  executive, requesting a supplemental appropriation   uh in the amount of $1.1 million to cover some  unanticipated costs uh from the state of Maryland   to the county government that were not received as  part of the normal budget process. In fact, both   of these were received um in in uh in the current  fiscal year uh July and and thereafter. So there's   two components here. First part is um a little  bit easier maybe to understand um uh which is our   state department of assessments and taxation. So  beginning in 2011, county governments had to start   sharing 50% of the cost of the state department  of assessments and taxation. These are the state   agencies that do the property assessments which  case then the county applies their property tax   rate to but it was always controlled by the  state. So again, beginning in 2011, the state   as part of a budget um that budget crisis during  those years uh shifted 50% of the cost to the   counties. The way it more or less works is that  the state department of assessments taxation   uh estimates what their cost is going to be. Then  they pro-rate it according to the size of the   counties, the number of of um of properties uh and  the like. And then they they build the counties   respectively. It's an estimate and then there's  always a true up kind of at the end. It could be   plus or minus. So what happened here is in fiscal  year 25 when they were applying the adjustment   um in the amount of a little bit over $200,000  uh they they viewed it as a credit instead of   as additional expense. So instead of having um  $200,000 added to our bill, it subtracted $200,000   bill $200,000 to our bill. So then we have to  to go and um uh the state department uh figured   this out after the fact and and sent out corrected  bills. So more or less we ended up uh you know not   paying what we were supposed to pay uh in years  past and now they're they're catching up with  

this. Again I think this was just a clerical error  um on their part but it is indicative of something   that has been happening a lot uh and that is  this direct billing of county of state services   directly directly to to the counties. Um the other  one is a little more complicated and this has to   do with private prek um component that's a part of  the blueprint initiative. Now, it was our initial   belief as well as most of the other counties that  private prek, which we understood a big component   of the blueprint is that uh we need to provide um  pre-k services and if the school system doesn't   have the necessary slots that private providers  can can provide it. Um and we were more or less   under the impression that county governments  would be funding the school systems and that   the school systems would be having to pay these um  these expenses. Well, apparently that was not how   the law was written. This was somewhat of a blind  side to to Mako and to all of the other counties   when it was discovered also in in July that no, in  fact, beginning in fiscal year 26, again after the   budget was already was already passed, that county  governments were going to need to be they were   going to be direct build for, you know, for these  expenses. And at the time, it was estimated about   $750,000. Um, we had a lot of back and forth. Um  I know you were at Mako with me when I asked a   question to the to the school system. Um you have  a video of that if anyone wants to see it. You and   my wife two people have that video. Um has not  exactly gone viral. Um where we did more or less   you where I asked them I was like you know none of  us were expecting this. You know normally when we   have have costs for the school system you know we  fund the school system and the school system pays.   So say with like special education when there are  private providers of special education the school   system provides those non-public placements. You  know why is this different? and they're like,   "Well, this apparently was was how the law was  written." There was a lot of back and forth. We   know that the Maryland Association of Boards of  Education were pushing back um because in fiscal   year 25, the school system did have to pay for um  uh for that expense, you know, directly. But then  

again, they said, "No, the law is that counties  need to start providing for this." Of course,   we did not have this this budgeted. Um, kind of  fast forward a little bit. We receive a letter   um on August on on October 10th from Carrie  Wright, the state superintendent of schools,   more or less outlining that this is now a county  requirement and that Harford County's bill for   this is going to be 6 and just shy of 620  $20,000 and that an invoice would be coming   relatively soon. Well, about uh a couple weeks  ago, we finally did receive uh receive an invoice   and it was a lower amount. um this one for about  500,000. Um however, there's been a lot of back a   le lot of information, you know, on this invoice.  You know, what the county received um was you that   we had 65 slots of um uh title one tier tier one  students at 7,648 uh dollars per pupil. That's our   share. That's our 50% of of the share. um and that  that we'll need to that we'll need to pay this. We   don't receive too much information. Um we receive  birth dates of of the students that were being   served um their zip code and then the program  providers and most of the program providers   is under um uh kind of the Maryland Head Start.  However, there are also individual kind of home   providers as well. Um so obviously I had a little  bit of concern here. there's been a lot of you   you concerns with with um fraud and the like that  you know we want to make sure that yeah these are   in fact um you know legitimate providers. We have  worked with the school system they do appear to be   um legitimate providers. However, still just a  lot of uncertainty um you know as to you know   why this is our is our expense and what exactly is  our role in kind of verifying and vetting all of   this information. The unfortunate part is again  this is all part of of these additional state   costs that we're now having to bear. Um, we've  had teacher pension costs shifted to us in the  

last couple of years. Uh, the state department  of assessment taxation, which I said was at 50%,   they now bumped that up to 90% and now we're  getting private prek. Um, they've also passed on   half of any um wrongful incarceration lawsuits.  That that's certainly that you can't even begin   to to um uh to plan for exactly what that will  will be. And again, that ongoing trend that the   state of Maryland is kind of pushing its its  obligations in many cases onto the counties.   Not a whole lot we can really do. I think, you  know, we do push back. We do try to um you know,   see if we can find, you know, mistakes or errors  or things like that, but at the end of the day,   you know, counties exist because the state  of Maryland says that we exist. Um and so,   you know, if we don't pay, they will ultimately  take it out of our income tax or something   like that. Um but it is, I guess, an it's an  ongoing problem that we are concerned about.   Um, Robbie, thank you for your presentation.  You mentioned a video that was not planned. Uh,   we were at Mako, we were in the auditorium  and you asked the question of the state and   they couldn't respond. And then you further went  out and elaborated on your concerns and uh the   possibility of all these unfunded mandates. Um,  and I appreciate that and I'm just so glad that   I did video you because I think it was a highlight  of that makeo convention that year. So, thank you   for that. Um, council questions at any time. Mr.  Jeran Robbie, thanks. Um, question. You said 65   slots. Is that because the school didn't have the  availability for the kindergarten? that that is   that is that that is um that is my understanding  that they don't have the that the all of the   availability. However, there is even I still think  the option in order to use the private the private   prek and it's it's kind of fuzzy and a lot I'm not  a educational analyst by by trade. Um and so we   do know though that next year it's going to be a  lot more slots. Um so why is that? Because that's  

they're phasing up the numbers. Um and so that's  another question I've asked like okay where does   this end? Um so next year what they have told us  um through the state uh process is that to to um   to plan on 1.5 million. Um now it might come in a  little bit lower if not all those slots are taken.   Um but I'm like well is it going to be 2 million 3  million the next year? You know when where does it   where does it all end? I mean I think ultimately  it ends at some type of you know universal prek.   Now it will be on a sliding scale. So I think  once you get beyond the like kind of like the   the tier one students that meet the certain income  requirements um the the parents will have to pay   you know a portion of that expense and so you know  to the extent that the county had additional costs   related to that it would be less uh but again  I think it's just an ongoing trajectory and the   school system will have no control other over  whether they have 65 or or 100 if it's based if   based on these title title one if they're if  they're going to come in and say we'd rather   go here. Is there is there any criteria or how do  we find out this criteria? And I think those will   be you know um when we have the school system  here for for the budget work sessions I think   this private prek is a is you know I mean to some  extent since the county has to pay it directly   um you know there is a little bit of of that it  kind of goes through that normal like the the   school system doesn't exactly have to worry about  it in the same way. I'm not saying that they that   they're not concerned about the um the educational  um aspects of of this but from a fiscal standpoint   it's now kind of our problem. Um, and so how  does that work? And it seems like they don't   have to be accredited because she said they could  be also out of the home. Well, I think they're   still accredited. I don't So I don't want to say  that they're not accredited and my understanding   is that they are, but they are homebased. Um,  some of these are homebased providers. Okay.   Um now what the um I have asked the state this  directly and I was like you know so you can verify   um people at MSE that that you know they're  they're not just providing daycare that they're   providing educational things and they they they  assured me that they are that they are verified  

and they are checked and and all of that. Um but  at the end of the day like we're not given a whole   lot of information. You know we we we don't even  you know we don't know the exact students. We   don't know it's it's a little bit of like hey  trust us this is what this is what your bill   is. Well, thanks for asking the tough questions.  Unfortunately, they're not giving you the answers   that you're that you're looking for and that  we're looking for. So, I don't know where we   go from here. Other than we ask the school. Yes.  And I and I will say that that what I'm asking   for here is the appropriation authority. You know,  we're not necessarily going to pay this um uh this   this bill immediately. You know, we do have um  you know, we do have time and you we are kind of   going back and forth to make sure that we that  is um question, you know. Yeah. And and again,   I don't think it's so much, you know, with with  with the school system itself. I I mean, to me,   I think it's just the nature of of how the  state program was was designed. Um, you know,   but but the school system I I mean, ideally, I I  want the school system to be able to to verify all   these students and I think the school system wants  to. I mean, I did send it to I did send them this   invoice and they were like, look, you know, we we  would need the names and all, too. Um, so then I   asked the state for them. I have not heard back  at this point. Okay. So, but the school system has   been a a willing partner in this. I mean, they've  gotten back to me. they're not um you know they   are they are certainly you know helping to try  to solve uh solve for some of these questions. Mr. Bennett, hello. Um good evening. Thank  you for bringing this forward. You're always   uh really in tune with what's going on at the  state level that impacts us at the county level   as far as our share of paying for things. And I  appreciate what you do at Mako twice a year to   really push that issue. Um, for those who don't  know, pillar one of the blueprint is the pillar   that deals with the prek expansion. And five or so  years ago, before I was on the county council, I   served on the advisory board for pillar one um for  the uh for the blueprint. And I really advocated  

at that time against the structure of how prek is  set up with the private providers uh for a lot of   what you talk to because it's going to expand  each year through 2029 and it only is going to   become more and more expensive. And while they do  while they do uh complete extensive uh inspections   of the work sites, you know, there's all these  requirements of, you know, anybody working in   the site having at least a associates degree if  there's support staff and a bachelor's degree if   they're the educator. Um, you know, there's  no guarantee that they're using a curriculum   that aligns with the kindergarten they're going  to be put into. And, uh, you know, all sorts of   different, uh, concerns with it. And the cost  is probably the biggest concern. Uh at the time   I advocated for why are we not putting upfront  funds to build little buildings next to elementary   schools to house preks and uh that was not one out  in that debate. But it it is going to be a growing   cost each year for the next several years. Um, but  a big question is will they provide will they find   private providers who want to participate in the  program because it's not so great for them either   because they have to get their staff trained, get  them new certifications. Um, you know, all sorts   of renovations to have things at eye level for  the children and um, you have things in multiple   languages represented throughout the room and it  is a tremendous amount of work for the private   providers. And five years ago, that was the big  thing we were hearing from private providers is   yes, it is money for us, but it's not worth it  for us. So anyway, I just really appreciate you   bringing this forward, and I think it'll be  good to be able to pass this, although I wish   we weren't having to pay for these things. Thank  you, Mr. Bennett. Anyone else? Miss Dixon, do we   have anyone signed up? There is no one signed  up, Mr. President. All right. Well, thank you.   This will conclude this public hearing for bill  262, and we'll take it up at our next meeting.

