City Council - workshop

Good evening and welcome to the study session of the City Council of the City of Moreno Valley. Since Senate Bill 707 became effective on July 1, 2026, we are pleased to offer expanded public access to our meetings. This means the public may participate in person, by phone, or virtually. For assistance with virtual or phone participation during public comment, please see the teleconferencing and public participation notice that is posted on our city website and is made available to you at the back table here in the council chamber. The city council receives a separate stipend for CSD meetings, and I now call this meeting to order on September 8th, 2026 at 6.02 PM.

Would any of my colleagues like to lead us in the pledge today?

Mayor Pro Tem Gonzalez will lead us in the pledge this evening.

I pledge allegiance 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.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Next up, we will go to item C. Roll call, please.

Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Bernard? Here. Council Member Delgado?

Here, ma'am.

Council Member Baca-Santa Cruz? Here. Mayor Pro Tem Gonzalez? Here. And Mayor Cabrera?

Here.

Thank you.

Thank you. Next up, staff introductions, please.

Patty Rodriguez, City Clerk.

Paul Bradvica, Management Analyst.

Sonia Gomez, Senior Deputy City Clerk.

Steven Quintanilla, City Attorney. Brian Mohan, City Manager.

Angel Galache, Deputy City Manager. Alicia London, Chief Financial Officer, City Treasurer.

Sean Kelleher, Assistant City Manager, Development.

Angelica Fraustolipo, Community Development Director. Natalie Potter, Human Resources Director.

Jeremy Bubnick, Director of Parks and Community Services. Melissa Walker, Director of Public Works.

Kyle Wiercinski, Economic Development Director.

Sarah Mack, Chief of Police.

Thank you very much. Next item E, public comments on matters, excuse me, actually, we're going to take this out of order a little bit. Usually what we do is we will open up an item. We will follow that up by a staff presentation, followed by any council questions, followed by public comment, and then we will have a deliberation and comments from the council. So that's what we'll be doing. But just as a friendly reminder that the city now offers language translation services through a free app called Wordly. The app automatically translates a variety of languages into English and vice versa. To use this service, please scan the QR code at the speaker's sign-up table. For the visually impaired, please use your earphones or earbuds to listen to the verbal translation. If you do not have any such listening devices, please let the city clerk know, and we will gladly let you borrow some for this meeting. La Ciudad ahora ofrece servicios de traducción de idiomas a través de una aplicación gratuita llamada Wordly. Si gustan usar este servicio, por favor avísele a la secretaria y entregue una tarjeta para hablar. Before we move on to public comments, I'd like to remind everyone to direct their comments to the city council. And for comments on items that are on tonight's agenda, each speaker will have a total of three minutes to comment. Public comments will be taken in the order that they are received, irrespective of the platform used, whether in person, by phone, or virtual. And just another friendly reminder that these study sessions are different from our regular council meetings. These study sessions are really to study in detail a particular topic. In today's case, we have one item on the agenda related to data centers. And so we'll be studying that topic. And public comments should be limited to this particular topic. So just as a refresher in case it might be your first time, bless you. IN CASE IT MIGHT BE YOUR FIRST TIME JOINING US HERE IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, JUST WANTED TO GIVE A BRIEF REFRESHER THERE FOR YOU. ITEM F, BUSINESS, WE WILL HAVE A PRESENTATION GIVEN THIS EVENING BY PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR MELISSA WALKER AND THAT'S FOR ITEM F1, DATA CENTERS, PUBLIC INPUT AND DISCUSSION. AND AT THIS TIME WE'LL GO AHEAD AND TURN IT OVER TO PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR MELISSA WALKER.

Good evening, honorable Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and Council. Jason Nicolai, the Division Manager for the Electric Utility, will be giving the presentation.

Thank you. Good evening. Good evening. I'll try that again. Good evening, council and everyone attending. My presentation today is called Before the Megawatts Arrive, What Communities Should Know About Data Centers. And I want to start out by making this clear, this is not a presentation about whether data centers are good or bad. It is really about understanding what makes this type of development different, what communities around the country have experience, and what local governments, utilities, public agencies can do before a major project is sitting at the development counter. We do not have a data center project currently under development in Marino Valley, but the time to talk about it is now. Because by the time a 200, 300, or 500 megawatt project is formally submitted, a community may already be under pressure to answer some very complicated questions very quickly. So today I want to focus less on individual projects and more on the questions communities should ask ahead of time. So, well, thank you. Before we go further, I think it's important to define what we mean by a data center. That matters because in many communities, including ours, traditional warehouses and logistics facilities are becoming more automated. They may use robotics, sensors, and software systems and significant computing power to coordinate operations, but that does not automatically make them data centers. In an automated warehouse, the primary use is still logistics, fulfillment or distribution. The computing supports the movement of goods. In a data center, the computing is the primary use. The facility exists to house the servers, storage systems, networking equipment, cooling systems, backup power and security infrastructure that support digital services. That distinction is important for policy. If a city adopts data center policies without defining use carefully, it could unintentionally capture ordinary industrial warehouse projects that simply use more automation. It could also fail to distinguish between very different kinds of data centers. A smaller enterprise or cloud storage facility may have very different impacts than a hyperscale facility or an AI-focused campus. So the policy question is not simply, is there computing equipment inside the building? The better question is, is the primary purpose of the facility computing, data storage, processing, or digital service delivery? And does the scale of that activity create infrastructure or community impacts that require specialized review? First question is, why are we even having this conversation? The answer is that the nature of data centers is changing. We started with cloud computing, which drastically expanded the amount of computing that was being centralized in large facilities. Then artificial intelligence accelerated the trend. AI workloads continue to require tremendous amounts of data processing and rely heavily on graphics processing units, which are powerful chips designed to handle many tasks simultaneously. and other advanced chips that can consume substantially more power than traditional computing equipment. That leads to higher computing density. Higher computing density creates more heat. More heat requires more cooling. And all of that ultimately leads to larger facilities and much larger infrastructure requirements. So the progression on this slide is really the story cloud, AI, higher computing density, larger facilities, and then much greater requirements for electricity, cooling, land, telecommunications, and other infrastructure. The industry is not just growing. The scale of individual facilities is changing. This slide is probably the best way to understand just how much the scale has changed. A traditional enterprise data center might historically have required something in the range of 5 to 20 megawatts and about 100,000 square feet. A modern hyperscale building can be in the range of 50 to 150 megawatts or 250 megawatts and about 800,000 square feet. And now we're seeing AI-focused campuses discussed in terms of hundreds of megawatts and in some cases more than a gigawatt. In terms of size, we talk about these projects in the millions of square feet. When we start talking about hundreds of megawatts, this stops being just another land use application. It becomes an energy planning issue. It becomes an infrastructure issue. It becomes a financial planning issue. and ultimately it becomes a community planning issue. For perspective, a single large AI data center building can represent an electrical demand that is comparable to or even several times larger than the peak demand of some municipal utilities. Enview, for example, has a current peak of about 70 megawatts. The entire city of Moreno Valley only uses about 200 megawatts. That is really the first key takeaway, scale matters. And when the scale changes, the questions a community has to answer also change. Of course, there is a reason communities are interested in these projects. The potential benefits can be significant. Data centers may bring more private investment, additional property tax revenue, electric utility revenue, construction employment, and investment in infrastructure. Those are real benefits. But at the same time, communities also have to consider electric capacity, water, land consumption, noise, infrastructure costs, and the relatively limited number of permanent employees associated with many of these facilities. And that's an important point. The conversation should not be framed as benefits versus impacts. Both exist at the same time. The real question is, how does a particular community weigh those benefits and those tradeoffs based on its own priorities? What is attractive to one community may not be attractive to another. And the answer may be different from one site to another within the same community. For utilities, this is where the conversation becomes very different. A data center connection is more than a meter. To serve a large load, we have to think through electric delivery supply chain. And at the customer level, power has to be delivered through the distribution system. That may require new feeders. It may require new substations. But demanding the size of the load But depending on the size of the load, the impacts can extend upstream to the transmission system. And beyond transmission, we have to think about generation or power procurement, resource adequacy, capacity, reliability, and resilience. So the utility has to answer a series of questions. How much load is actually being requested? When does it arrive? How quickly does the load ramp up? What infrastructure is required? Who pays for that infrastructure? What level of reliability is being requested? And what happens if the project does not materialize? That last question is critical, probably the most important one. The challenge is not only capacity. The challenge is certainty. A developer may request several hundred megawatts. In response, a utility may begin engineering work, transmission planning, power supply procurement, capital planning, or substation development. Those are not small activities. They may require years of work and substantial financial commitments. But then the project could change. It could shrink. It could be delayed. It could disappear altogether. So one of the biggest utility challenges is figuring out how to plan responsibility for very large loads without making premature commitments that ultimately create stranded costs. And that is why very large developments is not simply a technical connection issue. It's also a risk management issue. The second major lesson is that resource impacts depend heavily on facility design. Two data centers that look almost identical from the outside can have very different impacts on the community. Cooling is a good example. Air-cooled systems generally have relatively low water demand, but they can use more electricity for mechanical cooling depending on the conditions. Evaporative systems may reduce some energy requirements but can significantly increase water consumption. Hybrid systems attempt to balance those considerations. And liquid cooling is becoming increasingly important as computing density increases, particularly for AI applications. So when someone asks, how much water does a data center use, the correct answer is it depends on design. The same is true for backup power. Historically, many facilities have relied on diesel generators. Other projects may consider natural gas, battery energy storage systems, or hybrid systems. Each technology comes with a different combination of reliability, emissions, operational issues, noise, safety, and regulatory considerations. So rather than making assumptions based simply on the words data center, communities need enough information about the actual technology being proposed. Water use, energy use, air quality impacts, and noise are interconnected. And in many cases, reducing one impact may affect another. The third lesson is that location matters. The same facility may be appropriate in one location and very difficult to accommodate in another. On the left side of this diagram, we have a residential edge. As we move toward the more intensive industrial and infrastructure areas, the character of the surrounding land changes. And with that change, the community may be better able to accommodate things like high electrical demand, substation, transmission infrastructure, large building footprints, mechanical equipment, and redundancy requirements. For communities, that means siting decisions should look at more than just whether the zoning technically allows the use. We also need to think about setbacks, noise, building mass, mechanical equipment, backup generators, visual impacts, access to utility infrastructure, and proximity to residential or other sensitive land uses. In many cases, good siting decisions can eliminate or greatly reduce problems before mitigation is ever needed. So location is not just a planning issue. It can be one of the most effective forms of risk reduction. Another important issue is how we define economic value. Data centers can represent extraordinary capital investment. The buildings, electrical systems, computing equipment, cooling equipment, and supporting infrastructure can involve very large expenditures. But those facilities are also highly automated. So they typically do not generate the same level of permanent employment that some other uses might generate on a comparable amount of land. That does not mean the project lacks economic value. It means the value looks different. So each community has to decide what matters most. Is economic value primarily jobs? Is it assessed valuation, property tax revenue, utility revenue, construction activity, infrastructure investment, technology investment, or some combination of those things? That is really a policy question, and different communities may answer it differently. The key is to understand the economic model before making assumptions based on the size of the investment alone. This may be one of the most important issues for public agencies. Someone ultimately bears the risk of infrastructure built for a project that does not materialize. That risk can fall in several places. The developer may invest upfront and lose those costs if the project is canceled. The utility may incur costs for system upgrades or capacity that is no longer needed. Existing rate payers may ultimately bear some of those stranded costs through the utility cost recovery. And the local government may face fiscal impacts, delayed economic benefits, or public expectations that were based on project that never gets completed. So the question is not whether risk exists. The question is where that risk is allocated. Communities and utilities have a number of tools available to address that. Those can include deposits, reservation fees, financial security, letters of credit, infrastructure agreements, and milestone-based construction. The purpose of those tools is not to discourage development. The purpose is to align infrastructure investment with actual project readiness. If a developer is asking a utility or public agency to make a major commitment based on a future project, there should be a reasonable evidence that the project is ready to advance. Good agreements can protect the utility, protecting existing customers, and also provide the developer with clarity about what is required. So what can communities do? The biggest recommendation is very simple. Don't wait for an application. The time to decide how you're going to evaluate a 500 megawatt project is probably not the day somebody submits one. Communities can begin by establishing expectations in several areas. Where should these projects be located? What information should utilities require before they begin major planning work? How should water demand be evaluated? What noise standards should apply? How should backup power systems be reviewed? And how will infrastructure planning be coordinated among utilities, planning departments, public works, water agencies, fire departments, and other affected organizations? Even if a community ultimately decides to rely heavily on its existing rules, thinking these issues through in advance has value. It improves consistency. It improves transparency. And it gives both the community and the development industry a clearer understanding of the process. And that leads to the question of policy. There's not one universally correct way to regulate data centers. Communities really operate along a continuum. On one end, a flexible approach may rely primarily on existing rules and project-specific review. In the middle, an enhanced approach may add additional studies, review requirements, financial projections, or project conditions. And on the other end, a more comprehensive approach might include specialized standards, dedicated agreements, or more detailed requirements tailored specifically to very large data center developments. The important point is that a community does not need to pick the same position as another city. The appropriate level of review depends on local circumstances. What infrastructure is available?