And I think we're okay to go right into  our general legislative session. So we'll   call to order legislative session day  26-012. I would ask you to please join   us in standing for the pledge followed by the  opening prayer by council member Jan Jano.   I pledge algiance to the flag of the United  States of America and to the republic   for which it stands. One nation under God,  indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Good evening, heavenly father. Thank you for  bringing us together today. Today we are grateful   for the opportunity to serve our community and  to be part of something bigger than ourselves.   As we begin this meeting, we ask for your  guidance. Help us to listen well, to speak with   honesty and to treat one another with respect.  Give us wisdom in the decisions we make and keep   our focus on what truly benefits the people we  represent. Remind us to lead with integrity,   patient, and compassion. We also lift up our  community, those who are struggling, those who   feel unheard, those who depend on the choices  made here. Help us to serve them faithfully.   Thank you for the responsibility entrusted  to us. Give us in all we do this evening.   Amen. Amen. Thank you. Agenda number four,  presentation of proclamations, April 2026, child   abuse awareness month. Miss Robert, would you  please step down? Sure. Can I ask a microphone? Come this way just a bit. There you go. Whereas  the well-being of children is essential to the   strength and future of our community and  all children deserve to grow up in a safe,  

stable, and nurturing environments. Child  abuse and neglect remain serious concern   that affect children of all backgrounds.  While lifelong influence on their physical,   emotional and psychological well-being and whereas  observed annually in April, National Child Abuse   Prevention Month not only calls to attention  to prevent the prevention of abuse and neglect,   but also the responsibility of our community to  support children and families impacted by these   challenges. And whereas organizations such as the  Forgotten Initiative play a vital role in this   effort by partnering with our local foster care  agency to help meet the needs of foster parents,   vulnerable adults, children, and agency  workers throughout the community. Now,   therefore, we, the County Council of Hartford  County, Maryland, on this 14th day of April,   2026, do hereby salute National Child Abuse  Prevention Month, the Forgotten Initiative,   and wish to encourage all citizens to support  efforts that strengthen families, raise awareness,   and help prevent child abuse and neglect in  our community. Thank you. You're welcome. So, I um was at a fair last year, a resource fair,  and found the Forgotten Initiative. And they're   not very well known for what they do. And I  thought in honor of Child Abuse Prevention Month,   people should understand what they do because they  work closely with the foster care system, with the   foster parents, with our vulnerable adults and  our um children. And so they have told me that   the program has improved a lot. They have gotten  88 I believe families and um so I'm going to give   them the mic. Um Lisa, did you want to speak? And  we're gonna tag team. Tag team. Okay. Um and Lisa  

is the director. Um I'm Joe Pal. Um thank you  so much. It's an honor to receive this. So,   we are a chapter, the Harford County chapter of a  national um nonprofit organization, the Forgotten   Initiative. And if I had to sum up what we do, it  would be connecting the local community and local   churches to the foster care community. And Lisa is  going to go into a little bit more um detail about   how we do that. Sure. So, I will um my name is  Lisa Davis. I will just acknowledge upfront that   I stumbled onto the forgotten initiative and their  work um roughly a year ago and about six months   uh ago I started to just dive in head first. So,  um, what I saw was just really a beautiful example   of a small group of volunteers that were, you  know, giving of their hearts and their time and   their resources to come out and, um, mentor and  have classes and training and connection with,   uh, vulnerable youth here in foster here in  Harford County. Um, so I'm still learning a lot   about the foster community. Um, I will say like  Joanna and Mary Grant were the two ladies that   um, started this chapter. So, I came  along and got to inherit, you know,   the fruits of their work and just kind of build  upon that. Um, back in 2021, Mary Grant, who   had some experience with foster, uh, the foster  community and foster families, stepped out and,   um, reached out to TFI, our national organization,  to understand how she could build a missionary,   a mission here in Harford County. and she did  that, you know, through connection to churches,   through partnering with, um, some really wonderful  folks that decided to just, you know, go all in   for this. Um, we've had the support of churches,  volunteer organizations. Um, these ladies went to   DSS and said, "What can we do to work closely with  you and help support your mission?" Um, when that   meeting happened, I believe they said, you know,  we we really struggle with transition age youth,  

so foster kids that are 14 to 21 years old, and  how we get them critical life skills training. Um,   so this group was able to, um, partner with DSS,  reach out, leverage resources in the community,   trainers, churches, small groups, um, and  government agencies to develop and, uh, offer once   a month at the first Monday of every month, there  is a training session. Typically, it's held at   um Christ Fellowship Church in Hartford County  in Forest Hill. And sorry about that. And it is   um about three hours. So, what that looks like is  a group of 15 to 20 25 kids sometimes that come in   uh they get a warm welcome, they get lots of hugs,  they see familiar faces and mentors month after   month. And um they sit down, they have food,  fellowship, they connect and have conversation   with each other. Some of these kids actually are  living in group homes, foster homes. Sometimes   they're in some level of independent living  and um and in some cases they're in kinship   care. We have sibling groups that belong or are  in different living arrangements. So those kids   will come and show up so they can connect with  their siblings. Um so it's really, you know,   a pretty amazing thing to watch and I had the  benefit of seeing that. Um Joe, do you want to   talk a little bit about So we've been around about  five years and we are now just having some of our   kids transition into independent living and it's  a huge challenge and they need the community. Um   and so we are really working towards supporting  them once they age out and they lose the support   from DSS. The other thing I just want to do a  shout out. We have been able to work closely with   Harford County social workers and they're amazing.  There's a quote, I'm not I'm going to butcher it,   but it's like some some heroes wear capes. These  heroes carry, you know, their their files and   they take late night calls and they are in  these kids' corners. So, one of the things  

we do and this is all 100% donate donations from  local organizations, churches in the community,   is we do monthly drops to DSS. We give them snacks  and drinks and we provided them with breakfast for   social worker awareness month because they are the  glue that holds all of this together. Without them   um and and us coming alongside of them and saying  we appreciate what you do and we see what you do   and we want to be a part of it, the kids suffer,  you know, and so yeah, so if you want to get   involved, we have we do we have opportunities. Um,  we're growing our our mission and our programs.   As Joe said, a continued focus on independent  living and that means, you know, we see texts   come through that that a young lady is moving into  an apartment and we mobilize resources and furnish   her kitchen or fine furniture. Joe's husband  went and put up her pictures a few days ago. Um,   so I mean it is really tangible hands-on support.  Um, I can tell you these kids reach out to their   mentors when they're in crisis, when they need  friendship, uh, when they we celebrate birthdays   with them. And that training that we're  able to offer in partnership with DSS is,   you know, financial freedom is, um, budgeting  and nutrition and health and cooking and things.   Yeah. Employment and housing and all of the  things that they need to know. And then we   just mix in a lot of love and a lot of fun. So,  it is really um a beautiful, messy, fun, crazy,   sometimes heartbreaking mission that we're on. Um  but we love it and the kids are so worth it. So,   if anyone's interested in learning more, we we'd  be happy to share. Thank you. Thank you so much. I'll have you guys move in this way.  We're going to get you centered and  

then uh if I can have council president,  all the council members Just a little bit more. Front row is great. Back row. One more step   this way. You're almost there. Awesome.  You're going to do a couple with flash. Two. Three. Two. One. two. Thank you everybody. Agenda item number five,  consideration of petitions,   applications, appointments, and  nominations. We have none. Six,   special presentations. Maryland  Economic Development Corporation, Miss Schultz, Mr. Saddowskis. So, good evening. Um, want to thank you  for coming tonight. Um, as you know, uh,   recently you gave a presentation at the Abington  Library and, um, I think the county executive had   members of his administration there and planning,  uh, advisory boards were there u, and a couple   council members were there, but all of us were  not. So, u, my colleagues thought it'd be great to   have you guys come and give us a presentation, and  that's what this is about. So, I want to thank you   for being here tonight. Very good. Well, thank you  for the opportunity and the the invitation. Yeah,  

it was a great discussion. We had a number  of uh business uh community stakeholders,   leadership from Aberine, proving ground, defense  contractors, the power company, and these   uh breakfast discussions are all about where the  economy is heading and uh certainly um first and   foremost, it's good to see many of you again, and  I'm a proud resident myself. You're all doing a   great job. Thank you for what you do. Um but I I  want to say that um you know we're we're asked to   uh present and inform on this issue across  the state. There are a lot of communities that   are faced with you know these decisions and the  various issues related to them. And so our role   in all this is to try to help inform and support  communities make the best decisions ones that you   know meet their needs. I mean, ultimately, the  mission of the Maryland Economic Development   Commission is to serve as a partner for state and  local government entities to help them achieve   their strategic economic development objectives,  whatever they may be. Oftentimes, we sit down   uh when communities have thoughts or ideas of what  they want to try to uh develop or redevelop and we   sit down with them. We go over the various issues.  We help do financial modeling. We can help come up   with creative financing or infrastructure delivery  solutions. But at the end of the day, you know,   we're just a we're a partner. We're somebody  that's offers added value to determine what's   best for that community and how to best go about  doing it. Um there's there's no doubt. I mean,   in this instance, you know, it's um it's  a really hot topic. Um we live in an ever   increasing digital world. Um hospitals, schools,  universities, research laboratories, certainly   every proving ground, they all have growing  needs for what's called digital infrastructure.   Um, and it's necessary in order for them to remain  competitive. All those key uh institutions and   members of the community, our kids, shoot, I I  ask my kids to do fix my phone or my iPad all  

the time. Um, but you know, their their digital  uh skills are just growing exponentially each and   every day. But that doesn't mean that a data  center project is right for every community,   right? There are a lot of things that have to be  evaluated. So uh whether they be environmental   impacts, power generation op options, uh financial  implications, these things generate a lot of   revenues, but you know what to do with them. Um  all of these things though must be very carefully   considered. So it is it is in that capacity that  we had that discussion previously at the library   and we're happy to have tonight again and come  back whenever necessary, but it's to help inform   what is best for the community ultimately. uh  these are decisions that need to uh that need to   uh have that require a lot of heavy consideration.  So, thank you uh again for the opportunity and   with that I defer to uh Kelly um to go over some  interesting information that she's provided. Thank   you, Tom. And uh for the record, I'm Kelly  Schultz and I reside in Frederick County,   Maryland. Um and I am the CEO of the Maryland Tech  Council. and the Maryland Tech Council has formed   an organization under our umbrella called the Data  Center Alliance and I think that's why we're here   this evening. It's great to see all of you again  um and very appreciative of wel welcoming us   into your home here in Harford County. We have  traveled as the data center alliance to many   counties across the state with the pure intention  of educating elected officials and members of the   community on what this kind of brand new industry  in Maryland is and more importantly what it is not   and to provide the opportunity for a very open  dialogue um to understand where we have come   um in the generation of data centers over the  course of the past 25 years and what they are  

today. So with your permission, Mr. President,  I will continue with my presentation. Please. So why are data centers in demand? I think we all  understand the data center demand issue and it is   um basically um these um as well as research  and development and life sciences, R&D, cyber   security, scientific, digital commerce um but  there is a myth that data centers are in demand   only because of AI and if you look at this chart  um I have sent a copy of the chart to the council   in case you need to put your glasses on to read  it further because I need my glasses for it. Um   will you'll be able to see kind of the differences  in the growth of AI generation with data and other   generation. So the chart on the slide shows that  nonAI data center demand is expected to nearly   double by 2030. In Maryland, a big driver of data  center interest is federal customers, uh, cyber,   defense, scientific, R&D, NIH, and more. Uh,  Tom had mentioned, um, Aberdeen proving grounds,   which I think is very close to the heart of  those here in Harford County. Additionally,   in the next five years, consumers and businesses  will generate twice as much data as all of the   data created over the past 10 years. We need data  centers to support that. That's just the fact the economic impact of a typical data center.  Um I want to talk first about what the average   data center is. Um we're looking at um roughly an  800,000 square foot data center. Just off the bat,   I will tell you that I'm not here to support  or talk about any specific project. Um,   I'm here to talk about data that we've  collected on the statewide level and the  

national level to be able to help you understand  what could possibly come into the community. Um,   so a typical 800,000 square foot data center  supports 5,000 direct and indirect jobs and   $775 million in economic activity, which is  the equivalent of 10,300 Maryland incomes.   Once operational, the data center supports  in this scenario uh nearly 500 permanent   jobs and that is both direct and indirect  permanent jobs. Those are jobs that are   created through organizations like IBW and  plumbers and steam fitters, carpenters,   but also those jobs that may be contracted outside  of the end user and also within the community. annual state revenues. Um, in the same  scenario again with the 800,000 square foot   um, generation of data center usage would  generate about $14 million in state tax revenue,   which is the equivalent of 171 police officer  salaries, 194 firefighter salaries, or perhaps   relevant to the conversation at the beginning  of your hearings today, 165 teacher salaries. So currently what is happening in Maryland with  the activities around data center um I'm going to   give you um a little bit of information that comes  from the international brotherhood brotherhood of   electrical workers and I think that there are some  in the audience today otherwise known as our local   IBW chapters. Um they are very supportive of the  data center growth here. Um, currently there are   three to 400 electrical workers employed uh  within the Frederick project. You're going to   hear me talk a lot about the Frederick project  because that is the one project in Maryland that  

is actually up and running that has gotten  approval that is in the construction mode.   So a lot of our data is going to come our current  data is going to come from that project itself.   So those 3 to 400 electric workers are currently  at the Frederick site and also in Hanover,   Maryland working on a site there. There were 100  new workers hired at a prefabrication facility   at the Frederick site. Um, and I'll just talk a  little bit about the Frederick Community College   because the IBAW was a able to launch for the  first time at Frederick Community College new   apprenticeship classes and bring in the largest  apprenticeship class that they've had in years.   240 apprentices were accepted in year 1 and all  of them are employed today. Nobody is sitting   on the bench. IBW projects that 1,200 electric  workers for the Frederick's core and shell work   will be in employment through the process  of the construction. Um and an additional   800 workers are estimated as tenant work. That's  historical. Um IBW has done a fair amount of work   on this part of the state and the southern part  of the counties and in Frederick County. This is   a new initiative for them. Uh many of the IBEDW  workers who are working on the project currently   live in Frederick County and had previously  been traveling to Virginia or other states   for work before this project was started. So  local tax revenues um again I'm going to base   it on some of the statutes and budget language  from Frederick County, but um the best way to   understand the tax revenue impact is to look  at this particular project because it is up   and running. Um there is a 16 million square foot  development that's occurring in Frederick County.   The pro the project is estimated to generate $215  million in annual tax revenue to the county once  

in full operation. That's about 40% of its current  operational budget in the county. If half of those   funds are dedicated to education, it's equal to  1,800 entry-level teacher salaries every year. I want to talk about the recordation taxes.  The recordation taxes, as you as a council   know probably far more than I do, are collected on  the original sale of the property. And in the one   year in fiscal year 25, Frederick County was able  to collect $50.6 million in recordation taxes.   The chart in front of you shows how Frederick  County breaks down their recordation taxes. Um,   as I was driving here today, I heard a report  on the news that um, egg preservation across   the state has been depleted because of state  budget opportunities. And last year with no   state funding, Frederick County was able  to put $12 million into a preservation,   one of the only counties in the state that  was able to contribute to that program.   Um, other funds, um, the general fund received  $24 million, parks and recck received $5 million,   and I'll also note that one of the pet projects  of the county executive and the county council in   Frederick County, which is a free transportation  service, was able to be funded fully through um,   the recordation taxes. Part of what we do at  the data center alliance is talk about some   of the myths that are are accompanied with the  the projects themselves. Um I want to talk just   a little bit about water but not spend a lot of  time in case you have any additional information.   Um most of the data center projects that are  happening right now are using air cooling, water   cooling or cooling with other liquids. Um and most  of those looped systems um are using wastewater   treatment um waters and they're using that to cool  the systems putting it back into the wastewater   treatment facility for portable services as it  would normally do through county services in  

and of itself. That's called a closed loop cooling  system and that utilizes no aquaor water uh that's   coming from the groundwater. It's all coming from  pre-existing water. One of the other complaints or   concerns I would say that we have gotten from  people in communities is the value of their   home pricing. Um and I just wanted to point this  simple chart out that the value of home pricings   the medium first of all Louden County, Virginia.  Let's just get that off the our chest right now.   Lowden count county, Virginia is the epicenter  of data centers in the entire world. We're not   competing with Lowden County. We don't want to  compete with Virginia. There's no way that anybody   could have more data centers than Lowden County  anywhere on this planet. But in Lowden County,   which has more data centers than any other  place on the planet, their median home prices   um are continuing to rise. And in Lowden  County, they rose 90 92% from 2010 to 2024,   faster than the statewide average of 73.9%. And  the county now ranks in the top 2% in America   for medium home prices. So they have not seen  a decrease in home values in that jurisdiction.   uh respecting her uh rural heritage and our  landscapes. Um Harford County is very similar   to Frederick in the in the aspect of really  wanting to be able to uh protect our heritage,   our agricultural um culture. And I think that that  can be done in ways that you as the county council   have the ability to do under your charter, which  is to create regulations in order to be able to   satisfy those needs of your jurisdiction. And one  of those ways that Frederick County was able to   do that is they passed a zoning text amendment  saying that no more than 1% of total Frederick   County land could be used for data centers. No  more than 1%. And that figure that I showed you,  

which was $215 million per year on that, no more  than 1% that was per year annual revenues on that.   And so that law did pass. So that was less than  1%. Um developers also um are responsible for   putting five acres of farmland into preservation  into act preservation for every one acre that   they use for data center development. All of  this stuff was done via county council vote   um and public hearings. That means that  10,500 acres of Frederick County farmland   will be placed in permanent preservation.  Data centers can accelerate land preservation,   not take up land for their own use. It also  restricts data centers to 500 uh uh feet,   no less than 500 feet setback from residential  neighborhoods. And I'm happy to and I know most of   you work with Mako and the other organizations to  talk about what they can do as far as regulations   for the data center industry and for that  industry and industrial zones specifically. Um, one other question that we get very  frequently is the sound levels. Um,   when it comes to rural heritage data centers  have to comply with local noise ordinances. So,   this council is responsible for working with  um the agencies and the local authorities   here about what those local noise  ordinances are. And there have been   um county councils um currently and in the works  putting together those maximum allowable decibb   during daytime and nighttime use. That is the  authority that has been given to you. Many many   data center developers strive to operate below the  local noise ordinance obviously because they want   to be able to be responsive to the communities in  which are surrounding them. And you can see on the   chart the different level of decibb, but many data  centers operate at 55 dB which is the equivalent   of a normal conversation at the property line  in which they're they're doing their business.  

data centers pay for energy infrastructure. And  I think this is really relevant um considering   the conversation that has happened in Annapolis uh  this past year and then also the year before this.   Um data centers do require energy. We all know  that. We're not going to deny it. But they have   to pay for it. And Maryland is the first state  to require data centers to pay for electric grid   upgrades. Last year, the Next Generation Energy  Act, it states that very clearly. It is the intent   of the general assembly that residential retail  electric customers in the state should not bear   the financial risks associated with large load  customers interconnecting to the electric system   serving the state. That means that every data  center, every project in the state, regardless   of who the utility and the provider is, will pay  for that energy infrastructure. Local distribution   costs for rateayers do not go up simply because a  data center is located in their county. And I'll   just do an asterk here because a lot of people,  family, neighbor, they are all asking then why   are my energy bills going up right now? There is  no energy or there is no data center that has come   online since we've been having this conversation  about data centers. So the energy usage right now   has nothing to do with the data centers that are  here. I don't know what just happened to that,   but I'm just going to continue on. Um, data  centers can help actually lower electricity   prices. Um, it's already happening around the  country. There have been studies. A new study   from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab found that  states with the highest load growth due to data   centers saw average electricity prices decline in  inflation adjusted terms from 2019 to 2024. And   the states that do not Oh, you are so nice.  Thank you so much. Um the states with load   reductions often saw prices go up. Why why does  this happen? Um these studies are cited on our  

website and also on this presentation because more  data centers means there are more large customers   to pay for grid upgrades. In Northern Virginia,  as we had already talked about, uh the customers   pay 10% below the US average for transmission  costs due to data centers paying for costs. We'll just catch up here for a second. Sorry  to the audience that may have missed that.   Um, these are some other um, uh, states that have  talked about declining prices in their I I'll I'll   let the folks in the audience read this and I know  that I'm running out of time, but I I just want to   tell you that the data center alliance is here  not to plug specific projects, but to help to   educate and to demystify and to demyth some of the  conversations that are happening in our community.   Some of those conversations are creating a lot of  fear and misunderstandings and we are having this   dialogue here hopefully with the intention to be  able to understand what is actually happening the   types of innovation that's happening within the  technology community. We're here to support that   and most of all we're here to support you and  your constituents who you report to. So thank   you very much for the time. Thank you for your  presentation. Um, I'm sure that uh there are   a lot more issues that we need to be aware of  before we even consider something like that. So,   uh, Mr. Bennett, would you like to start  off? Hello. Um, thank you for being here   this evening. I do have a series of questions.  Um, this is something that I've been thinking   about and researching and working with the  community on for the past six months or so.   Um, first just trying to understand like who you  all are in the context of coming and presenting   to us. Uh, you know like having a name like the  Maryland Tech Council and Data Center Alliance  

are good names, but realistically who supports  SLfunds slash amplifies your voice? you know,   uh, anybody can name themselves the Maryland  Tech Council or the Data Center Alliance,   but just trying to understand, um, who helps  bring you here today, uh, to get you going and   to get you across the state of Maryland and  all that. I think that's important context to   understanding your perspective. Sure. The Maryland  Tech Council is a 501c6 uh, nonprofit organization   that has been around for about 41 years. We are a  membership organization. Um, so think the Maryland   Realators Association, uh, the Maryland Tech  Council. We represent industries which range from,   uh, life science and biotech, everything in  the life science industry to technology in   general and that includes digital technologies,  it includes aggra business, it includes fintech,   um, anything you can think about. Uh we also have  as members um economic development offices from   counties across the state and the state. Um the  university systems and um independent and private   universities and then also a series of um those  service providers that support the industries   themselves. Um thank you for that. Uh early in  your presentation you cited 500 jobs being created   for an average 800,000 square foot data center  but those jobs included indirect import you know   jobs in a related field or um you know secondhand  connected what would be the direct number of jobs   for an average 800,000 square foot data center you  know I work at the data center right so that would   be 500 permanent jobs after construction. Right?  So, that was the slide and I'm sorry if that was  

a little wishy, but for the 800,000 square foot  data center, there's between 5,000 about direct   and indirect indirect jobs for that construction  process, which as we know could take several years   to go through that process. And then after that  construction process is gone, 500 permanent jobs.   And those permanent jobs, they're 500 people  clocking in 40 hours a week at the data center. Hold on just a second. Am I allowed to answer  the questions? Yes, but hold on just a minute.   We're recognizing one speaker at a time and if  I have to call you down again, we'll dump the   chamber and bring you in one at a time. So, please  respect our rules and procedures. Thank you, Miss   Schulz. Thank you, Mr. President. So when you're  talking about the enduser and the permanent jobs,   we're talking about the end user which would  probably be a hyperscaler, a large load user. Um,   and that employee for the 800,000 square foot  would be probably about 120 jobs. Um, specifically   for that end user, um, but that enduser contracts  people to do the jobs. So, a lot of the national   reports that have come out showed, let's just say  for an AWS, because people in Maryland are talking   about AWS, they may employ 75, 85, 110 employees  through AWS, but it's the local businesses that   have full-time employees that are there as well  that need to be count uh counted because they   are on-site full-time, 40 hours a week or more.  I I appreciate that because I was confused when   the research I've been doing most of what I've  seen is that the average is 50 to 100 workers   on site who work for the data center. So that 500  number was just like whoa that's so I appreciate   the clarification on that. Of course and Mr.  Councilman, if I if I may, um, as technology  

increases, and we talked a little bit about the  the closed loop system for the water cooling,   that also needs the consistent maintenance of  people that are going to be on site, right? And   then there is going to be the roofing that needs  to be additionally maintained and in the property   that needs to be maintained. So, there are several  types of trades and professions that are involved   in the constant maintenance of a modern data  center. Um, my next question also has to do with   jobs. I, you know, you talked about the apprentice  program going on in Frederick County right now,   how a lot of those electrical workers were working  in um, Northern Virginia, but now they're working   in their home county of Frederick. Um, I guess  my question or concern is if a county outside   of Frederick County, but in driving distance of  Frederick County, was to get going on data center   construction, that it would just bring workers  from Frederick County driving over to whatever   neighboring county and not have the same uh effect  that Frederick County experienced because the   workers are now already here. They've already been  developed. They've already been trained. And now,   you know, construction wraps up on data center  X in Frederick County. They now drive to the   construction of data center Y in Baltimore  County. And there's not Baltimore County   jobs being created in that. Do you understand  that question? And thus the environment of the   trades and construction, no matter the end  product, right? And so I will just say as a   former labor secretary in the state of Maryland,  I give the utmost respect to the trades and what   they do with the understanding of what their job  performances are and where their jobs take them.   Um I think it's really important to say that there  are and have been new jobs that are created here  