How much industrial land does the community have? And what are its economic development goals?

What are the community's quality of life priorities? And what authority already exists within the local and state regulatory framework? The goal should be to find the right level of review and protection for local circumstances. More regulation is not automatically better. Less regulation is not automatically better. The important thing is that we approach and reflect the risks, opportunities, and priorities of that particular community. Okay, bringing it all together. I think there are seven fairly simple questions that any community can ask before approving a major data center project. First, where? Is this actually the right location? Second, how big? What is the real phase development plan, and what is the actual load being requested? Third, can we serve it? Not just electricity, but water, roads, telecommunications, emergency services, and other public infrastructure. Fourth, who pays? Are the infrastructure costs and financial risks clearly understood and appropriately allocated? Fifth, what are the community impacts? Noise, water, air quality, visual impacts, and surrounding land uses. Sixth, what does the community receive? Jobs, investment, tax revenues, utility revenues, or some other benefits? And finally, what happens over the next 20 to 30 years? Does the project align with the long-term infrastructure and land use vision for the community? If those seven questions can be answered clearly, decision makers are in a much better position to evaluate the project as a whole rather than looking at each issue in isolation. So I want to leave you with these three takeaways. First, scale matters. A hyperscale data center can influence infrastructure far beyond its property line. The electric grid, water resources, transportation systems, emergency services, and surrounding community can all be affected. Second, preparation matters. Clear expectations create better partnerships. They reduce uncertainty. They reduce risk, and ultimately they can lead to better outcomes for both the community and the developer. And third, local priorities matter. Every community will balance investment, resources, infrastructure, employment, and quality of life differently. There's no single model that every community should adopt. For us in Reno Valley, this issue is particularly interesting because the city is both the land use authority and the owner of the electric utility. That gives us an opportunity to think about these issues from both perspectives. But the larger lesson applies everywhere. Hyperscale data centers are more than buildings full of servers. At the scale we're seeing now, there are long-term decisions about energy, infrastructure, land, financial risk, and community resources. And the communities that are best positioned to evaluate them will be the communities that have answered the questions before the megawatts arrive. Thank you. I hope this gives you a framework for thinking about some of these issues that may arise and these projects as they continue to grow and scale. I'd be very interested in hearing what other communities and agencies in the room are seeing as well, or people in the room are seeing as well.

Thank you very much for the presentation there. A lot of information and... At this time, we will go ahead and bring it back up to the dais for council questions of staff, either for Jason or the rest of our staff, and then we'll move into public comment. Are there any requests, any questions? Council Member Delgado.

Thank you for that. That was an excellent presentation and kind of broke it down. I did have a lot of questions, and you were answering them as your presentation went along, so thank you for that. One thing I just want to clarify with you is we're not voting on a data center tonight, right? I just want to make it absolutely clear. This is not a project that we're even talking about.

That's correct. There's no current projects proposed to the city, and this is really a discussion so that we can be prepared in case one is proposed.

Thank you. And does anybody in here know where the closest data center is to us if we wanted to get eyes on it? I believe there's one in Riverside. Riverside. Okay.

Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions from the council? I don't see any other questions at this time. I do have a couple. When we talk about land use and development and approvals, one of the things that comes up is the topic of permitted uses in our permitted use table. Can you elaborate on data centers and if that is a permitted use according to our code and any other information on that?

I think I can refer to city manager.

Yeah, as permitted uses go, Title IX of our municipal code discusses permitted use tables. Currently, there is no data center on our permitted use table. outside of, obviously, the MVU operations, and that's why Jason is deferring to me, but Title IX specifies what uses are allowed in the city, and then that table links it to various zones from a zoning map.

Okay. Mr. Mayor? Yes. So section 9.01.030 of our municipal code provides that no use of land and no use construction, maintenance, operation, reconstruction or enlargement of any building or structure shall be allowed unless permitted under the express provisions of Title IX. And I don't recognize the definition of data centers here, so. I can't cross-reference it to any permitted use that we currently have in Title IX.

Got it. Thank you. And then in terms of you went over infrastructure, for example, things like water, electricity, and we know the conversations happening nationwide and how those various factors are affecting other communities that have seen data centers come into their communities. If you mentioned there's no data center currently, you know, proposed, there's no application that the city has received. But in a hypothetical world where a developer did want to build something here, does the city even have the capacity when we talk about electricity, the grid, or water? You mentioned megawatts and things of that nature. Could you speak to that?

So I can't really speak to the water capacity issue. But I can speak to the electricity. In terms of electricity, it really depends on the size and how quickly that project is trying to move into the city. Given enough time, I can bring in the capacity for any size data center or any size project. These projects typically are proposed very short scale. And in that short scale, it really depends on how big the data center is planning to be. So hard to say without getting a project

Mayor, on the water, just so you know, we did have a discussion with EMWD about it to see if they had experience with any data centers and if they had any information on the amount of water that was used and they had not been approached by anyone yet Their concept was that it was probably going to be along the lines of what a bottling center would be, which tends to have a much higher rate, but they had not experienced it. So there was very little information they could give us.

Understood. Thank you. And then second to last question about location. So another one that just hoping we can clarify here. And this is not just data centers. This is really any application that comes to the city. Someone, a developer that wants to build something in our city. It could be a data center or shopping center or a restaurant, you name it. Can staff just speak to Who ultimately decides where these projects get built? Because sometimes we hear that the city decides where to build it. Other times the developer is the one building it. So could staff just clarify who ultimately makes a decision on where a project is going to be built? I'll refer back to the city manager for that.

Yeah, thank you, Jason. Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Council Members, so the council approves the general plan in zoning for the city. So from that perspective, council from a policy perspective goes through a process which we just recently did. The land owners ultimately then work with either themselves as developers or developers to develop on their land. The city owns very little land, actually. The land that we own currently is from the redevelopment years, which with the dissolution of redevelopment in 2012, those particular parcels had to be earmarked for future affordable housing development and so that's what we're doing now with those. There is no very large scale development that or land that we own where we get to say this is what we want to build. And so from that perspective, it's the landowners that are working with the developers that are referencing the general plan and the zoning map to ensure that their development is within those criterion or they then will be seeking a general plan amendment and a zoning amendment. Did that answer your question?

Yes, and let me maybe just summarize in a little bit simpler terms there. If I'm understanding what you're saying correctly, any time a developer comes into the city and wants to build, say, a fast food restaurant or a housing tract or a data center, whatever it may be, They have to go through the process, submit applications, meet with staff, everything. And ultimately, in terms of approving or denying, city does have that authority, of course, planning commission, city council. But as far as where a developer wants to open their new restaurant or build a new housing track, they're the ones that decide this is the property, this is the lot, this is the intersection where I want to build my project. City of Moreno Valley, will you approve it or deny it?

Yes. Sorry, yes. That depiction is accurate. The only thing I would also add is that the city looks at each development, each project based on the merits of the project.

Thank you. That will conclude my questions. Are there any further questions? Mayor Pro Tem.

And Brian, just to clarify, so if today a data center developer wanted to submit an application the entitlement they would have to obtain is a change of zone today? Or would it be a general plan amendment and CEP or just a change of zone?

Well, yeah, it's not even a permitted use on the permitted use table per Title IX, Chapter 9.02. So that's why it's here before you to, like Jason said, from a policy perspective, have some discussion around scalability. Mainstream media typically talks about hyper data centers, which is anywhere between 100 megawatts more per or 250 megawatts more, depending on what criterion and what study you're reading in mainstream media. And for any of those, a megawatt, for those of you in the room and at home, and we're talking a lot of megawatts, and I think even a gigawatt was discussed. Jason, from a megawatt perspective, for reference, how many homes does that power for, say, 100 megawatts?

100 megawatts. 100 megawatts. So that's half the community.

So you're looking at 50 to 100,000 residents? Yeah. Okay. So that gives you some reference. Quite frankly, if we had an application dropped on someone's desk, we would be stating at this point, how would MVU be able to even service because we don't have the infrastructure nor because we're an infant utility. We don't have the contractual arrangement for power service agreements. So yeah, that's why when it was suggested to have a conversation about data centers, it was timely. as others are talking about it, counties talking about it, LA County's done a few things as well. Seems more and more frequently you're hearing about data centers and when we talk about scalability and so forth, I think it's really what we've heard in mainstream media is the hyper data centers and trying to identify if we were to receive you know, an application on that, we wouldn't even be able to service it. But there are other scales of a data center that Jason went over. But again, it's not on our permitted use table, so what do we potentially do here?

Mr. Mayor, so if someone were to inquire about how you would go about getting a data center approved in Moreno Valley, they would have to submit an application for a general plan amendment. because we don't address data centers in our general plan. They would have to submit an application for a zone change so you can determine where a data center would be located. They would have to submit an application for a change in our text to a zoning text amendment to identify, to describe, include a definition of a data center and to determine what sort of permit would be required. That's what they would have to do. They would have to jump through all those hoops and get all those approved by your planning commission and city council. But right now, data centers are not permitted. So if somebody submitted an application for a data center, we would just reject it because it's not permitted.

But if we wait until somebody submits an application, it would be too late. Just like right now, we have a lot of discussion about banning certain businesses and we can't do that while we have active applications. So right now is the good time to be talking about this because if we wait until somebody applies, it will be too late. Is that correct?

If somebody applies and they submit an application for a general plan amendment we have to process it to the point of getting to the point of rejecting it.

And then we couldn't talk about a moratorium or a banning on that particular because it would be too late at that point. So now is the time when we need to speak about this.

In that context that would initiate the requirement to provide due process. Correct. Perfect.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That answers my questions. Are there any further questions from the council? Seeing no further questions at this time, thank you again, Jason. Appreciate the presentation there. And we will go ahead and move into public comment for this item. Again, just a friendly reminder that since it's a study session, the public comments are limited to the topic of discussion. In this case, we have F1. It's about data centers. And then everyone does have three minutes to speak. And we will have a list of your names up on the screen. City Clerk will call up your name one by one. and in the order that we receive those requests. And then also, just again, if it's your first time, I know some folks may have been here before, but if it's your first time, sometimes we do get questions from public comment, and it's our practice here that we do not go back and forth during public comment, just so we can make sure everybody has their chance to speak, and then we follow up after the meeting if there's any questions like that that come up. Just in case if you ask a question and we don't respond on the spot, it's not because we don't want to. It's just that's our standard practice here. So with that, Madam Clerk, I'll turn it over to you.

Thank you, Mayor. The first three speakers are Bob Palomares, followed by Ismael Gonzalez, followed by Catherine.

Good evening, Council. I'm glad they said you can't build one here. If you could, where would you put it? Either put it on the northeast or where the WLC is. That's about it. The thing is that the presentation was great, but I didn't hear anything about how they dispose of the pollution that comes out of that center, whether it mainly be water. And then we all know that right now Lake Powell is at record low levels for water pollution. They've been the lowest since 1957, and they're cutting California's allotment by 15%. This was from the Department of Interior last month in August. That's what they came up with. I don't know about Arizona and Nevada. That doesn't concern us. But California is 15%. Now, once it started getting to us, every city is going to be saying, you know what, we have to cut back. happened before, it'll happen again. And let's see here. You know, they say that it takes extreme 24-7 cooling. What does that mean? That means that the water is constantly rotating in and out. Massive power demand. So where are they going to get all the juice if they could build one here? The utility company we have could never do it. So Edison, I've heard where some data centers, they've sold the electricity. Some cities have sold it to the data centers, leaving the people that buy it from the utility hanging, or they have to even pay more to get theirs because the highest bidder won. And then the water infrastructure, what are the benefits? There aren't any. The environment is what's going to pay for it. So, you know, there's just too many red flags. I'm glad, you know, we're having this session here and just discussing it, but just ban it. Like Ms. Baca was saying, you know, stop it right now before, you know, somebody puts in an application because it's never going to work for the people of Moreno Valley. Thank you.

The next three speakers are Ismael Gonzalez, followed by Catherine, followed by Scott Haveran.

Good evening, city council, city staff, audience of Moreno Valley. My name is Ismael Gonzalez. I'm a resident of District 2. I want to say that it is regrettable that this conversation is today. considering that I've been warning this council for months, since the beginning of the year. Even the Environmental and Historical Preservation Board, I've been telling them data centers will come up. It's going to happen. It's a breaking point for our society. And here we are. But it's been, you know, I'm glad that we're still having this discussion. I hope that this recording will be published online for anyone to rewatch later, as well as the presentation that the city developed. On that note, I do feel like I have to maybe point out the elephant in the room. With all due respect to city staff, that presentation, its images were generated by AI. It's really sad that the city staff gets paid considerably. They go to school for these jobs and then rely on computer generated content to present a discussion about data centers. You guys, I've repeatedly warned you, do not use computers to generate your reports, your presentations, because they are noticeable. I am of the generation that grew up with technology. I grew up with the emergence of Instagram, Facebook, all these data technology companies that are now pushing data centers upon the society. To the people like me, my age, we can see that. We can understand what is generated by computers and what is not. It's a real shame that you guys are college-educated people paid considerably relying on computers to produce the content that the city needs. Let me remind you that the data centers across the country right now are known to guzzle 5 million gallons of water per day. They are also known to increase energy costs for the local grid and nearby residents by 267%. You've heard your city attorney, your city manager say that the process for an applicant to come through and request a data center here in the city is pretty complicated. hard to get through. Why not just ban it right now? Why not just prohibit it right now like other cities are doing? The city of Coachella just a few weeks ago prohibited data centers completely, the first city in Riverside County to do so. Palm Springs has put a moratorium. Monterey Park was the first city to ever prohibit data centers completely with a voter record of 88%. This is bipartisan. This is very popular. The only people that want this are the billionaires. Thank you so much.

Next three speakers are Catherine, followed by Scott Hebron, followed by Deanna LaCava.

Hi, my name is Catherine. I'm a nine-year resident of Maruna Valley living in the Rancho Blago area. I believe, Erlin, you're my representative over there. So a little bit about my family and I. My husband and I chose MoVal as a city to start and raise our family. When we began looking at homes here, we quickly took notice of the multiple parks, schools, trails, and the open fields utilized by motorsports enthusiasts around the city. And of course, we love to see the donkeys roam free, almost as if they were the first ones to really welcome us here to the city. Over the years, we've been lucky to see the various wildlife that share land in the city, from the hawk that stalked our dogs in the backyard when we would let her out as a puppy, to the falcons, owls, bats, turkey vultures, raccoons, snakes, and coyotes we've encountered on our many walks over the past nine years. A data center anywhere in Moreno Valley will be detrimental to the quality of life for all residents, human and animal alike. I implore you all as our elected representatives to move forward with the ban on data centers in Marina Valley. There are currently 88 data centers in the state of California, 53 in operation and 35 in development. Those are 88 examples of failed leadership to the constituents in those cities. Again, as a resident and voter of the city, do not fail your constituents like we were failed with flat cameras and move forward with a ban on data centers in Marina Valley. Thank you.

The next three speakers are Scott Habrin, followed by Deanna LaCava, followed by Carolyn Brodeur.

Good evening, council, mayor. It's been a minute. I love what you've done with the place. It's real nice. AI data centers do not appear to be compatible with Merino Valley's climate. It's a hot, dry area. You'd think that a data center would be someplace in Minnesota where they have lots of water, cool air, just not here in Merino Valley. A thing that I wanted to know is where would these data centers go? Talking a million square feet, I think the only place it can go is Highland Fairviews area. They're the only people that have the- And we were told when we approved the World Logistics Center that it was bringing these jobs. And now if we're gonna put these data centers on there, those jobs aren't there. It feels like we've been one hand gives and one hand takes. Now, a positive thing about the data centers is we wouldn't have these huge mega warehouses with all this truck traffic. That's the only bright side I can see. I'm more concerned about these warehouses going up. You look at Boyle Heights. I'm sure that they loved that warehouse until it burned to the ground. And are we ready for... Do we have the infrastructure for data centers? We have... I realized when we were changing to, when we approved the World Logistics Center, there was talk about different types of fire stations. What kind of fire station would a status center require? What kind of emergency services above and beyond what we have right now? And then the noise. That's the first time I heard about noise coming from these things. What's that about? There's a lot more questions, but I really appreciate you having the study session because that's what we need. We need more information. community outreach, we need more transparency. And again, I appreciate it. Thank you very much.

The next three speakers are Deanna Lacava, followed by Carolyn Brodeur, followed by David Robertson.

Hi, my name is Deanna Lacava. Born here, lived here my whole life. We're here in Moreno Valley.

Dominica, do you mind speaking just into the mic so we can hear you? Let's go ahead and give her three minutes, please. Thank you.

I've been here a long time. I was born here. In Marino Valley we have the advantage of being a little late coming to the table on data centers. We do see what other communities near us have decided to do. Coachella voted unanimously to permanently prohibit the hyperscale data centers following intense public pushback. Paris City Council voted unanimously to direct planning staff to draft a citywide ban. Facing local pressure, city leaders and council members in Riverside are establishing perimeters for the potential citywide ban. Indio has imposed a temporary moratorium. Desert Hot Springs has a temporary pause while they evaluate future restrictions. These cities are taking these actions because their citizens feel so strongly. We in Moreno Valley, we feel strongly too. Because we don't currently have data centers, we can learn from places like New Jersey, Mississippi and Florida. In these places, people are reporting that data centers are affecting all their natural resources. The waters in creeks and rivers is being polluted. The centers are using thousands of gallons of water per day and Marino Valley doesn't have abundant water available for data centers. The August 22nd Desert Sun reported that California is facing reduced Colorado River allocation, which was mentioned by a previous speaker, so I don't need to repeat that. But with river water unavailable, that means that any data center here is likely to start pulling water from our aquifers. People in other states with data centers pulling water from the aquifers are reporting water disruptions, low water pressure and no water at all. Their wells are pulling up nasty brown undrinkable sludge instead of the water they had before the data centers. We have families living on wells in eastern Marino Valley and we need to protect the water in our aquifers for use for people who are here, who live here. And the noise, so many places with data centers are reporting that constant 24-7 humming and buzzing has been described as feeling like you're being hit in the stomach when you go outside. A rancher near Abilene, Texas reported that cattle on his property have had consecutive stillbirths after a data center and its heavy power equipment began operating nearby. And property values, if you can't take the noise and decide to move, who's going to buy a house with a noisy data center nearby? These data centers will affect nearby property values. Air quality will be compromised and temperatures are being affected by data centers. Drones fitted with thermal cameras are finding data centers brazenly defying environmental laws. While some centers promise to operate using renewable sources of energy, they are in fact burning fossil fuels to power their operations. Many are burning diesel and gas to power their data centers, poisoning the air and raising temperatures by up to 16 degrees. Thank you very much.

The next three speakers are Carolyn Brodeur, followed by David Robertson, followed by Alan Calderon.

Good evening. I think the truth is that you are planning for these developers to build data centers. I think that's the truth. And here's how we know. Reno Valley Utilities' 2025 Integrated Resource Plan tells us, it says that after 2025, unnamed so-called spot loads will account for more than half of the total system electricity consumption. What is a spot load? A spot load is a massive, highly concentrated demand for electricity at a single specific location on the power grid. if the merino valley utility utility is showing that unnamed spot loads will account for over 50 percent of the entire city's power consumption after 2025 they did not make up those numbers in a vacuum okay grid planners only build those massive spikes into official city forecasts when large developers like who highland fairview highland fairview or majestic have submitted preliminary grid capacity inquiries to Moreno Valley Utility to see if the local grid can support data centers. You're already planning it. We already know. That's why we're having this meeting, because you just want to run it through. That's what's going on. You're sneaky. Sneaky. It's terrible.