in Maryland because of these additional projects.  There are not new construction jobs that are   happening in the state of Maryland right now  at mass, which is why our workers are traveling   across state lines in order to be able to get the  work that they need. Our locals here in all of the   trades are finding those jobs for them to go to on  a daily basis. Having those jobs closer to home,   it's amazing. here at the Harford County Community  College. I've been to the IBEDW and the trades   graduation ceremonies and watch those apprentices  walk across the stage and be able to go out   into this community with hopes of getting local  construction jobs here. That is the hope for the   jobs of the future as well. There is no guarantee  that all of those jobs are going to be created and   they're going to be in that specific location, but  when that Frederick project is there for 10 years,   that's about as permanent of a job as you can get  in the trades. Um, thank you for all that. Um,   you know, the Bay Journal had an article  this past January that talked about,   uh, how data centers increase the amount of  forever chemicals that are found in water.   And it it talked about specifically even in closed  loop systems because there's the transfer of the   water back to um uh the water and sewer system to  then bring it back and forth that that water in   intermingles with other water and often our water  and sewer systems are not fully equipped to clean   out forever chemicals. So what you end up doing  is, you know, we're washing off and cooling off   the data center, which is made out of materials  that contain forever chemicals. They then get   sent back to the water and sewer system. They  intermingle with other water that's being cleaned,   but now forever chemicals have been introduced  to the water that's being used in people's homes  

and businesses. Do you have any thoughts on  that? Sir, there's one thing that I am not,   and that is an engineer. Mhm. Um I I play a lot  of roles. Uh but that is not one. I can certainly   bring back information to the council if you would  like some information on that specific issue with   the water. Okay. Sure. Um there was a story out of  Oregon that saw a sharp increase in rare cancers,   miscarriages, and birth defects. And this was  in a community that had a 10,000 square foot   Amazon data center put in. So much smaller than  what we're talking about. and Amazon recently   settled for $20 million in a lawsuit with the  community. Um what what do you make of that   if you're familiar with that situation um of  what would cause that to take place? I am also   not a scientist, sir. Um so I cannot comment  on a case that's happening in Oregon. Um but   um I I I can just revert back to the fact that  Lowden County, Virginia has more data centers   than anybody on the planet and I have not heard  that happening locally. Um I wanted to ask about   uh electricity generation. You know, a lot of  people in the data center industry are really   pushing for on-site generation of electricity  to help sell um the idea that, you know, we're   not uh increasing load on the grid and helping  to reduce or maintain energy prices, but often   times that involves uh natural gas and uh diesel  generators on site. Um, and what are your thoughts   on how you mitigate the impacts on health and the  environment of putting a natural gas generation   on site for a data center that's 500 ft away from  a a community? Well, so natural gas could not be  

generated in the state of Maryland due to state  statutes. Um, so that's kind of a non-starter.   Um, and the largest data center, the Frederick  location, was just Frederick location, was just uh   received uh received their diesel generating their  diesel generating permits from the permits from   the Maryland Department of Maryland Department  of the Environment the Environment that spent 18   months that spent 18 months investigating  the investigating the environmental and   the environmental and the ecological ecological  concerns of those and they concerns of those   and they just passed just passed those  permits on last week. those permits on   last week. Thank you for sharing that because  Sure. Thank you for sharing that because Sure. 0:55:06.960,1193:02:47.295 Um, and the largest data center, the The Sierra Club reached out to me and one of the  studies they shared with me was uh an Indiana data   center rel based on this study released as much  diesel emissions into the air as 4,000 big rig   trucks over the course of that year. um which you  know in a stationary position a big rig truck it   naturally disperses its diesel emissions because  it's moving but a data center is not on the road   um having kids you know honk next to  them. It is sitting right there forever   um but not being used consistently but still  over the course of that year releasing as much   emissions as 4,000 big rigs. Do you have  any concerns around diesel emissions and   uh diesel air contamination from data centers? Um  this is what I will say about any concerns is that   this process that these organizations have to go  through in order to get the permits they start at   the Maryland Department of the Environment. And  um what I know about the Maryland Department of   the Environment is that they are the second most  strict uh state environmental entity other than   California in the nation. And because they have  gone through very strict review by our state  

uh respected um officials um I would trust them  as the experts into what's happening in Maryland   in their permitting process. And I know Maryland  Department of the Environment is in the midst of   doing a study on data centers that was uh mandated  by a bill passed a year ago in Annapolis and that   should be coming out in September. Correct. What  do you anticipate being in that study when it   comes out? I I've been in this business a long  time and I don't pretend to anticipate anybody's   decisions on these practices. Thank you for your  time. Of course. Thank you, Councilman. Thank you,   Mr. Bennett, Mr. Andrew Denn Kelly, good  evening. How are you? Thanks for coming   up here from Frederick County. Of course. Um, so  you were talking about um one of those facilities,   800,000 square feet, but then I saw the  16 million square foot quantum Frederick   campus. So that's the entire campus, correct? How  many acres does that take up? So, what Frederick   County did was they passed a um an ordinance  um an overlay basically for their existing um   industrial zone. And so their overlay consists of  I'm going to say about 2400 acres in that campus.   And so that is the equivalent of that less than  1% that Frederick County can continue to Was that   farmland that the It was actually a brownfield.  Brownfield. Okay. If anybody's um familiar with   the um old East Elco steel smelting plant, um that  was the acreage that was there and that property   had been a brown field and vacant for 2530 years.  And one of the things I think you said and I want   to just clarify because I couldn't hear. So, you  can't bring uh natural gas in, run your own power   generation plant to um fuel these data centers.  You'd have to use electricity off of the grid.  

That's what they're using right now. I will  say that this bill that was passed last night   just before midnight. Um the um utility relief  act I believe it is. Uh Tom, help me out here.   Um they created some opportunities for bring  your own power, bring your own generation type   of opportunities um for not only data centers but  other large load users. And I saw Frederick County   did 500 feet. That's not a far distance away  from but it is the largest distance in regulatory   existence right now. Okay. So in the country 500  feet is the largest in in the state of Maryland.   It is I think Prince George's County um has a 400  foot um setback from property lines. Great. One of   the things I do hear um and I actually talked  to a lawyer who's actually put together three   of these power plants down in Virginia. Um her  biggest uh issue to me was also was the humming   noise that continues from these facilities. And  I think that's a big concern for a lot of people,   but also close to proximity of neighborhoods  um and the noise, you know, obviously the noise   level. But like Jacob was saying, um there is some  issues with the diesel exhaust, but that's for   when they need to use the diesel. Um and I think  there's some other questions I had here about   um the cost of electricity has gone up because  we've decommissioned what I think 12 power plants   in the state of Maryland and we're we're looking  at Brandon Shores that's going on something   else and we're getting all of our power from  Pennsylvania. And the question is then how many   more of these power lines they're going to have to  bring down here to generate a um you know one of   these these plants and whether it's a hyper plant.  And my my other concern is I don't know the power  

wattage of what a hyper plant is and let's say  it starts out as a smaller plant and that's what   they get approved for. Um and then they say hey  look we want to increase this because we need to   build it. We've got the infrastructure. Um that's  that's another concern too is they start out with   a certain let's say 300 megawws and then they go  to then they want to come back and say hey we want   to go to 500 megawatts and we want to go to 800  megawws. Um, there's a power plant up in Cecil   County and all of their power goes to Virginia and  obviously it's probably going to the power plants   down there and I know AOL's infrastructure is is  allowed in county one that uh they built that out   to be something of a monster of doing that. Well,  and I think in the studies that I presented and   Tom, I I know you have studies from Medco as well,  but um the energy that we are using in the state   of Maryland is 40% of that is coming from out of  state, but we do we do belong to a 13 state energy   consortium, right? So, PJM, so whatever we're  generating here now goes into the big picture   of the grid, right? the energy users and then  within those 13 states they're allowed to use that   energy. So whether we're producing that energy or  not that is going into the pool of energy that's   to be used by the 13 states. So if there is more  large load users that are needing to go online out   of state then those states would get that energy  allocated to them. Yeah. The other interesting   fact is if they were to build a data center across  the line in Delaware or PA that would still impact   the rates in that in that PJM, right? You know,  territory. So, but I mean can't be stressed   enough the action in Annapolis this session to  make sure that these if there was a data center  

project pursued, it's going to have to provide  its own, you know, power. It can't generate a ne   net net negative impact on rateayers or take down  the load that's available to Maryland residents.   I mean it that's part of the legislation. So  that that's part of the overall infrastructure   challenges and uh I mean to go with a lot of  the other environmental concerns. I mean nobody   wants that in their community and their state  or even a nearby state. So, I mean that's why   the regulatory environment, you know, governing  where these things go and how they're built, it   is never been more aggressive. And, you know, if  it's deemed that it's right for a community, then   they have an opportunity to to set new records in  terms of setbacks, right? I mean, that that's just   kind of the environment that that we're in right  now. Is there a reason that they don't want to   go to these vast open areas maybe, you know, out  in western Maryland or something like that? Why   are they looking to come into, you know, certain  areas, let's say, like Frederick, Harford County,   or they just does it, do they need to be closer to  electrical grid or what's the what's the reasoning   behind where they put these? Can I talk about  like So the Frederick facility was very much   um a facility that they looked at. Now, them  independently, they looked at because it was   a brownfield, because it was a old steel smelting  plant, it had the substation right there, right?   The energy substation was there. The property had  been vacant for a really long time and it was a   brownfield and there's nothing more that you can  do with that type of an industrialized piece of   property. um and of the proxi due to the proximity  to Lowden County because they were able to then   spend billions of dollars to tunnel underneath  the PTOIC to bring the fiber into Adamstown and   so that proximity helped them there. I would  say some of the other locations that I have  

heard people are looking at are similar perhaps.  Um, Councilman, you had mentioned some previous   energy generation um sites where they could be apt  for this type of a redevelopment for this type of   a scenario as well. Yeah, I I know the cost down  here in in Virginia on some of the cost per land   was like $6.3 million per acre. That's uh down  to Louding. Uh um I think that was Uh there was   one in Lowden County. I think that's down there.  And then 3.7 million per acre. So that certainly   drives up the cost of the land. It it does. And  and I think there are other sites being looked at,   too, like in Calvert County. And you know,  proximity to the user is a big driver. This   was just some deals that went went through. I've  got a bunch of other questions, but I appreciate   you coming up and answering some stuff. I I  I'll let some of my other council colleagues,   sir, if you have a list of questions, we're happy  to get them back to you if you want to send them   to us. Sure. Thank you. appreciate your time.  Thank you, Mr. Emma. Um, good evening. So, with   um natural gas not being an option to generate  power, how what is the plan for generating power   for these data centers without pooling on the  existing grid? Well, um, much of it can come from   some of the locations that I was talking about for  them to utilize the substations that are there.   But if they were talking about specifically bring  your own generation, um there are um nuclear small   modular reactors that are being built. Actually,  one of the largest uh builders manufacturers   of that is here in Maryland, but up until now,  they haven't been able to sell here in Maryland,   and they're doing a bunch of research um  on that on that process. But there's other   there's other energy options as well. But we're  shutting down most of the nuclear plants, right?   there's talk of putting data centers on those old  those old sites. Um so I mean but again it's it's  

part of the overall I mean there's no overnight  solution to all this. That's part of the overall   discussion that has to be had. And we appreciate  you guys coming because obviously there's so many   questions and moving full steam ahead on something  where even the experts don't know all the answers   is definitely concerning. No, it needs it needs  a lot of time and deliberation. No doubt. Um,   how is Frederick County data center pulling power?  Are they pulling from the existing? You said there   was a substation on site, but does that satisfy  the need for the entire data center? Yes, ma'am.   Okay. So, what typically happens, and I'm sure you  know within your permitting offices, right? you   have to go to the utility provider to get um the  load of recommendation that the utility is able to   provide to any development project regardless  of the the type of project that it is. And so   they have been allocated through that um request  with the local utility. Okay. Um and how many data   centers is Maryland trying to build in the next 5  to 10 years? You know, I I I wish I had a number   for you. Um Tom looks like Tom might have numbers  for you. Um but Maryland is very low on the list   of uh proposed projects right now. Maryland  currently has depending on who you talk to and   because there's um skiff um types of data centers  that we may there's about 44 so between 40 and   45 data centers that currently exist outside of  this new construction opportunity in the state of   Maryland. And I would say that there may be 19 or  20. Am I thinking of that correctly? It's per this   the latest data from March. I think there are 12  under construction right now. And those would be   those that are in Frederick County. That is that  those are the only ones that have been approved   for construction. Virginia by contrast. Sorry,  just to share fun fact, just shy of 500 proposed.  