Next three speakers are David Robertson, followed by Alan Calderon, followed by Manuel Topetti.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council members, and staff. I'm here tonight to urge the council to immediately pause, consider what the community is saying to you today, and follow the reasonable, sensible leads from cities like the City of Commerce, like Coachella, who have taken their community's concerns into account and acted on their behalf. Data centers are fundamentally different from any standard logistical warehouse. They operate 24 hours a day, draining the resources while offering virtually no permanent meaningful local jobs. Relying on traditional outdated zoning safeguards as we've just discovered, our zoning doesn't even accommodate what is being asked of us. We're talking about the standard zoning that we have can't account for, contain the low-frequency acoustic hums that penetrate the residential walls and will impact the community. We have to look hard at the data center for what it's going to provide a region, our water, our local water supply, the eastern municipal water district can't sustain the millions of gallons of water for the daily evaporating and cooling systems, the chemical waste discharge, having as a former director of research and special programs with the Department of Transportation, that's always the regulatory aspect is always a deep concern and we always have to go in and ferret out the wrongdoing that inevitably happens every single time these type of things put themselves out there in the front of the public and we're looking to have you all Be our safety mechanism to protect us and understand that this is something that I know you guys are already, like the young lady just said, you're planning, you're looking to go forward with it. We're opposed. We didn't even know, my community, my neighbors in Sunnymead Ranch knew nothing about this at all. This is something that should be put out there, blasted, for us to come in and let you know en masse how we feel about it. And I will say here today that I'm going to make it my job to make sure that I get the word out in my community. Thank you.

Next three speakers are Alan Calderon, followed by Manuel Tapetti, followed by Terrence Joel Darby.

Evening, Mayor of the City Council. My name is Allen Calderon. I am a father and I live right off of Redlands Boulevard across the street from Highlands Fairview. I have young kids and I like Moreno Valley, but there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed with warehouses, Yeah, car washes, storage centers, it's insane. I think there's so much that can be improved right away, or at least do some more planning as far as entertainment instead of focusing on data centers. I'm asking that you guys follow Coachella Valley, Palm Springs, Fresno, then put a moratorium on data centers in Marina Valley. Like the other speakers before me, the strain on the grid, it's going to be immense. The water supply that's going to be necessary to keep these facilities cooled down, it's going to be even worse. I wasn't aware of the cut that California is going to be facing from the Colorado River. So that makes even more sense. Why not to have data centers here? uh... uh... it doesn't make any sense why why i i i i i i understand that we're having this meeting to kinda both of the procedures but how the councilman mentioned i think we should do this meeting and just put a moratorium on it or ban it uh... it doesn't it doesn't have the community of the residents at all there's it they may say my supply jobs But the construction is going to be over with, and then it's just going to be a handful of employees working at these data centers. It doesn't make sense why we need data centers in Moreno Valley. The gentleman before me, that area, all of East Moreno Valley, of that empty area, that's where it would go. It's unacceptable. We just need to put a moratorium. Have them go somewhere else. How is it that Coachella and all these other cities, how the, maybe it was a pressure that they were forced into it, but we just need to put a moratorium and stop. Thank you.

The next three speakers are Manuel Topetti, followed by Terrence Darby, followed by Seth Cox.

Good evening, everybody. First of all, there's three elephants in this room, and I'm going to address the first one. And Jason did a real good job, but I watched where he stuttered. And I watched where he hesitated on his answers. Why are we asking the hard questions? A city manager should not give easy questions to Jason. This is where you put it to Jason. Ask him why he didn't iron his suit before he got here. Ask him why he came here and is not prepared. I want to go cash my check. Same place he cashes his check, because I want to know who pays him to come up here and speak to us on something like this. Now, the city manager, should we change the name? Are you our city manager? Are you the developer city manager? The manager, the city attorney, do we pay you to protect us or to protect Highland Fairview? Because we already know who's planning this. Now, District 5 County Supervisor has been supporting a bridge behind Lake Paris. Why? San Jacinto River? Have you ever heard? I've been here 50 years. What's San Jacinto River? They're preparing to take water from Lake Paris and take it out of the lake. And that's where the water's coming from. That's the second elephant in the room. Let's not be idiots about this. You get paid too much for you to sit there and not listen to the people. Not just me. I'm not the only one mad. The people have had enough, and you're cornering everybody into a corner. I don't like the fact that when we get here, the security guards are out there, and there's no guns on them. There needs to be officers with weapons to protect us, because Highland Fairview tried to kill me once. All right? Now, nobody talks about that. But we all know that if we don't ask the questions, nobody up there, the puppets, except for one, the puppets, the puppets of Highland Fairview, Now, here's the deal. You guys that are working for us, we pay you. Thank us for your paycheck, not them. The staff, last week the mayor didn't even show up. He needs to start showing up. Today he should have brought a doctor's notice. But it starts at District 5, county supervisor who was illegally appointed, and this is how they're doing all this. He is the one promoting that bridge that we don't need. You didn't care when people were getting killed on Gilman Springs, but what's the closest property owner to Gilman Springs and the lake? It's Highland Fairview. Let's cut it out. We've already paid for his copy of Beverly Hills signs. Why did we pay for that? Why are we paying for that? Come on, tell me. Now, the manager, the attorney, one of you two, man, I kind of lost it. My eyesight's not real good. But you mentioned the only property you own is property that you guys have switched over to low-income housing. Guess what? I own that property. That's my shopping center. And now a business commercial property center is residential. How much money did I lose right there? More than the $1 million you paid for those signs. Think about what you guys are doing. We run this city, not them. Yeah.

The next three speakers are Terrence Darby, followed by Seth Cox, followed by Franco Pacheco.

And just briefly, just want to remind folks, we want to make sure that you say what you need to say, but also if you could please just address the council and just a friendly reminder to try to stay on the topic of AI data centers. Just wanted to give a friendly reminder once again. Go right ahead. Let's keep it respectful, please, folks.

Go right ahead. I don't know how to outshine that last speaker, but I'll try my best here. My name is Terrence Darby. I'm 14 years old, and I'm a resident of Moreno Valley, and I have been for living here for nearly 10 years. I've never done this before, but I've decided to be here today because I finally get to make change. My purpose here today is to speak out against AI data centers being built here in Moreno Valley. I do not have much time today to explain, but I can list the negative effects of data centers. Most obvious and well-known problem is that data centers waste many gallons of water per day. About 1 to 5 million gallons of water are used daily by just one data center, which can rise up to 30 billion gallons of water annually. Another problem is that they cause noise pollution, which can cause hearing loss, problems with animal reproduction, and raises our energy bills, which we don't need at all. Residents that live around data centers report that they literally cannot get any sleep at night due to these loud noises that come from these data centers. Another massive problem is that they cause bees to not be able to pollinate, and they eventually die due to the AI data center's artificial electromagnetic field, which bees rely on the Earth's own electromagnetic field. And us humans rely on bees for our own food. So if bees die, we die. They also cause temperatures to rise, which is definitely not what the world needs right now, or California needs at the moment. They even cause worse air pollution, which they release carbon, methane, and many other harmful chemicals. And another problem is light pollution, which is another problem that I think the city should fix. But anyways, many citizens that live in the U.S. that live around data centers report that the light that comes from these data centers literally light up their entire house at night. And the point is these data centers cause more harm than good. And when I say this, I speak for every citizen in Moreno Valley. We do not need an AI data center in our city at all. What good can come from these buildings at all? Money? These buildings are literally hell on earth. And if any of you approve of a data center in our city, a question I may ask is, who is this for? Is this for the community that you swore to protect? Or is this for your own benefit? If even one data center is approved, then you people are doing the exact opposite of your job. Thank you.

Next three speakers are Seth Cox, followed by Franco Pacheco, followed by Tatiana Flores.

Good evening, council, staff, audience, anyone else that's listening. I probably won't get as big of an applause when I finish my speech here. I am not for or against, okay? I'm a factual man. I furnished the council with a packet of paperwork. The utility guy gave a good briefing. He has a bigger budget than mine, so mine's not a big PowerPoint presentation built by AI. But I will say, I'll give you a few definitions of data centers, okay? Data centers have been under your nose for over 25 years, okay? March Air Force Base had one way back in the 70s. It was a data operation center. But anyway, the definitions are edge and local service. You can pretty much determine what that one is. Small data centers that, i.e., Moreno Valley can use for their data center and the recovery sites in case one of them crashes. Enterprise on-premise systems, or data centers. They're owned by and operated by a single organization, i.e. hospitals, other large companies that need their own data centers, and they also have a redundant one somewhere. Co-location, all right? Those were profitable for many, many years. That's where people built buildings, and they let people that needed their servers and all protected buildings MySpace, a 10 by 20 cage area to protect their servers. I've been to many of those three in my 30 plus years of being a technology risk advisor for many large organizations and I still do it today for a healthcare organization. The two that's coming up right now are of course the hyperscale cloud environment. Cloud just came in, the word cloud came into, what, less than 15 years ago. But there were still data centers way before them. There are some in downtown Irvine, just to let you know if you know where to look, because I've been in them. And then the big elephant is the AI training superclusters. Those are the ones, hmm, haven't proven themselves to be beneficial for anybody except billionaires, okay? A lot of numbers have been thrown out there. A lot of it is accurate. The largest data centers out there, the superclusters, will use 5 million to 12 million gallons of water a day. They will also use 500 to 1,000 megawatts of power per day. And to bring it down to the dumb people like me, a single...

Thank you, sir. Thank you.

The next three speakers are Franco Pacheco, followed by Tatiana Flores, followed by Nathan Urena.

Good evening, Council. My name is Franco Pacheco with Inland Valley Alliance for Environmental Justice. I'm here to support a ban on AI data centers, and it's a very big danger to the community. A lot of things can go wrong with them. We've been seeing it across the country, higher electric bills, higher gas bills, a whole host of problems that come with them. And also automation. So we're probably some of the biggest warehouse clusters in the nation. So AI data centers will help the automation and kick workers out of the warehouses, right? And then also I want to ask if anybody knows what the 46th Agricultural District is. It's the body that represents the Paris Fairgrounds. And August 26, they approved a study for an AI data center at the fairgrounds. So there's one in the pipeline already. And I would like to ask the council if you guys got notice of this project. We didn't get notice. Nobody knew about it. So right next to the lake, you know, they'll probably use the water from the lake on that one. Yeah, I mean, I don't know what else I can say that hasn't already been said. Please ban AI data centers from your city, just like City of Paris is in progress of doing right now. Thank you.

Next three speakers are Tatiana Flores, followed by Nathan Urena, followed by Mr. Fred Benuelos.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Tatiana Flores, and I am here to call for the prohibition or ban of AI data centers in Moreno Valley and the general surrounding area, and to urge the city to follow Monterey Park, Coachella, and our neighbors in Paris, who have all either banned or are working towards banning data centers in their cities. First of all, I'd like to thank the Council for bringing this up for discussion. This is a topic that community members and I have mentioned several times throughout the months, as Ismael mentioned, especially when the warehouse moratorium was being proposed earlier this year. I remain extremely concerned with the various proposals to introduce data centers in underserved communities across the state and region. such as those that we saw in imperial county and the coachella valley due to the various studies and community testimonies that highlight the significant amount of water and energy that they utilize according to the international energy agency a single modern ai data center can use as much power as a hundred thousand homes which we heard in the presentation and many of the larger ones being built are expected to consume up to 20 times that amount If a data center were to be built in Moreno Valley, this could result in rising power bills for residents. Additionally, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates that a mid-sized data center consumes around 300,000 gallons of water a day, which poses concerns for Southern California regions as we often face drought and dry conditions. On top of water and energy usage, data centers have been documented to also contribute to air pollution and warming temperatures. And how many fires have we had recently, y'all? These types of wildfires will continue to happen with worsening air pollution and drier conditions. And I also believe that Lake Paris is at threat. We recently just went to a meeting where they had their general plan updates being discussed for Lake Paris. So it would be sad to see all that progress that community members are contributing just be gone if this were to happen. And like Franco just mentioned, on August 26, the Southern California Fair and Events Board meeting signed a non-binding agreement with GlobalStack to study the feasibility of a small data center. And many of us were not aware of that, but this is something that the city of Moval and Paris should be alert on. It's right there in the border. And you should also join us in investigating this and fighting against it. So like the presentation calls for, let's set expectations. Let's be clear, you know, data centers are not wanted in Moreno Valley or the Inland Empire as a whole. And yeah, thank you.

Three speakers are Nathan Urena, followed by Fred Banuelos, followed by Eddie Torres.

Good evening. Honorable Council, Mr. Mayor, staff, residents of Myrna Valley, your contemporaries, Mr. Mayor, Honorable Council in Coachella, Paris, Riverside, Fresno, and other cities throughout California are facing the similar question on the issue of data centers. They have the foresight to understand that this is an issue facing their communities. In speaking with members of the City Council in Paris, Fresno, and in Riverside, the issues are of quality of life and of utility usage. Members of the Riverside City Council in proposal of an AI data center ban state clearly that they do not have the infrastructure to place a data center within the city limits of Riverside. The remaining lands in Marina Valley should be and must be for the benefit of additional housing, of economic growth and job creation. When the issue of a warehouse moratorium came before this council, an argument was made that the city of Myrna Valley is built out. Or that the moratorium should have begun at an earlier process when the warehouses were being constructed. This is your opportunity now to get ahead of the issue of data centers. I ask that the City Council, in accordance to Title IX, codify that data centers are not and shall not be used in the permitted use guidelines within the city ordinances. You have the authority to codify that to ensure that future councils do not bring data centers to the City of Marina Valley. To give you some rough numbers, You've heard members of the public saying that some data centers use up to 5 million gallons of water. To put that in perspective, one acre feet of water is roughly 325,000 gallons. That's 15 acre feet of water for 5 million going in daily. Per year, that's over 5,400 acre feet of water. If you're going to go into this, think about the issues. We have the potential to lose 1.7 billion gallons of water to data centers in our region. Local municipal water districts from metropolitan water districts from the Coachella Valley Water Authority, from the San Diego Water Authority, have clearly stated they do not have the infrastructure to build or even to supply data centers, which is why they are urging their constituents and they are urging their contemporaries on city councils to be mindful of this issue. I thank you for your time, and I again urge that in accordance to Title IX, you codify this ban of data centers in the conditional uses for the city of Marina Valley. Thank you.

The next three speakers are Mr. Fred Bonuelos, followed by Eddie Torres, followed by Nancy Antoine.

Hello, everyone. I'm here like Seth. I don't really have an opinion. I came here to listen to the presentation to get educated. I wanted to hear what the public had to say. But I do have a concern. Our fire department, are they able to handle any type of emergency? If these things blow up, if these things catch on fire? You had somebody mention it earlier. That's one of my concerns. Is there going to be some... We'll have to get evacuated. I want to learn more about these data centers. Let's see what else you guys have here. I'm sorry. Oh, I see people, I mean, we need data centers. I see people here with their phones, computers. What happens if you don't have that data center and your phone doesn't work anymore? What are you going to do then? Can you guys, I'm trying to talk here. Let's pause the time.

I know you may not agree with what's being said, but everybody gets a fair shot. I'm just asking that everybody keeps it respectful. Everybody has three minutes, equal amount of time to speak. Right now, Mr. Benuelos is at the podium. If we could please just keep it respectful to allow Mr. Benuelos to give his public comment.

Thank you. So going back to that, I mean, we don't want it in our neighborhood. It's going to have to go somewhere. And that's why I'm trying to get educated. Listen to these people when they're up here at the mic and not behind me. I want to hear what they have to say. So again, I don't have an opinion on it. I'm trying to get educated. That's why I came here. And then... Just a safety thing for me. You know, what happens, I wish our chief would have been here to maybe answer some questions on how we would deal with a fire. You know, are the things going to blow up, batteries, that type of deal. I'm doing some searches and I'm hearing that the almonds take more water to produce than it is on these data centers. So I'm still in the learning process trying to figure out what's going on. And I'll end on, there's three meetings tonight, guys. Val Verde, Reno Valley Unified, and this one. We got to do something to fix that so I can be at those other meetings if I need to be. Thank you.

The next three speakers are Eddie Torres, followed by Nacy Antoine, followed by Krista Hawkins.

Hello, good evening. My name is Eddie Torres. I'm the policy director for the Yolanda Coalition for Immigrant Justice, but I'm here as a resident of Myrtle Valley, long time since I've moved here back in 2003 with my family. Now I'm raising my own family here with my little one, my wife. And we're really happy to be here alongside our families and our neighbors, demanding that we ban data centers, and Marana Valley. This is for the future. This is for generations to come, for the kids, for the youth to enjoy this city as it is today, as much as we can to preserve it. A couple months ago, I'm sure you all know, there was a big fire by the Kaiser Permanente on Iris. around there, several neighborhoods had to get evacuated, including my mother-in-law's house, right? All those pets, my sister-in-law's mother-in-law had to evacuate. It's really scary to think about climate change and what's happening all over the globe now. This is more humid today than it was in Miami. That's pretty crazy to think about, just to put it into perspective. that we're going through these changes and it's not stopping anytime soon. With that, there's urgency to protect what we do have and make sure that generations to come have the ability to enjoy and bask in it, right? Whether that's Lake Paris, whether that's the water that we currently have to enjoy for ourselves, we need to do what we can to protect what we have and preserve it. And that starts with banning data centers. In Adelanto, they're currently going through something really similar right now. The Planning Commission voted to not support data centers, but there's a fight ongoing. I can tell you that once it's been built, it's extremely hard to get rid of it. It's better to get rid of it right now before it even has the chance to sprout. Because once something is built, whether it's detention centers or whether it's warehousing, it's extremely difficult to get it out of your community. So you guys have an opportunity right now to stand by your community and do the right thing and ban data centers forever. Thank you.

The next three speakers are Nacy Antoine, followed by Krista Hawkins, followed by Shadem Odom.

Hi. Once again, long-time resident, 36, 37 years here. We find ourselves here often. And me truly, I feel like you guys don't sit here and represent us at all. Last night was the first time I seen one of y'all say no to a project. And it's getting ridiculous here. We don't need a data center. We don't want a data center. And I keep asking you guys, how many of y'all truly live in this area? Because I don't believe it. I don't believe it. Because of the way it look. Everybody sit here. When they get out, they get on the 60 and go the other way. This is our home. This is our home. We asking you guys to represent us and protect it. This is our home. This is my third house I purchased in Moreno Valley. And I know it's going to be my last. But we're asking you guys to represent us. Stop selling us out. I'm not going to give you no numbers and all that because y'all already know that. Just like the young lady said, y'all already had y'all mind made up. This is a show. But we're here to stop the show. Now, you guys sell us out all the time for a dollar. We don't have nothing in here but warehouses, dispensaries, and car washes. And they're all drug fronts. And I hate to say it, but we got too many of them. It's too many of them. It's time for y'all to start doing something to represent us. And I got to keep it straight with y'all. I'm not going to sit up here and try to sugarcoat it. It's too many of them. When you drive down the street and there's two car washers next door to each other. That's a problem. And you know what I tell y'all? Every time I come up here, they say, oh, just put it in Moreno Valley. They settle for anything. Throw it over there with them. And you guys sit there and go, yeah, yeah. And then I wonder, once it goes and it comes on the board like you said, you guys all say, oh, we have to approve it because they did everything they were supposed to do. What are y'all sitting here for? Y'all might as well just put our money back in our city and go home. Go to work like we do. Because y'all not working for us. We don't want the data center. Stop. I don't even know what to say. Work for us.

The next three speakers are Krista Hawkins, followed by Shadem Odom, followed by Morgan Valle.

Hi, I'm Krista Hawkins, longtime resident of Moreno Valley. I've been here all my life. I was raised here. I remember when I went to Vista del Lago, we had some organization come when I was in ASB. And this was, I'm not going to tell my age, but this was a while ago. And they were telling us about how we were the future leaders of Moreno Valley and how there's no leadership in Moreno Valley. There's no jobs in Moreno Valley. And that always stuck with me. Why? Do we have to go outside of Moreno Valley to get nice things? Why are there so many commuters? That's why the freeway is always full all the time, because people have to go outside of Moreno Valley to work. And we're against the data center. We do not need it. And I don't know if you guys know what environmental injustice is, but it's the unequal distribution of environmental hazards and benefits, which places a... disproportionate burden on pollution, toxic waste, climate risk on low income minority and marginalized communities. Why aren't they proposing to put data centers in Beverly Hills or in Calabasas with the Kardashians or in Sherman Oaks? Why is it always in marginalized communities? Have you guys thought about that? Why is it always marginalized communities, places like Marino Valley? i would love to know that i would love to know have you guys even thought about that and then also i appreciate everyone coming up here with numbers and being prepared you guys also need to be prepared you can't leave it on us to do the work a lot of us are getting off of work dropping kids off all types of things just to come up here and educate you guys for what we pay you for so you guys should be reading seeing what's on the news seeing what's on a more perfect union uh different centers and then i also want to know why can coachella banned something and then every time something comes up to you guys you're like well they did everything they're supposed to do we can't we can't go against it maybe you guys need to bump elbows with them and talk with them and see what's going on and their bylaws their rules or whatever it is and see why they can ban something and you guys have to approve EVERYTHING SOMEBODY COMES UP HERE WITH, ESPECIALLY A DATA CENTER. AND I'M REALLY DISAPPOINTED TO HEAR THAT SOME OF THE RESIDENTS COME UP HERE SAYING THAT IT'S ALREADY KIND OF IN THE WORKS AND THINGS ARE HAPPENING AND YOU GUYS ARE BEING SNEAKY. I DON'T LIKE THAT AND I THINK IT'S REALLY BAD. IT REALLY IS WHEN YOU SIT ON A DESK AND YOU'RE GETTING PAID FROM US. I PAY MY TAXES. I PAY MY TAXES. I'M NOT RENO VALLEY MALL. YOU GUYS DON'T PAY YOUR TAXES FOR ME. I PAY MY TAXES. So I just feel like you guys need to work for us and do what you're supposed to do. The same way the mayor, you went out and you wanted that boxing gym and you were talking to them, you wanted them to come here, you need to come out and talk to us and see what we want. It needs to be a more persistent thing. Just like you did that, you need to come talk to us. Thank you.