There are 136 under construction. Um so just by  Right. So we are not to say that we need to go   we're at the very bottom of the list. Um so as to  how many exactly there will be um I think this is   one of the reasons why we chose council member  to your question um to create the data center   alliance was to talk to local jurisdictions and  to counties because all of you really do have the   power to determine what those regulatory processes  are and um how to bring a potential project into   your jurisdiction. not here to support one or  any of the of the proposed projects, but just to   say I know that the questions that come up at the  county level about the increased lack of funding   that's coming from the state to help to support  some of those critical programs within the local   um areas is something that's going to continue.  That's just a fact. And we want to be able to   see how there can be this coexistence between an  industry and a community so that people really   know what they're getting and the community knows  that their elected officials have been educated   and I'm very grateful for the opportunity  to try to help with that. Thank you. Hi,   Mr. Robert. Thank you and thank you um both for  coming in and presenting. I saw the presentation   at the library. Um, and actually I have spoken  to the uh council members in Frederick. Um,   and I spoke to them about how their process went  and about how they took the pause to kind of look,   rethink, look at the area in which they told me  about East Alco and and choosing that location. It   seems as if though there's still a lot of uproar  about some of the noise um where the location is  

to the residents um even with that 500 ft. Have  you heard some of what I'm talking about? Is there   um you know I was even referred to look at  McGomery County data center because they're saying   as much as it's more expensive, it's quieter, it's  efficient, um but it's expensive. And so what does   that look like? So there are no data centers that  have been plugged in in Frederick County since   the construction. So, if you're talking to folks  and they're talking about noise from the site,   I'm assuming it would be construction, um, which  you would get in a large development project. Um,   I I can't respond to that part of it, but there  there is no data center noise from the operation   of a data center at this point in time. So, um,  and I don't know about a specific Montgomery   project that you're talking about. I know that  there's a proposed um for again an old um energy   generating facility in Dickerson, Maryland, which  is at the north part of Montgomery County that is   considering a data center project there, but I  don't know where that stands in the permitting   process. Okay. Yeah, I think that's what they were  talking about looking at the cost difference and   what what their data center was, but I didn't know  if you knew. I'm not paying anybody's bills for   them, so I don't know how much. And as it relates  to like the water and you talked about reusable   water, does any of that affect um you know the  community, do they have to are they going to   be build extra for water? Um that question  has come to me. From from my understanding,   the arrangement that Frederick County made with  the closed loop system for the water system,   there are no additional costs because there's no  real actual water usage. Um so the water comes   um from the treatment plant through the facility  and then it goes back to the treatment plant and   then any infrastructure upgrades would be made  by the developer with that. Okay. Thank you.  

Of course. Thank you, Mr. Robert. Anyone else?  Mr. Riley. Thanks, Kelly. Tom, who who was the   developer? Who who pushed it in Frederick County?  I know it wasn't the county council. There had   to be somebody that said, "Hey, we would like to  have a data center here." Question. Currently the   developer in Frederick County is a um a company  called Catelis. And is Catelis going to be the   owner of that data center? No. The way that it  is structured, Catelis is a land developer. They   do land development. So they've done all of the  infrastructure um across the numbers of acres and   they are the main owners of the p of the property  right now. And so with the different data center   structures that will be built on that property, a  new owner will purchase that piece of land. Think   kind of like a condominium kind of a a purchase  and they will build the structure. Um so there   is an organization called Rowan um that right  now is building a couple of those and then what   Rowan does is lease out those facilities to the  ultimate end user. So you'll have multiple owners   in a particular site. Well, it's like multiple  tenants like they'll be a developer of the park   and then they'll they'll lease and or sell like an  industrial park. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. And have   you thought of when you have issues, everybody's  pointing their finger, it's the other guy or it's   the other guy or it's that guy. It's not us. All  I have to do is look at my Thanksgiving table and   I can tell you everybody's pointing the finger at  somebody else. Right. Um but but I think what the   county has done to the to I think your overall  question Councilman is that the responsible   party is not even just the end user that all  users are responsible to the regulations to   the noise ordinances and to be having to follow  the regulatory um scheme that honestly the county  

council put years of work to be able to develop a  product that is is working for everyone concerned.   Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Riley. Anyone else? Uh,  well, Kelly, Tom, thank you both for coming   tonight. We appreciate the input and information.  Um, and I'm sure that there'll be more questions   coming your way down the road at some point in  time. We're here to help, Mr. President. Thank   you very much for listening to us this evening.  Thanks. Good to see you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Agenda number seven, approval of minutes. Public  hearing April 7th, 2026. Legislative Day 25-011,   April 7th, 2026. Are there any corrections to  the minutes? There being no corrections. The   minutes stand approved. Eight. Introduction and  considerations of resolutions. Resolution 00726,   Master Water and Sewer Plan Update, Spring  2026. May I have a motion? Council President,   I move to approve resolution 007-26. Thank  you. May I have a second? Second. Thank you,   Mr. Riley. It's move second to approve resolution  00726. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. Miss   Dixon, Mr. President, I Mrs. Robert, I Mrs.  Mhoff. Hi, Mr. Janeran. Hi, Mr. Riley. Hi,   Mrs. Buladles. Hi, Mr. Bennett. I being seven  votes in the affirmative, zero and a negative.   Resolution 00726 is hereby approved. Um, Mr.  Janjer Dano, bill 26-004, charter amendment,   qualification of council members as introduced.  Introduced by council member Jan Gordano,   an act to propose an amendment to article  2 legislative branch of the Harford County   Charter as amended by reappealing and reenacting  with amendments section 207 qualifications of  

council members to set forth that during the  term of office for council members shall not   hold an employment in Harford County Board of  Education or in the Harford County Sheriff's   Office and to require the submission of this  amendment to the legally qualified voters of   Harford County for their adoption or rejection  in accordance with section 9005 of the Harford   County Charter. Public hearing scheduled on  Tuesday, May 12th, 2026 at 6:45 p.m. in East   Council Chambers. Council President, I make a  motion to reject Bill 26-004 on its introduction. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. is seconded to reject 264 on introduction  which uh does not allow for any discussion   according to Robert's rules. Uh so Miss  Dixon, call the vote. Mr. President,   I Mrs. Robert I. Mrs. Mhof. Hi. Mr.  Jano, no. Mr. Riley, no. Mrs. Boltles,   hi. Mr. Bennett. Hi. There being five votes in  the affirmative, two in the negative, bill 26004   is rejected. 10. Introduction and consideration  of amendments. None. 11. Call for final reading   of bills. None. 12. Enrollment of bills. None.  13. Unfinished business. None. 14. New business.   Council contract. Alternate zoning hearing  examiner. May I have a motion? Council President,   I move to approve the appointment of David Best.  Thank you. May I have a second? Second. Thank you,   Mr. Riley. Let's move a second to approve uh Mr.  Best as the alternate zoning hearing examiner. Uh  

is there any discussion? I think it's appropriate  uh Mr. Allegi to uh give some background on why   we're making this appointment. Sure. Um, as  everybody knows, we do have Turn your mic on. It's on. You just got to be closer to  it. I have to be louder. No. Yeah. No,   it's not on. Good. No, it's not on. Okay. Is it?  Okay. Oh, we did have issues with that. Okay. Uh, under our charter, we employ one or more  hearing zoning hearing examiners. As you know,   Bob CHO is our regular hearing examiner,  but every once in a while, we need to   employ an alternate if there's a conflict. Um,  we last year in June, if you guys will recall,   you approved a one-year contract for retired Judge  Emry Plit to act as our alternate hearing examiner   in the case of a conflict. We do have a case  where Mr. CHO has a conflict. It is coming up on   a hearing in May. However, um, unfortunately, uh,  Judge Plit advised us that he is no longer able   to serve in the capacity due to health issues. So,  we had to employ an alternate hearing examiner for   one case only. So, the contract that's before you  is for one particular case in which Mr. CJO has a   conflict. Um, we do not have anyone employed on  a regular basis at this point. It doesn't happen   often, but we'll handle it as needed if there  are upcoming conflicts. So, David Best is the   zoning attorney who you are looking to hire for  the case that's supposed to take place in May.   Thank you. Um, any other discussion, Miss Dixon?  Mr. President I Mrs. Roberts I Mrs. Mhoff Hi Mr.   Janerano Hi Mr. Riley Hi Mrs. Badles I Mr. Bennett  I there being seven votes in the infirmative zero   and negative the appointment is hereby approved.  Uh B rules of procedure of Harford County Council.   Um you heard some discussion last week in  reference to our citizens giving their name and  

address as they stand up to speak. And this is a  discussion that Mr. Janjardano and Mr. Bennett and   I have had off and on. Uh and I know Miss Imhof is  part of the discussion, Mr. Riley and Mrs. Saddles   as well as Miss Robert, everyone has weighed  in on this. So, we are going to make a change   uh next week uh at a vote to change the process  to where we will ask for your name and zip code   uh not the address. And I think it will make  some other people feel more comfortable. Um,   and then also tonight you will still be required  to give a name and address if you speak. Um,   that will take place, the change won't take  place till next week after voted upon. So,   uh, we'll move on to council letter of request.  Sir, may I have you sit down, please? Thank you.   Council letter request to Maryland Public Service  Commission, case number 9748, request for full   commission review. Miss Imhof, uh, would you like  to make a motion on that? Sure. Council President,   I would like to move make a motion to approve the  letter to the public service commission. Thank   you. You may have a second. Second. Thank you,  Mr. Janerano. And it's been moved and seconded,   but uh, Miss Hoff, can you give some background  to that? Sure. Um so I shortly after um coming   to the council I began working with several local  um constituents who are greatly concerned about   the increased power lines for the Brandon Shores  um mitigation project expansion. Um these lines   run directly through um District B in addition to  some other areas in Harford County and Baltimore  

County. There's been a lot of back and forth in  regards to if BGE and its mother companies have   the right to actually continue to expand their um  their infrastructure at this time. The last time   um they negotiated with any property owners was  back in the 1920s. They renewed their ease um   easements in the 70s without actually negotiating  with property owners. And so there's been a lot of   push back from the property owners to determine  if um BGE and its mother company actually have   the right to actually expand on their current  infrastructure. So the council is going to be   providing actually our second letter um to um  the public service commission in the last year   stating that we stand by the property owners and  we are here to protect the property owners rights.   There's been a lot of concerns raised and we  want to warrant careful and thoughtful thoughtful   consideration to ensure that our community  is advocated for. Thank you. Um at this time,   can we call for a vote, please? Mr. President,  I. Mrs. Robert, I. Mrs. Mhoff, I. Mr. Jano,   I. Mr. Riley, hi. Mrs. Buladles, hi. Mr.  Bennett, I being seven votes in affirmative,   zero and negative, the letter of request  is hereby approved. Uh 15 comments and   input from attending citizens. Do we have anyone  signed up? We do, Mr. President. We have 13 this   evening. I would just remind everyone that you  are required to give your name and address and   three minutes. Call your first speaker. Hunter  Baker, followed by Jeff Beck and Ron Stuchensky. Good evening, sir. Name and address,  please. 215 Hemlock Lane, Aberdeen,  