Next three speakers are Shadem Odom, followed by Morgan Valle, followed by Lindsey Robinson.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Shetam Odom, and I'm a mother and an educator here in Moreno Valley, and I deeply care about our city and the future of our city. This weekend, I went to Farmers Market in Temecula. I then went to Irvine and watched families walking, children playing, eating, shopping, and simply enjoying the community. I found myself asking again, why do so many of us have to leave Moreno Valley to experience these things? I'm not asking Moreno Valley to become Temecula or Irvine. I'm asking Moreno Valley to become the Moreno Valley we said we wanted to be. Our own general plan, that 2040 plan, talks about vibrant gathering places, recreation, culture, economic opportunity, and becoming a complete live, work, play community. As we discuss data centers tonight, my question is bigger. Are our development decisions actually moving us towards that vision? Because we already have warehouses. We have truck traffic, storage facilities, industrial development, and much more development that has been approved but not even built yet. And we have history. In 2024, a Riverside County Superior Court found deficiencies in portions of Moreno Valley's general plan environmental analysis involving air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and the environmental baseline. That should matter as we consider data centers because projects may come before you one at a time. A warehouse. Yes. A storage facility, a data center, and last week, the storage facility. But residents live in all of them together. We breathe the air together. We drive the roads together. Our children inherit the decisions we make today. And we have choices. In June, the Paris City Council voted 5-0 to move forward with a citywide prohibition on data centers. I'm not saying we have to copy Paris. I'm saying Moreno Valley has choices too. So before we open the door to another major land use, tell us, what is a cumulative impact? How much water and electricity? How many permitted jobs? And what opportunities do we give up when we commit to that land for decades? Those aren't anti-business questions. They are responsible government questions. I believe Moreno Valley can be a place where our families don't have to leave town to have a great experience. Our children deserve gathering spaces, restaurants, entertainment, recreation, culture, and great jobs right here. I haven't given up on Moreno Valley. I expect more because I believe we can be more. The vision is already written, 2040. Now let's have the courage to build it. Thank you.

The next three speakers are Morgan Valle, followed by Lindsey Robinson, followed by Nevaeh. Go ahead, Morgan.

Hello. I don't repeat everything that everybody said. I also am against the large AI data centers. But really, we need to look at it from, you know, if we are going to look at smaller data centers or things like that, We need to look at, is this a community benefit? What benefit are we getting from having these data centers? Because the developers are going to come in, they're going to promise us the world, and then they're not going to follow through. We've seen that happen over and over and over again, where the developers go, we're going to give you this, we're going to give you that, we're going to give you money. That money is going to run out and we're not going to have anything substantial. They're not going to follow through on their agreement or they're going to get halfway through the project and then leave us stuck in the mud again. So we need to really look at these developers if they're saying they're going to give us the world, are they actually going to? The other thing that was mentioned during the presentation was the Marina Valley utility. He said something along the lines of like, oh yeah, for whatever the project is, I can get enough power for it. Why don't we put that energy into expanding MVU for our residents? I have Edison and their rates are insane. I would much rather have MVU. Let's give that benefit to the community and expand it for the residents, not for a data center. And I agree with what Mr. Benuelos said about reducing usage. We all use cell phones. We all use this information. If we really, truly care about the environment, we shouldn't be using AI. We shouldn't be saying, well, not here, but somewhere else. You know, I need my AI. I got to make myself look like a cat. Send it to all my friends. No, we shouldn't be using it. We should all be trying to reduce our usage so the demand for these massive centers goes down. That would help alleviate the issue for all of our neighbors across the country, not just here. Sorry, this is much easier in person. I don't like doing it on Zoom. I do appreciate that it's available, though. Oh, the other concern I had was the water usage. We have been asking residents for years to reduce our water usage, get rid of your grass, put in native plants. But then we have these developers who want to come in with these projects that use massive amounts of water. It just seems counterintuitive to put something like that in a desert where we already don't have enough water. So again, I don't want to reiterate the things that everyone said. I am very much against these larger data centers, but it's a much bigger issue and it is a lot of things that we need to consider. But I would support banning those large AI data centers in the city. Thank you so much.

The next three speakers are Lindsay Robinson, followed by Nevaeh, followed by Louise Palomares.

Good evening, everyone. I have a few questions that I know you can't answer, but will the PowerPoint be available for the public or can we just type in chat GPT, create a presentation for me on data centers? When you give a presentation and say stuff about megawatts, is that per hour, per day, per week, per year? Someone else in the audience brought it up that it's per year, but again, it's confusing if we hear 500 megawatts and not know what the timeframe is. Out of all of you here, up on that side, not out there, except for Elena, none of you were involved in the world logistics fight or whatever. But what you need to know, because data centers look like clusters of warehouses, The city does not get to dictate what Edo puts in any of the warehouses. One of the dissenting council members say, so you can put hazardous materials, batteries, whatever out there, and we can't say no. And in the agreement, go back and look, unless somehow or other he's changed it, which I doubt. You have no say in what he puts out there. Therefore, many people are suspecting a data center is something that he wants to bring forward, and you will not be able to stop it because they're his warehouses. He's already looking for energy and water. So look into the agreement because the city gave up the right to say what goes into his warehouses. Thank you.

The next three speakers are Naveo, followed by Luis Palomares, followed by an online caller with the last four of 5-1-1-5.

Hello, Council. I love to hear that the community is against data centers and we want to keep our green spaces green and our wild spaces wild. But I don't believe that the conversation about data centers starts with the typical buildings that consume more water and energy than the communities they sit in. The conversation starts with acknowledging and educating ourselves about the AI systems that are already in place in our communities. A relevant example are Flock cameras. Flock is a company that I've spoke about plenty of times before and they use AI technology to recognize color, makes and models of vehicles along with identifying characteristics of not only cars but people. They have been misused by RCSD in recent months and misused by many more. AI is not a reliable tool when it comes to solving crimes. It's an expensive shortcut that makes more mistakes than none. The conversation about banning data centers starts by banning AI surveillance technology. the same technology that Mayor Cabrera allowed to infiltrate our streets, the same technology that he refuses to acknowledge even as public outcry grows, and even as our neighboring communities of Coachella Valley and Lake Elsinore fight off data center proposals. Of course, the community wants none other to ban data centers. We love the natural spaces that surround us and we want to protect the health of our lands and our bodies. And of course we should all be educated on these issues. But what good does this do if you won't cancel Moreno Valley's contract with Flock AI? What good does this do if you will not denounce AI altogether? What good does this do if Moreno Valley tax dollars are still funding a company that contributes to the problem another city or county will eventually have? But this study session does look good on tabloids and it does look great for photo ops. And hey, it is campaign season after all. I want you to know that all of this is disingenuous if you are not addressing every corner of the problem, but only addressing the trending parts of it. What better way can we spend 2.86 billion tax dollars to prevent crime and make our city safer and more enjoyable? How much more money can get funneled back into the citizens' lives rather than your lawsuit, Cabrera? MoVal citizens deserve more than your photo ops and Dutch bros. We deserve transparency. We deserve to be listened to. We deserve... better roads, green spaces, clean streets, and we deserve our tax dollars to go towards our children and our future. We do not deserve to be surveillanced. So go ahead and ban data centers and get your pictures, but remember that this is not the beginning or the end of the conversation. Thank you.

The next three speakers are Luis Palomares, followed by a caller by the last four of 5-1-1-5, followed by Andrea Delgado.

Wow, action-packed meeting today. I'm glad you're here today. You showed up, Cabrera. Maybe this might be a feather in your hat because I'm pretty sure you're going to say, no, we don't want them. You know, let's take it to another meeting. Let's do this. Let's do that. You know, it's campaign season, so that would look good on your campaign, like the Northgate goody over there. It's not even at the planning or even at the counseling, and you're already taking photographs. for your agenda, really, really, really. Okay, saying all that, you know, data, mega data centers, that's all we need here, right? We already have enough going on. We got the Merivium, all the buildings over there. We got some buildings over here on the ASN. Now, data centers, you shouldn't even be entertaining the thought. I know you said that you wanted to do a study session so you can see how it all plays out here. You know, whoever don't live here don't have no business. Making decisions about us, we the people, for the people, by the people. You know, so many people don't even live here. You get in your cars and you drive home, every direction. But you don't stay here and you don't live here. So, you know, these data centers, AI, how many jobs it's gonna bring? I mean, it's hard to even find a damn job now. I mean, come on. We're in a mess right now. And this is gonna take more of our jobs and make things more easy and fire some of the people even here? Because we're not gonna need you. We'll have data centers. We'll have AI. Really, really, right? And if there's a huge fire, what the hell's gonna happen? Remember what happened over there in LA? The food that burned, and there was rats, and everything was coming out of that building. It smelled like hell, and those people are still putting up with that drama. What if we have a mega data center somewhere close? What the hell's that gonna do if it starts on fire? Batteries, all kinds of nonsense. That's a danger to our environment, you know? Two million dollars, wow, two million dollars. You know, how much could we do with that, Cabrera, the $2 million you cost us in a previous lawsuit? We don't want data centers here. You know, it's all about corporate wealth. How are we going to benefit by it? That's what I want. How are we going to benefit? It's for corporate wealth, for the greedy. They take from the needy and give to the greedy. They're going to take our water. They're going to take our electricity. Really, really. We don't need them. We don't want them. So they can go jump in the lake, for all I care, because this is out of the question here. This is out of the question. So I hope all of yous man up, especially you, Gonzales. Man up and vote the right way for the people, not for what you want, or not what your Mayor Cabrera wants, or not what your boy Cabrera wants, what you want. You know, and maybe you might vote no against it. Well, it's a good campaign ploy, so hey, I think so. I think I'll go that way. But no, send them packing. We don't need it here. They put a moratorium. Paris? Little Paris. All kinds of other communities are saying, hell no, we don't want it here. Don't even bring it. Thank you.

Next three speakers are caller with the last four numbers of 5115, followed by another caller, name of Andrea Delgado, and then followed by another caller with the last four of 5074. So will the speaker in the queue with the last four numbers of 5115 go ahead and speak?