Maryland. And your name? Hunter Baker. Thank you.  Good evening, council president and members of   the county council tonight. I would also like to  speak about data centers. The data center alliance   is an interest group that tells people how safe  data centers are, or rather how safe they could   be if they follow proper regulations for energy  use and water consumption. Data centers, though,   are notorious for their use of local resources  and how that impacts water and power bills for   residents, driving up costs when they're already  high. Data centers are also usually placed in   locations that disproportionately impact  people of color. I'm concerned about the   residents who live along Route 40, where the  county likes to build things like this. 15%   of Maryland households already have unaffordable  energy burdens. That's over 6% of their income.   And data centers may exacerbate this issue if  data centers are paying different rates as demand   for power increases. Methods of self-generating  power like at the XAI data center in Memphis use   methane gas turbines which emit harmful pollutants  like nitrogen oxides and formaldahhide. These are   linked to asthma, cardiovascular disease  and cancer. Data centers are also um they   overpromise and underd deliver when it comes to  jobs. In Abalene, Texas, Open AI claimed its data   centers would create thousands of jobs but will  only have 100 full-time employees on site after   construction is complete. John Johnson, chief  executive of data center operator Patmos Housing,   told the Wall Street Journal that data centers  create the lowest number of jobs per square   foot in their facilities. Local governments and  municipalities often use tax breaks and other   incentives to invite data centers into their  counties and areas and receive scant employment   opportunities and little economic benefit once  tax breaks are calculated in. I don't recommend  

that we do that. Harford County should be very  skeptical of data centers and their impacts on   our residents and the environment. And I plead  with the council to pass a moratorum to take   the next six months to consider the risks  of the data centers and the opinions of the   people here in the county before selling us  out to big tech. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Good evening, sir. Name and address,  please. Jeff Beck. Can I use 220 South   Bond Streets to people's chambers? No,  sir. You can't, unfortunately. Oh man,   it is your chambers though. I will tell  you that. 102 Shell Road, Japa Town,   Maryland. You guys should have that memorized by  now. I have a lot of notes. They're not organized,   so bear with me, please. Um, here as probably the  other 12 people to talk about data centers. Um,   data centers in 2024 across the country used 183  terowatt hours of electricity. That equated to   4% of the entire US electrical consumption. that  is also equal to the total electrical demand of   the country of Pakistan. Uh that is projected to  grow uh by 2030 by 133% to 426 terowatt hours. We   in Maryland nor in the country we do not have  the capacity of generation to support that. In 2023, data centers across the country  consumed 17 billion gallons of water. That   is direct consumption. that excludes water  used in electricity generation and or chip   manufacturing. Currently, data centers are  powered 55% by non-renewable natural gas and   coal. Um that doesn't really jive with Maryland's  green energy uh plan. Uh it does have effects  

on consumer rates. Um the Cardinal News out of  Southwest Virginia uh where the Lowden County uh   data centers are spreading to. Uh president and  CEO of Central Virginia Electric Co-op expects   rolling blackouts in his area in the next 3  to 5 years, specifically citing because of   the PGM grid not having sufficient generation. Uh  multiple studies estimate demand will far outpace   supply in the coming years and that uh data  centers are a significant factor in that. Uh   electricity becomes a regional concern obviously  as mentioned uh due to the regional PGM grid. Um   energy usage in one state can be subsidized uh  by generation somewhere else. Uh which is what   Maryland's been doing uh for years now buying  you know most of our energy from Pennsylvania. I got a minute. I'm good. Um, so little bit of information uh  for anybody watching that may not   have done the research. Uh, the data  center alliance is a u they are 501c6   um nonprofit. Their board is full  of developers, big farmer execs,   out of county policy makers and executives in the  tech and fintech sectors as well. um they're not   farmers. They're not Harvard County residents and  they don't speak for Harvard County residents. Um the utility relief act and the Bron power  generation. Um she mentioned nuclear.   Maryland still doesn't want nuclear. uh  they drag their heels on every nuclear   um proposal uh including the SMRs that  are built here in Maryland that we're not  

allowed to use here in Maryland. Um I'm out of  time. So until next time, guys. Thank you, sir. Good evening, sir. Name and address, please.  Good evening. Ron Stuchinsky, 319 Marina Avenue,   Perryman, Maryland. I'd like to speak tonight  about data centers and the next environmental   crisis has already started and will continue to  impose on all of us. Most cases of data centers   across the world, the same communities already  overburdened by overdevelopment and pollution are   now being targeted for these facilities. AI may  be the future, but the infrastructure behind it   is anything but clean. These facilities consume  staggering amounts of electricity and water,   rely on toxic chemicals, run fleets of diesel  generators, and increasingly require new fossil   fuel power plants just to keep their servers  running. Across the country, communities are   starting to realize that the AI boom isn't just  about technology. It's about land use, pollution,   energy demand, and corporate subsidies. As I  stated, in most cases, the same communities   already overburdened by overdevelopment and  pollution are now being targeted once again   as locations for these massive facilities.  Developers and tech companies are racing   to build these massive facil facilities as fast  as possible, often with little transparency and   very minimal environmental oversight. Sounds very  familiar to many of us in this room. Meanwhile,   policy makers such as yourselves are scrambling  to understand the scale of the many impact   these data centers bring to the communities.  Without strong safeguards and regulations,   the push to build AI infrastructure could repeat  the same mistakes we continue to see with the   warehouse sprawl, overburdening communities,  and weakening environmental protections in the   name of economic growth. Communities across the  country are starting to push back in major ways,   and they have every right to do so. Environmental  damage from data centers is real. It's growing at  

an alarming pace and it's happening faster without  laws and rules to control it. Did you know that   there are data centers out there that consume  more energy than 350,000 homes? That's more   than four times the amount of homes we have just  in our county. Concerns I'll be speaking on over   the upcoming weeks will be energy demand and grid  strain, water consumption and resource depletion,   toxic chemical and pollution risks, cooling system  chemicals and poisons, massive towers that have to   be built for these fungicides and algicides,  refrigerants and forever chemicals which many   of us know are already are already being exposed  to cleaning and fire suppressant chemicals that   are needed. air pollution, noise pollution,  which if you read simply by a Google search,   I don't know what she's talking about, but  you can hear these data centers with up to   three miles away, the humming sound constant.  Loss of open space and farmland and maybe most   important for Harford County, the environmental  justice concerns that it'll bring. That's all I   have. I missed you guys. I hope everyone's  doing well. Um, that's it. Thank you guys.   Good to see you again. Rico Albaaris followed by  Dan Diane Alver Alvarez. Alvarez and Gary Johnson. Good evening, sir. Name and address, please. Rico  Albocary 601 Harvest Court Belair, Maryland. Um,   thank you, Mr. Council President. Uh, council  members, I am an IBW member. I'm here representing   IBW Local 24. I do live here in Harford County.  Um, Secretary Schultz's numbers are a little bit   out of date. We have uh roughly a thousand members  working in Frederick County right now. Um, about   150 of them in a pre-fabrication shop, which is  for all intents and purposes a permanent job. And   to uh, Councilman Bennett's earlier point, I got  my opportunity to start as an electrician because   of a major project that was happening at APG. It's  the only reason that I that I had the opportunity  

to start and I've had over a 15-year career um  in the IBW because of that. So major projects do   create a demand for workers nearby that they  will have a lifelong career. Want to touch   uh base a little bit about the the fact that often  times construction jobs are considered temporary.   Any trades person here, I'm not sure if there are  any, all of our work is always temporary, but who   here is in a job for 10, 15, 20 years? I mean,  some folks are, but everyone up there, God bless   you. All of your jobs are temporary essentially.  And so, I I do think uh it feels like they the the   work that we do as crafts people is minimized when  they talk about um you know, it's only a temporary   job. So, um, there in in Harford County, I as a  resident, I want to raise tax revenue and I want   to find a way to create jobs and I do think the  data center industry can be a way to do that and   um, it should be considered and and taken  seriously into account and uh, a lot of the   myths that you heard Secretary Schultz talk about  and some of the things people have said here,   for example, um, the average data center uses as  much water annually as the average golf course.   um things like that are uh accurate and should  be taken into account. The the last thing that   I would say if it's an industrial zone and and we  want to raise tax revenue, what type of facilities   do we want there, right? We should think about if  we don't want data centers that that do create a   lot of jobs for for folks like me and do create a  lot of tax revenue, what is the other industrial   uh setting facility that that you do want built in  that area? And I think that should be taken into   account as well. Thank you very much. Rico, before  you step away, what's the average pay of one of   your workers? Uh, so average is hard to say.  Our journey level workers, which are graduates,   um, today make $50.50 an hour. Uh, we're  going to get a raise at the end of May,   so it'll be 5250. Um, and then all of  our benefits are on top of that. So,  

our retirement is on top of that. Health care  for my wife, my three children is on top of   that. I don't pay for that out of my pocket.  And then I have an annuity which is similar to   a 401k that's on top of that. Our apprenticeship  is completely free. I didn't have to pay to go   to school. Um so it's it's a fantastic fantastic  career that uh you know I we build data centers   in Harford County if it were to happen. You guys  come see me about a job and make sure we'll make   sure you get to work on those projects.  Thank you sir. Call your next speaker. Oh good evening ma'am. name and address, please.  Diane Alvarez, 109 11:09 Revolution Street,   Hygi Grace. Good evening, um, President Vincenti  and members of the C County Council. Thank you   for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. I'd  like to begin by expressing our sincere gratitude   for the council's continued support of our public  education system. Your commitment to ensuring our   schools have the resources they need has not gone  unnoticed. And it is in that spirit of partnership   that I stand before you today. As we look toward  the future of Harford County Public Schools,   we find ourselves at a critical juncture. The  board of education is currently operating a   man down with eight members in a system built  on collaborate collaborative decision- making   and even numbered board is a recipe  for gridlock. Leaving essential work   unfinished and vital decisions in limbo.  At this moment, we truly need all hands on   deck. The board is currently tasked with one  one of its most important responsibilities,   the selection of a superintendent who will lead  our district for at least the next four years.   This is a foundational decision. Only one of our  current elected members is seeking a new term.   This means the individual appointed to the vacance  this vacancy will be among those who who will have  

the most to gain and the most to contribute by  being part of this selection process from the   beginning. They will be the ones working side  by side with the new leader to shape the future   of our children's education. Mr. John Street  has stepped forward to meet this challenge.   He has successfully navigated the application  and interview process, providing himself to be   exceptionally qualified as a master mariner  with d um decades of experiencing experience   managing global operations and complex negotiation  negotiations. He brings the type of logistical   and leadership precision the board requires.  Furthermore, as an 11th generation resident and   HCPS parent, his heart is firmly rooted in this  community. Mr. Street has made himself available   to the council and some have met with him. There  is no reason to delay his appointment. You have   the power to ensure sure our board of education  has full membership required to do their jobs the   taxpayers expect of us. I implore you to confirm  Mr. Street's appointment before the end of April   so that he can participate in the interview  process and we may return to full capacity and   continue the urgent work of serving our students.  Thank you for your time. Thank you, ma'am. Good evening, sir. Name and address, please. Gary  Johnson, 704 Pleasant Hill Circle, Kingsville,   Maryland. There appears to be a belief by this  council with the that with the departure of the   former school superintendent, the scandal  of what happened in New Orleans of 2024 has   ended. Just move along. There's nothing more  to see here. Well, as long as Harford County,  

as a Harford County taxpayer and grandparent of  students in the school system, I think there's   a lot more to see. We understand why the  superintendent is gone. He was apparently   an immoral man. What we don't understand is  why with the evidence that he violated the   morals clause of his contract, he had to be bought  out. This may be have been expedient to someone,   but it surely was not justice. Shouldn't we be  teaching our children about justice? We had an   assistant superintendent. He was well- paid and  experienced. Shouldn't he have been appointed to   the position of the new superintendent? We have no  salacious tape recordings. He's not been charged   with any crime. So why was he not selected? If he  has done something wrong, shouldn't the taxpayers   who paid his salary know about it? He was removed  in the dark back rooms of Harford County politics,   out of view. Where is that transparency that you  folks are always bragging about? The same for Miss   Mack. She seems to be a clone of the former  superintendent. From what I have observed,   she is as supportive of the woke policies of DEI,  white supremacy, victimhood, and the celebration   of trans people as he was. And yet, she was never  subject to any public scrutiny with the Harford   County Council or the public at large could see  what kind of leadership she would provide. Why   was that? When asking such questions, we are often  told that personnel issues are not to be discussed   in public forums. Why? There are personnel,  not the school boards, not the county councils.   We have a right to know if they are capable of  bringing about the changes so desperately needed   in our school system so that our children are to  be literate and able to function in our society.   We also have a right to know if they are guilty of  malfeasants or corruption. Many of the people have   who have failed to properly educate our children  were appointed to their positions by the county   executive. But no appointee gets that position  as I well know without this council's approval.  

So you are as responsible as the executive for  what has happened thus far. Testing has proven   that in the main our children can't read, can't  write, and can't do math at grade level. If the   future is no different than the past, I fear for  our children's future and the future of Harford   County and the United States. P.S. The public  schools do not benefit educ the education of   our children by adding babysitting services that  distract time and resources from their mission   which is teaching. PSS data centers should go  elsewhere. They will be detrimental to Harford   County's rural culture. We don't have the energy  that would be needed to support them. Thank you.   Thanks, sir. Diana Saddowski, followed  by Gregory Thomas and Linda Stein Flint. Good evening, ma'am. Name and address, please.  Diana Saddowski, 1113 Stroco Drive, FS,   Maryland. There are many threats to the well-being  of our county. Many come from internal sources   and many are external to the county. Tonight, we  listen to the wonders of data centers and how our   county can reap their benefits. My initial thought  was, why is this even on the agenda? Who invited   this? As if nothing is in the works for Harford  County. Well, let me tell you, I've done some   research. I've got a background in IT. I retired  as an IT manager for state government. I know a   little bit about data centers, probably about the  size of this room. I can't imagine the utilities   required for the 800,000 square foot data centers.  Rural communities increasingly oppose data centers   due to concerns over high water consumption,  increased noise, and loss of farmland. Residents  

rightfully fear the indust industrialization of  rural landscapes and that promised tax revenues   do not outweigh environmental energy grid  and community impacts. With regard to water,   data centers require immense water for cooling and  create significant energy demand, often raising   utility costs for locals. Many people have private  water sources. That's going to create a problem. I   did some research real quick while they were  talking and she mentioned specifically that   um data centers uh are experiencing uh rising or  no, she said that the costs were declining and   that's not true. The uh environmental and energy  study institute said that the general trend is   that states with a high concentration of data  centers are experiencing rising not declining   utility cost. And utility costs where do they  come from? Us the taxpayers. We're going to   talk about noise. The constant low pitch noise  from cooling fans. They can reach 55 to 85 dB.   70 to 80 dB is recognized by the EPA and the  Acoustical Society of America as potentially   causing hearing damage. She said they they're  they're not going to be around there, but reading   does otherwise. Industrialization, large concrete  buildings and supporting infrastructure can   replace farmland and other green spaces and alter  the character of a community. Limited benefits.   These facilities often create few long-term local  jobs. Contrary to the belief during construction,   it's all wonderful, but then when  things settles, the dust settles,   you don't need all of those jobs. While tax  incentives typically favor developers over the  

community, other states are resisting this. North  Carolina, Texas, our neighbors in Pennsylvania,   West Virginia, and I'll stand here to argue that  maintaining our agricultural and natural character   of Harford County is more important than hosting  infrastructure for technological development.   Thank you, ma'am. I'm not Oh, I'll be back next  week. Good night. You'll get more time next week. Diana, we understand your  passion. We truly do. Hey,   listen. I love Harper County. We  all do. Absolutely. We all do. Good evening, sir. Name and address. Hello. I'm  Gregory Thomas. I live at 3908 Madonna Road,   Jarrettsville, Maryland. Already starting. All  right. I am an engineering student at Harford   Community Council. And before I get started, I  just really want to thank all of you for sticking   around to listen to me yap. I don't stand here as  an enemy of technology. I I love technology. In   elementary school, I was fiddling with computers  and in high school, I saw the rise of artificial   intelligence. There in lies my problem. We are  sold artificial intelligence and the accompanying   data centers as progress incarnate. We're told  that they will lead us into the future. But when   I look into these data centers, I'm not seeing  the future. I'm seeing a heist of our natural   resources so that some corporate profit  margin can go up by a fraction of a cent.   Big tech stands to make billions of dollars from  these data centers while we're picking up their   pennies. They pro they promised us hold on one  second I have a note $775 million of economic  

activity that's very nice but my question is  where is that coming from something has to give so they spoke to the virtues of a closed loop  system and in a laboratory that's great they   work great but we're not living in a lab we are in  Harford County and I will tell you from personal   exper experience. As data center chips get smaller  faster, they get hotter. And when they get hotter,   the closed loop breaks down. So, how do they  keep their oh so precious data centers from   going supernova? I'll tell you, they purge their  water into our lands, our aquifers. I'm sure many   of us have wells. We are drinking these PASES,  these forever chemicals that they're telling   us we're not. And I don't know about you, I don't  want to be another Hinkley, California. And that's   not even mentioning the rate hikes, the drone,  the fans, everything you've heard already. And   we're told that these will bring us jobs, but  again, as has been discussed, will they? Is 120   on-site jobs worth how many poison children?  Look around. Please ask yourselves. How much   money would it take if I offer you a million  dollars? Would you drink a cup of poison? Would   you drain your well? Would you lose your home so  that some shareholder you've never met can feast?   We're being offered very vague promises of  future prosperity and we're ignoring that   very real people, our neighbors, our friends,  our loved ones, our families are suffering.   I think we need to choose ourselves. We need to  choose again our homes, our communities. And I'm  

not here to fight against progress. Pandora's  box has been opened. We can't wrestle it shut.   But what we can do is we can try to fight as  long as we can until we fully understand the   ramifications of what we're agreeing to.  Thank you for your time. Thank you, sir. Good evening, ma'am. Name and address, please.  Yes. Um, Linderstein Flint. I live at 403 Winsler   Drive in Bair. uh 2105. So, first um I would like  to ask you to consider uh supporting the the state   transportation the I'm sorry, the I'm sorry, the  funding plan um that is bringing federal grant   money to take care of the Hartford link, the bus  shelter, you know, that um houses the buses. That   Hartford link is very important in our county.  It's a it's an very important service for those   um in the communities that do not have access to  trans transportation. They use those buses to get   to their medical appointments, jobs, shopping,  school, and more. That station is where those   buses get um serviced. They get fuel and they can  employees can park their cars there, everything.   But these buses are on the road all day, every  day, and they need to be serviced and refueled   so that they can do what they were meant to,  which is to get Harford County citizens who do   not have transportation to and from where they  need to be in Harford County. This is the same   plan that was supported previously at much higher  price. And I know many people that use the service   and the struggles that they go through and um and  we need to do what we can to support them in the   community. These are the buses you see that  are pulling in and out of Upper Chesapeake,  

the grocery stores. They're going to the  community college. They go to the Edgewood   shopping center. This is what that grant money  is for is to take care of our citizens. And so   I would ask that you can um support that  plan. My other issue that I'm here with is   um you know as federal employees and even state  employees um we have restrictions that we cannot   run for a county office like the county council  you can run for the city of Aberdine city of hyg um as a government employee to be working in an  office like this and there's an ethical conflict   of interest which has been shown known  many times over and our charter has been   um has done just fine for many years until  the last election and um you know and I'm   a firm believer that anybody that works for the  county especially teachers and deputies they if   they want to serve on the council fine you go  ahead and run but you must retire because it   is a conflict of interest. you know, people  that that voted for the previous councilman,   um they didn't think that he was going to  do pull a um a double dip opportunity and   and many of those people that voted for him don't  support that um what he wants to do to come back   onto the council while working as a deputy.  And it does create a conflict of interest,   especially even in the board of education, because  sometimes it makes you wonder if that conflict of   interest is why the board of education has not  completed an investigation of a um of a teacher   that has been suspended from their job for 5  months and is also an elected official. So,   I'm wondering if that's part of the conflict  of why it's not getting timely done. Thank you.

Elliot Hernicker, followed by Jessica  Riley Hammond and Tracy Lawrence. Good evening, sir. Name and address, please. Good  evening. My name is Elliot Hernicker and I live at   2519 Hansen Road, Edgewood, Maryland. I appreciate  the presentation tonight and I also appreciate the   questions that have already been raised by the  members of the council. But even after hearing   the presentation and the discussion, I'm still  not convinced. I don't think many of us are. This   is not the right direction for Harford County at  all. Too often projects like this are presented   as progress first while the real consequences are  sorted out later. And those consequences matter.   What will this mean for our power grid, our land  use, our infrastructure, and the communities that   have have to live near these facilities? What will  it mean for the character of Harford County 5, 10,   or 20 years from now? This is why I believe the  burden should not be on residents to prove why   this is a bad idea. The burden should be on  the people promoting it to prove clearly and   publicly that the long-term benefits outweigh  the long-term costs. Harford County should not   be pressured into following a development trend  just because it's it is popular somewhere else.   We have a responsibility to protect the people  who already live here, protect our communities,   and think beyond the sales pitch. Growth is  the only war growth is only worth it if it   truly serves the people of this county. And  in my view, this is this proposal raises too   many serious questions to be welcomed without  much more scrutiny, much more transparency,  

and much more public input. Harford County  should not become the next place that says   yes first and ask questions later. Thank  you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you. Good evening, ma'am. Name and address, please.  Jessica Riley Hammond, 253 Fairway Drive, Belair,   Maryland, 21015. Good evening, council members and  council president. What we know is that we don't   know enough about data centers. Presentations  can be incredibly persuasive. We've seen this   before. There was a time when Marorrow cigarettes  were marketed as a way to improve your health,   and we know how that turned out. I would  encourage everyone to watch two webinars   that I've seen recently from Purdue University.  The experts who presented this year would disagree   with much of what we've heard tonight. I urge the  council to focus not on short short-term promises   but on the long-term best interest and health of  our community, our environment, our energy grid,   and our financial stability. Jobs and money  definitely are important and so is technology.   I believe that over time many of these questions  will be answered. But until then, we have an   opportunity to lead by being thoughtful, cautious,  and willing to slow down. Sometimes the most   sorry, sometimes the smartest move forward  is to pause. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Evening everyone. Good evening ma'am.  Name and address please. Tracy Lawrence,   3161 Strawbar Drive, Bair Merlin 211015. Thank  you. You're very welcome. Thank you. Where did my   notes go? Um so I did want to um to thank you guys  and I also wanted to acknowledge the councilman  

um Jacob which which represents my area. um he  answered a lot and you guys answer asked a lot   of the questions that I really wanted answers  to and I appreciate that um discussion. It was   helpful in understanding more about this fully. So  I also am thankful um thankful and confident that   the council is taking thoughtful and measured  approach to this issue. That said, I do have a   few remaining concerns. Much of the presentation  focus on the benefits. I um I think it's important   that we also review independent data that  addresses potential risk and long-term impacts and and I say that as a person that works in it  called the data Nazi before and I I feel like you   know as a data that's shown I think sometimes  is shown to show a certain perspective and   point of view and it did not really have  underlying sources of what that data was   and where it came from to understand really the  motivation of that data, right? Um given that we   um and I have to say that a teacher the work was  the CEO of the Census Bureau who would actually   it helped explain kind of how you drill in  and get those those type of things unpacked   correctly. And so I I just found it a it was well  presented but a little flaky under leaf for me.   Um given that we operate within a multi-state  grid through PJM, the benefits are regional   while many of the impacts such as the land use  proximity to neighborhoods, infrastructure,   and environmental considerations are local to our  community. And so for me, I feel like this isn't   something that we make a decision and it impacts  us. We make a decision, it doesn't impact us.   There still may be an impact on us. And so I think  it would be nice. I don't know how you guys work,  

but if it's multiple states impacted, I think  that there should be discussions outside of just   our county because Delaware makes a decision that  can still have impact on us as citizens of this   county, right? And just to give an example,  um I I also like um would like more clarity   on the sources of data presented which is kind of  mentioned um the as well as the financial backing   of the alliance. They talked a lot about  like who was part of their group members,   but they didn't say who's funding them, right? And  I think that that's important to understand where   the money is coming from because I think that  tells a lot of the story about their presentation. Along with the same line, figures such as the  projected 775 million of economic activity,   I didn't know what that meant. economic activity.  Um it it's it um it sounded significant,   but without clear sourcing of a methodology,  it's difficult to fully evaluate what numbers   represent how much of that would actually be  realized locally. I think it's important that   we understand the underlying assumptions beyond  those projections. And I think you guys already   get that. I'm preaching to the choir, right? Um I  M Lawrence, if I may, I'd like to stop you there.   Your time's up. Okay. But I I would tell you that  I appreciate your comments and your insight and   um there's a lot of information that we need  to learn, positive and negative. There's no   question about that. I think we should look at a  a northstar. What is the 10-year vision we have,   right? And and not and be proactive, not reactive.  I want to say that my son's coming after me to   speak and this is for his um citizens soon.  Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Gabriel Wooden.