Good evening. This is Jacob once again. And I want to keep this short and sweet so that I'm not being repetitive. This meeting has been very, very unanimous, aside from one individual who's uneducated on them. On the idea that we need a ban on these immediately, this is not an idea of cost benefit where we have to weigh the differences because there's no substantial benefit. And there are endless, as has been documented throughout this meeting, endless cases of risks and harm. And people are getting asthma, having worsening of their asthma, the endless humming that is dangerous, unbelievably dangerous to wildlife. very dangerous to the people as well. It's causing a multitude of health issues within individuals. The horrible drinking water conditions for the water that's being dumped. There's just been a multitude of risks that have been attributed to this and this meeting has demonstrated that. So I don't believe that this is a risk benefit thing that needs to be weighed. We definitely don't need data centers as the one speaker said. He himself said that he is not educated fully on these and has made former false claims about AI, such as flat cameras, solving a murder case here. That was false. I looked into it. And I would just urge the council that you make this decision today. Don't try to pass this off or look more into it. You represent us, and we've made it very clear what our stance is. Thank you.

The next three speakers are Andrea Delgado, who's joining via Zoom, followed by the last four numbers ending in 5074, and then followed by Jason Reveles. So go ahead, Andrea.

Hi, everyone. My name is Andrea Delgado. I'm coming into this space as a resident of District 3 in Myrtle Valley for over 16 years. This is my first public comment to City Council, so I hope that does say a lot. Similar to the previous speakers, this does feel also deeply personal for me. If data center proposals do come to the city, I demand that the city council do not prioritize profit over the well-being of its constituents. The obvious reality is that we're in a climate crisis. California is in a water crisis, so this topic feels very backwards. Data centers have clear negative impacts on public health and that of the environment. To reemphasize a few, any welcoming of data centers would drain our already strained water resources, contribute to the heat island effect, and put a strain on our already vulnerable power grid, contributing to carbon emissions and wildfire risk in doing so. The fossil fuel backup generators commonly powered by diesel that are used in modern data centers would also exacerbate our already poor air quality. Data centers also contribute to extreme noise and light pollution that would impact local communities and negatively impact the local wildlife that we have left. Many data center projects are shown to be commonly cited in underinvested, marginalized areas similar to the warehousing industry in the Inland Empire that would only be exacerbated by, oh sorry, that would only exacerbate the environmental injustices we're already facing. So I'd really recommend looking at this issue from an equity lens, who is primarily using and benefiting from AI and what neighborhoods in our community would be subject to the impacts from a data center entering our city. While data centers are proven to bring some economic benefits, they really have serious local costs. So I do want to re-emphasize a key point said earlier, that AI is threatening the jobs our city prides itself in providing, that being warehouse jobs. So for me, the benefits do not weigh heavier than the trade-offs of our residents' quality of life, I'd recommend that the city prohibit data centers from being able to enter our neighborhoods. I'd actually request that the city should condone any use of AI, including AI surveillance technology for very obvious reasons and those that folks have already stated previously. So thank you so much for your time.

The next three speakers are caller on the line with the last four numbers ending in 5074, followed by Jason Ravellas, followed by Itzelana Garibaldi. So go ahead, caller, ending in 5074.

Hello, council. My name is Camelia Fowler, and I've lived in Marino Valley for about 12 years. This is also my first public comment at a city council meeting. We do not need data centers. Our community deserves development that is compatible with the health, safety, and quality of life of its residents. Economic development should not come at the expense of clean air, water resources, open space, wildlife habitat, and peaceful neighborhoods. I am therefore asking the Moreno Valley City Council to listen to the residents who will be directly affected by this project and to oppose approval of the proposed data center. Thank you.

The next three speakers are Jason Rivales, followed by Itzelana Garibaldi, followed by Mr. Roy Blackard.

Hello. My name is Jason, and my first question would be I would want to know who on the board here supports the data centers. As well, I wanted to speak on the behalf of Moreno Valley citizens to say that the community does not want or need data centers. I would like to put it in simple terms for people that are coming to the meeting and are not familiar with data centers. Data centers are buildings that house computerized systems that generate heat. As computer systems need a method of cooling, we would be required to expend a large amount of water. An average data center wastes 300,000 to 500,000 gallons of water per day, but large-scale facilities would consume 1 to 5 million gallons of water per day. We live in California, and I think that's really, like, no offense, but, like, that's really fucking dumb. Like, we live in California. We're prone to droughts. How is this even a question right now? And, um... Our Moreno Valley citizens do not need our water supply being utilized to cool any scale size data center. Data centers also indirectly create acid rain. Due to onsite power generation, many data centers rely on natural gases or burning fossil fuels. As fossil fuels are burned, the combustions release sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. As these chemicals are released into the atmosphere, it becomes a precursor that causes acid rain. This pollution would be detrimental to our community as it would contaminate our water, air, and create noise pollution from the systems being used on site, which may be heard from half a mile to a mile, emitting a constant humming noise. The effects of the constant frequency to humans and animals are hearing loss, stress, and insomnia. So to conclude, data centers would contaminate water, pollute our atmosphere, and emit noise and light pollution to residents who may reside within close proximity. I'd also like to say that I would really appreciate for the people that are on the board to make eye contact with the people that are here. Because the screens are for the people that are watching online, right? We're here. We're in person. We're in here to have this conversation. And when we're having a conversation, we're here to make eye contact and look at each other, right? And you, the one in the middle, I don't know your name. But when people are making comments about you, right, you shouldn't be smiling. You really shouldn't. What's it called? We could laugh because it's true. This is what we lived through. This is what you're doing to us. But I don't know why you smiling. And yeah, that's it. Thank you.

The next two speakers are Itzelana Garibaldi, followed by Roy Blackard.

Hello, my name is Itzayana, the double L makes a Y noise, and my comments are mainly concerning the health of our community and the harm that can be caused by the noise pollution produced by data centers. I had to check my numbers very quickly, so please excuse me if they aren't exact. But I've been reading that a data center could produce between 45 to 96 decibels of noise. If you go down to any pharmacy, I've seen that most the best of the earplugs there only protect around like 32 decibels of noise. We can't expect our neighbors to keep earbuds in all the time. Prolonged exposure to these levels of pollution most obviously will cause tinnitus. When the exposure isn't constant, the tinnitus will go away with time, but with the construction of a data center, those levels wouldn't be going away any time soon. This leads to permanent hearing damage to the people within our community. While this issue affects everyone within our community, I am especially concerned about the health of our kids. I will always preach the idea that the children are our future. It's been said over and over again because it's the truth, and when we foster an environment that disables them when they're young, we are setting the future of our community up for failure. And that's it.

Final speaker is Roy Blacker.

I'll tell you how this is going to go. It's going to go how Ulysses surveillance state Cabrera says it's going to go. Give you a little history. Nine years ago, 2017, what was it? 200 grand from Highland Fairview put him in that seat that he's got today. Let's go back to 2021, the October surprise, where the city attorney and the city clerk told him, you cannot appoint LaDonna Jepsen. He said, you know what? Screw you, the people, the law, and everything else. I'm doing it. Let's go to 2023. You don't think he's Ulysses surveillance state Cabrera? Oh, we got a perfectly good camera system that we paid for in 2010. No, we got to spend $3 million more. And who benefited personally? Ulysses surveillance state Cabrera. You can look at this stuff each and every day. And again, past history, best indication of future behavior. Doesn't matter what it is or who it is, look at the history. When it benefits me, that's where I'm going. So he may tell you today, oh, I'm against data centers. But what's going to happen tomorrow? Let's look at the record. I can tell you just from the broken promises nine years ago. Nine years ago. Said, hey, first got elected, come on in studio. Let's have a discussion. Tell the people, give you the opportunity. Oh yeah, I'm gonna do it. Nine years later, never. Ducked it. He will not address the people when he doesn't have control of the microphone. What do you think he's doing to you? You look at this. I couldn't talk to the crime syndicate. You've heard the people. You heard Fred and the others. Oh, you run this? Look, Elena practically had to stand on her head because she... endured the torture like the rest of us. You, three meetings going on today, we can't speak, I couldn't speak down there because you're scheduling meetings at the same time. This is the Marina Valley he has brought to you. And if you don't get rid of it, it's a Marina Valley you will see in the future. Marina Valley, it's your choice. Get off the stick and get it done.

The next two speakers are Zoom speakers. The first one is going to be Joshua Wilson, followed by Camille. Go ahead, Joshua.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you, sir.

Okay, so I just, thank you for allowing me to speak. But I just wanted to say, I don't even know why this is even being entertained. Just because we've seen what these data centers have done. I mean, you yourself, Ulysses, you got screwed up by yourself with the flat cameras and allowing them to come in with the city. So I don't even know, even after your own experiences, why we would even entertain having this company that we know does nothing but bad things for our community. Like we can talk, we see, I have like, okay, on my street alone, on the corner, I live off of JFK and Moreno Beach. I have three fly cameras on the intersection alone. I'm being surveilled every time I leave my house. And not only that, we've all seen the environmental impact. When we've seen the environmental impact due to all these warehouses, there's a bunch of warehouses where I live, and this will only add to it. Like my fiancé and I are currently expecting. I do not want to bring a child into this area. We're currently looking for places to buy another house. And we've seen a lot of houses in Reno Valley. We love our area. We love our area. We love where we live. We've been living here now for five years. And so we love it here. We want to stay in this area. But if you build an AI data center here, we're leaving. And a lot of other people are going to leave. We're trying to expand this city at the same time with all these projects and all these different bills, and it's great. But this will be nothing but a black eye. This will not help the city. This will do nothing but damage to it. Like, we recently had these fires a few months ago. You know, we were scared. And we've seen how with these AI data companies, how they redirect the water. So what happens if we have another kind of breast fire and we're not allowed, we don't have enough water to get to another fire? This does nothing but harm. And so I hope that you guys are listening to your constituents. Because I promise you, if this goes through, we're already upset about all the warehouses. We're already upset about all the car washes. We're already all upset about everything that's going on. So if you want to keep the progress that you guys have made with the city, then we urge you to not even entertain us. Whatever kind of kickback you may be getting or whatever may be going on behind the scenes that we're not aware of, I promise you it's not worth it. I promise you it's not worth it. You're elected to do what's best for your constituents, so please go ahead and do that. Thank you very much for your time.

The next speaker is Camille Gobian. Go ahead, Camille. Unmute yourself by pressing star six. Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, we can. All right, perfect. I'm going to try to keep this as short as I can. I've been a Moreno Valley resident for my entire life. I also started an intern position here at the City of Moreno Valley. And honestly, I'm really ashamed that this is, you know, a conversation that we do need to be having. I have been, you know, for a day. There's just anywhere in the world. I just don't think they need to exist at all. Anyone. the idea of creating one here, even through this sort of meeting that is supposed to look like democracy, I feel like it's really just... It's not right. And I think you truly just need to listen to your constituents. And it's not just the people sitting in the crowd, which thank you for all your words and thank you for your passion and dedication against this cause. But it's coming from internally as well. And I implore any other, you know, employees of the city to, you know, speak up if this is an issue that bothers you. And it should bother you. Because you are supposed to be serving the public. You're supposed to be serving the city. And what is the city going to be when it's destroyed? When the environment is being drained? The motto of the city is where dreams soar. How are those dreams supposed to soar? If we are proposing these data centers, we're already building so many warehouses and so many unnecessary things. So please listen to your constituents. People. Thank you.