Good evening, young man. Name and address, please.  Uh, address same as what my mom said. My name uh Gabriel Wooden and I would like to follow.  Okay. Maryland has 44 to 50 AI data centers.   AI AI data centers are increasing price  of PCs by 70%. At the end of this year,   a stick of 16 gig DDR5 RAM was a Did you notice a  stick of DD of Gabriel? Oh, take your time. Okay.   A stick of 16 gig DDR5 RAM was $40 to $60 in 2024.  In 2026, a stick of 16 DDR5 RAM is five is 150 to   200 and $200. And I find it critical that Asenters  made to take some weight off the power grid while   in Maryland relies on the same power grid that it  was made to s solve. Also, I'd like to say that   nuclear energy is in my opinion the energy of the  future. I feel that most people are still scared   of the still scared of Chernobyl and what happened  there and it's mainly impacting why people are   not so key in getting nuclear power. Now I can  understand that cuz Chernobyl was a big event but   it was a long time ago. On top of that one gram  of uranium is equivalent to 400 400 kg of of coal. And that's kind of it. Thank you. There are no more speakers, Mr. President.  Thank you, Miss Dixon. With no more speakers,   we'll move on to 16. Business from  council members. Um, Mr. Riley,  

I'm going to start with you this evening. I'm  glad you're starting with me because I have none. Miss Saddles, thank you. So, um, last night at  the Aberdine City Council meeting, Eric Daxon   was appointed to the new director of public works.  This Thursday at 6:30 is the Churchville Creswell   Fountain Green Dublin Darlington Community  Advisory Board meeting at the Churchville Rec   Center. Um there is a scholarship opportunity  available for um Aberdine High School seniors   offering a25 $500 scholarships and it's through  the Aberdine Chamber of Commerce. Um if you visit   the chamer's website, there will be more details  and an application for that. I'll also share that   on my Facebook page. And that is all I have  this evening. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Sles,   Mr. Bennett. Hello. Good evening. Good to be  with everyone this evening. Um, thank you so much   to everyone who came out to both listen to the  conversation and to share your feedback after. Um,   in the coming weeks, I hope to introduce a  moratorum on data centers in our county. Uh,   to make sure that nothing moves until we set  up what our community says are the appropriate   safeguards. And it will be a lot more than 500  feet on distance from your from your house. That's   one thing I definitely picked up from tonight's  presentation. Um, Miss Lawrence, I really loved   your quote about how the benefits have far reach,  but the harms are local and we have to really   uh contend with that because we have to make sure  if this is to come that the benefits outmatch the   harms and we know there are tremendous risks  of harm. And then also to your son Gabriel,   I just want to say back in 2006, I attended my  first council meeting for my citizenship in the   community merit badge. and now here I am on the  other side of things. So, thank you for coming  

and speaking. I just led the pledge. It was a  lot easier on me. Um, this past week I attended   the Abbott and CAB meeting where the PAB came and  spoke uh about um data centers and the research   they're doing. I encourage my council colleagues  to uh plug into the PAB and to hear about what   they're learning and uh use them as a resource  through this process and this conversation. Um,   and I hope that they can be a part of whatever  comes next. Um, I was able to attend the Eagle   Scout Court of Honor for Matthew Ringacker, which  is a really special experience. I've been able to   see him grow the past few years through uh his  dad who serves on the Happy Grace City Council,   and he's an excellent young man getting  ready to graduate from high school. Um,   and and I'm really excited to see what comes next  for him. And I was also able to attend the Susuana   Hose Company Awards Banquet, which is a wonderful  event. Susuana Hose Company this year celebrates   124 years of serving our community. They're  one of the only uh volunteer fire companies   to have an ISO ranking of one, ISO class one,  which is tremendous. It's such a benefit to our   community. Um, and they've been around for half  of our nation's history. And that's why I think   it's so important as the budget comes out tomorrow  that uh their capital projects are funded, but we   also are establishing a future to pay for the the  future of volunteer fire companies that you know,   we have to embrace that we're going to be facing  career fire in the near future. Um and you know,   think about a data center and the amount of  lithium ion batteries that would be on site.   uh you know our volunteer fire companies uh are  not equipped to deal with uh an electric car fire   and in many cases now stack a thousand electric  cars on top of each other. Um so I think it's  

very important that we are supporting our fire  companies um to prepare them for the future.   Um Harmer'stown and downtown Havity Grace will be  having a sculpture dedication soon. If you haven't   been to Hmerstown it is such a beautiful project.  Um Allan Fair has been a big leader in that along   with his um board. Um it's one of our favorite  things to walk through on our daily walks. Um   but that's all I have this evening. Thank you.  Thank you, Mr. Bennett, Miss Robert. Thank you.   Um just have a couple things. I went to the  grand opening on April 9th of Wonder. Um, and   that was an interesting concept about how you can  order Michelin star food um, and get it delivered   for free or go in, walk in, and um, kind of grab  whatever you wanted. If someone wanted tacos, if   someone wanted steak, everyone get what they want.  Um, it's really nicely set up. Um, on April 10th,   I went to the family and trauma institute. Um  that's a usual thing for me and pretty much it's   a lot of us social workers and therapists there  learning about new information um regarding either   child sexual abuse or trauma related uh things  that can come about with families. On April 11th I   went to the empowered expo. They had tons and tons  of resources there for those individuals who get   IEPs and 504 plans um to kind of transition them  into adulthood and providing additional services   um for what they need. Um it was great to see  all the local um organizations and nonprofits   there as well. And then I too went to the Saskuana  Ho annual awards. It's just amazing the amount of   years of service some of those firemen have. I  think one gentleman was up to like 75 and that's  

just starting as a as a youth. So, um and then the  Edgewood Farmers Market we had for our first one   uh for the season. Um we had more vendors. Um  it was nicely attended and um look forward to   having that. It will be now the first Sunday  of every month till November. We just had it   the second one because of Easter this year. Um  and then I went to support our local arts. Um   uh Ballet Chesapeake put on Cinderella at Talson.  Um and that was a beautiful show. And then um this   Saturday a Sarks uh walk a mile in her shoes. Um  so I will be stopping by to that. And as I've been   following American Idol, I'll just say kudos  to Brooke Roser who made it into the top nine. Thank you, M. Robert. Miss Emil, good evening.  Um, first I want to give an update. As many of   you heard, my predecessor Aaron Penman's appeal  case was returned back to the circuit court.   We are waiting to hear what that means as far  as a possible reinstatement for the remainder   of this election cycle term, but we will respect  due process and we will prepare as we prepare for   the next election cycle. With that being said, um,  as I was appointed to district B and as I continue   to work, I keep stating that I will continue to  show up and continue to do the work for as long   as I am needed. And that is at least through this  evening as well. So, uh, events that I've attended   this past week. On Thursday, April 9th, I attended  the Aberine Abington Edon Community Advisory Board   meeting. On Friday, April 10th, I also attended  the Harford Child and Family Trauma Conference.   On Saturday, April 11th, I also attended the  Susan Host Company annual awards banquet.   And then today I was able to participate as a  guest reader at the Highland School Readathon   and I was able to help some of their students  meet some of their reading goals for this week.  

Upcoming events on Wednesday, April 15th at  9:00 a.m. there will be a development advisory   development advisory committee or DAC meeting as  we know it meeting at 220 South Main Street. Um so   this is tomorrow morning at 9:00. One of the items  on the agenda is the Harford Hill Farm in Boston.   They will be requesting approval for 74,000 square  ft to be used for private events and receptions.   The property is zoned agricultural and spans about  246 acres and is a historical property in Fston.   Thursday, April 16th from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. The  Fston Volunteer Fire Company, Fire and Ambulance   Company will be hosting their first food truck  for the Thursday season. If you haven't attended   the Falsson food trucks, it's a great event. Live  music. uh independent brewery always has a 10 and   there's typically anywhere from, you know, four to  eight different types of food trucks. So, everyone   in your household will be happy to have something  in their belly. And then on Friday, April 17th,   the Abington Fire Company is hosting a cash bingo  and doors open at 5:30 and games games will begin   at 7. That's all I have. Thank you, Miss Imhof,  Mr. Jano. So, uh, grand opening of Wonder. Uh,   Yolanda talked all about it, but, uh, it's  actually in the Hartford Mall, the old Harford   Mall at the end. So, uh, interesting concept. Like  she said, I think they even have some gluten-free   products, but, uh, I did try their Detroit style  pizza, which was pretty good. So, wish them   congratulations on that. Uh, this Saturday was the  first day open at the Beller Farmers Market. It   was packed, and that's going to be every Saturday,  probably through November. And then last week,   Michael Bayer was appointed as the Bellair  planning director. Um definitely disappointed   tonight that uh my council colleagues um didn't  let the bill be introduced so we can bring it to   public hearing in two weeks. Let the citizens talk  about uh whether they want the charter um that two  

paychecks that funds the majority of the pos uh  the positions budget is not what our charter or   found is intended. It creates a clear conflict,  opens the door to influencing laws and budgets   for personal professional benefits. That charter  has been there since 1972. It's the same charter   that we got uh similar to Baltimore County. Howard  counties is much stricter, but we can go and get   10,000 votes and put that on uh the ballot, which  we'll be working for. I've had people talk to me   about that. And um we're not going to let uh  the county be under siege from a small group   of people. So, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jandra  Dennis. We'll move on to 17. Business from the   president. Um we're looking forward to receiving  the budget tomorrow, I'm assuming, by end of   business and um we'll be able to start uh going  through that the budget with our budget advisors   and take a look and see uh where we're stand with  that. Uh this past week I was out of town uh away   on business and um as always uh my wife and Miss  Berry stood up to attend uh different events   for us. Uh Aberdeene Taste of Cheer, Eagle Scout  Court of Honor for Matthew Ring Sacker, um Cesan   Hose Company Awards Banquet, the SAB Gala, um a  celebration of life for Larsson sir. I was there   for that. Um and then met with the superintendent  today. Uh my first first meeting with uh the   superintendent and then we finalized our last  meeting with the advocate public facilities   ordinance in reference to education. And I want  to thank everyone for their participation over   the last uh nine or 10 months I guess it's been.  Um, and with that, Jeannie and I wish to express  

our deepest condolences uh to the former county  executive Barry Glassman, his wife, or excuse me,   his family and friends. Due to the recent passing  of his brother, Mark, we ask that you keep the   friends and family in your thoughts and prayers.  Uh, this meeting will be adjourned. Thank you.