Mayor, that concludes all of public comments.

Thank you Madam Clerk and thank you to all of our public speakers as well, to everybody that came out this evening. At this time, we will go ahead and bring it back up to the dais for council discussion or any follow-up questions. So we'll go ahead and open it up to the rest of the council.

Yeah, definitely.

Oh, sorry. Okay, let's just make a list here. No, I'll let you go first. So we'll go to District 1 first, followed by District 4, followed by District 2.

The first thing I want to say is definitely that I don't know if everyone is here at the beginning of the meeting, but we did discuss that The only reason we can have this conversation is because there currently is no data center coming. So that's number one. It would be illegal for us to have this discussion if there was one in the works or in planning. That's why we're having the discussion today. We hear you. It is a democracy. We are here to represent you. I for sure am in the same mindset. I don't think that we have the resources here from what we've heard, but we do need more information. So I think that what we should do is... It's a study session as well. We don't take action tonight. We're just here to discuss. So I would like to direct staff to bring back a moratorium for as long as we can. So while the moratorium is in place, we can have more discussion and study about banning this type of... company that you, us, the residents, all of us who do live here, because we do live here, all of us up in this dais, that was another comment, that we get on the 60 and drive away. We get on the 60 and go to work every day like you. This isn't a full-time job. I come from work. I worked eight hours this morning and then come here. But You know, we could have cut the comments. You know, we're all in the same mind and said, you know, let's just hear 30 seconds or a minute. But we all came here to work and to listen to you. And everybody had a chance to either call in, get on Zoom, come here in person, send us comments. We have comments that were emailed to us. We have those up here. So we sat and listened to everything. I certainly heard what you said, and I see the writing on the wall and what my constituents want, and what I think the direction we need to do is staff to bring back a moratorium so that we pause, have time to look at it, and consider the ban. But right now, that's where I'm thinking. That's where I'm at.

Thank you. Next up, we'll go to Councilmember Bernard.

First, I want to address something to before I give my comments. I want to redirect there was a comment that was mentioned about Marino Valley utilities and the spot the spot load that was happening. Can I get city manager or to address that? Or Jason? Yeah, I'm sorry, Jason.

Jason, if you want, I'll take it. I don't mind. Okay. So the reason why that report had conversations about spot load is in the industry it's used by a multitude of different reasons and so forth, especially when you're looking at financing and so forth, infrastructure going forward. But spot load had to do with a few things. It had to do with the mall redevelopment. It had to do with Aquabella. It had to do with the other logistics centers that have been approved and so forth. So even with the Skechers expansion, every time a new building comes on, that's a spot load. We have to figure out how many, what's the load, how many megawatts is needed, and so that's why 50% of the additional load would be spot loads as that development came in. We know what those specific plans are. We know what GP 2040 says, but we do not procure energy until it's actually needed. And so that's what a spot load is. Also, if you don't mind, since we're talking about electricity, I think it was Ms. Valle that said something about SCE and potentially could MVU build the utility to a point where we could take over SCE customers. That is not plausible. SCE would not give up their customers. We'd have to buy the entire infrastructure. The infrastructure is very old. All of the infrastructure for MVU is below grade or underground. So as we build out, all new development will be MVU customers, but there is at this point no way that the utility would go forward and purchase SCE to get all of those customers because we would have hundreds of millions of dollars of reinvestment to bring that infrastructure up to par.

Actually, at Utility Commission this month, the utility commissioners who are public representatives who sit on the utility commissions, they asked Jason just this month to look at buying SCE customers because we do have to pay so much for the infrastructure. But, I mean, MVU would like to take over all of the city. They actually lowered the rates this year while we pay higher rates this year. So we're actually looking into that, but just as, like, how much would it cost? And when we talked, our commissioners asked Jason, you know, well, how does SCE feel about that? He said, they don't care. They don't care. Their customer service is horrible. They don't see us as, you know, valuable. If we want to buy them out and buy the equipment and take over, they're happy to give it to us. But it is costly. So we're looking at, like, who would pay the cost? all MVU, so these, you know, would we burden the people who are current MVUs with that? Would we put all the costs on the SCE because they have to move over? But it is something that your utility commission is looking at and Jason's working on that as well. But those are also some things that utility, so not just because there's reports or we're looking into things means that we're going to do it. We're looking at like what would be best for everybody.

I'm sorry, Councilmember, did that answer your initial question? And do you have any additional questions?

I don't have any other right now. Thank you. So I guess this is either a good thing that I called for or a bad thing. I was the one that called for the study session, and let me kind of give a little background why I called for the study session. So as Councilmember Baca-Santa Cruz said, we – I do have a job outside of this job. I do have a job outside of this job. I work at the Labor Center. I'm the director there at UC Riverside. And I have been looking and studying data centers now for a little close to a year. and seeing what had been happening in the city of Memphis, Virginia, Ohio, places like that and thinking like, okay, so what is it that needs to be done? Because I, like a lot of you, understand that it requires a lot of resources. And the one resource that we've learned that we could replicate, I shouldn't say the one, we can replicate a lot, right? We can refract your energy back because you can take care of that using solar power. We can figure out wind. So you can figure out all these things. The one natural resource that everyone seems to figure out that we can't replicate is water. And so we hosted a webinar last year, and we had folks from all over the world, and one of the most aforementioned folks at UC Riverside, Shaylo Wren, come and basically talk to us about data centers. And when I tell you the things that I learned that you can do with data centers, I was like, okay. So that was the first one. And I do want to give a special shout out to Jason. Because about three weeks ago, I had Jason come to the middle of Palm Desert. It was 117 degrees. And I know somebody asked about his suit. I'm telling you, he was fully dressed in a suit, 117 degrees, along with... folks from the no data centers, which is Monterey Park. We had people that talked about not just infrastructure for them, but what exactly is a data center? Where exactly do these things physically lie? Because while we're all on our phones, we all know phones and things like that, streaming services, it still has to be physically housed somewhere. And we used to think like the cloud is this mysterious, like we just didn't know, right? And so we sat down and had a conversation about that. And I say all that to say, I didn't just pull this out the sky. Someone said one time when I first really started mentioning it, because if I could have, I would have went for this a long time ago. It's the new popular thing. And I'm like, ah, it's not new and popular. I don't think it's new and popular. I'm seeing it happen in more and more brown and black communities. They're pushing back. These notices are being signed. And then I hear everyone, I hear you guys when you guys are saying the city of Coachella. So I hear that. Let's talk about what really happened in Coachella. They signed an agreement. It was going down for a vote. And then the residents got a hold of it and other community members. And then Coachella was like, oh, damn, we messed up. So they didn't do it because it was the right thing to do. And they didn't even have public input beforehand. I wanted full public input on this. I wanted full transparency and full public input. I've never been in support of them. But as Councilmember Baca-Santa Cruz said. The time to have the discussion was not when one is actually placed in front of us for a decision or when it was happening going down the pipeline when it's submitted because by then it's too late. And so what I was trying to figure out was, well, how can we get one? See, Baca Santa Cruz is requesting a moratorium. I want a full out ban. I want a full out ban. And let me explain why. We are in this weird little, I don't know, this is worse than Florida. I'm begging you, Florida, please take your weather back. I don't want it at all. I want my dry heat. But one of the main reasons I had that event in Palm Desert was because that's where they were being proposed at. 114 degrees, it was 107 degrees at night, even at 9 o'clock at night. And the truth is, It's too damn hot and there just is no water. But this is also a conversation that needed to be had. I also think it should not just rely upon the cities and the counties. This is something that states should be looking at and the federal government should be addressing. And we need to figure it out state by state because, yes, we can ban them out here in Riverside. In Riverside County, we can ban them in the entire state of California. The question now becomes, what is Arizona going to do? Because they pull from the same water. Nevada pulls from the same water. So we ban them, but they go forward. So that's why I think this is a bigger discussion. So I hear you. I... I can finally give my opinion because I haven't really given an opinion on it. And I'm telling you, I don't believe a moratorium is good enough. I believe you should have a full ban on them. But I also will say this, that while we can still do a full ban on them, at some point, just like everyone was complaining about AI today, if you are sitting on if you're sitting on any of your social media if you're doing any of those those things are all still involved in it and so we we really should look at it i i know um i believe it was miss hawkins who was like i don't want to say how old i don't put an age on it i don't care i'm an 80s baby paid in full all 44 years of my life i remember of time before we didn't have phones i still i long for it every day trust me when i just left the house you didn't know where i was till i got back Right. And if you were lucky enough and your parents supplied you with a beeper, you have to find a pay phone. I know. I think we might still have one out front. But I think we need to really look at how we use technology and what it's used for. We see the things that are happening. Technology is advancing way quicker than anyone ever thought. And so we need to really. We can we can ban this. I do believe I would prefer that city if they would like to look at a moratorium as well as a full on ban. I would I would prefer the ban, but I would like to see both of them side by side and go from there. But I think just in general, as a society, we do need to really consider and think about because I always tell people I don't think about it in terms of my future. I think about my children's future and every decision that I make. I try to think. about the same way my ancestors fought for freedom. They fought for freedom knowing one day they may never see it, but I would be able to see it and have it. And so even if the decisions I make today, someone may say it's silly that I would ban a data center. Well, you know what? It might not be something that I can fully see come to fruition, but my kids and their kids will be better off than I was. And sometimes that's the way decisions have to be made. And so that's kind of where I stand on it.

Thank you. Next up, we will go to Councilmember Delgado.

Yeah, I won't be as long, but I do agree with my peers up here as far as either placing a ban or a moratorium because we do not, in Maruna Valley, do not have the infrastructure for this. It might work in other cities. It might be something that they want. But I would tell you, I learned a lot. Thank you for that presentation. And thank you for a lot of the residents that came up with their information and their stats, because I didn't know a lot about data centers. We heard a lot about them, but we don't know, you know, getting down into the weeds. So thank you for that. And I do hear my constituents in District 2, they do not want anything like this. And I took notes and I wrote, lose, lose, because up in District 2, there's no... I mean, it doesn't even make sense for one. But, again, I think that we don't have the infrastructure. We don't have the desire. We don't have the need. So, I mean, again, I'm not going to reiterate everything these guys said. And I'm sure my other peers that haven't spoken have something to say about it, too. So, thank you.

Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem Gonzalez. Thank you, Council Member Leal. So I just want to say that I also heard the residents speak, especially the constituents that are in District 3. There's no place for data centers in Reno Valley or in District 3. We don't have the infrastructure requirements or the power or water to provide this type of development in Reno Valley. It reminds me of, you know, the comments that were being made about, you know, being ahead of these uses, which we have an opportunity now to ban or have a moratorium. No different than warehouses, right? There was the... The explosion of warehouses happened so fast, and it just took everyone by surprise, and it took a lot to get there. So I definitely will support a ban or a moratorium on data centers. And also, it reminds us all that we definitely have to have a conversation on the future of AI, the benefits of social media, even though we all use it for our own specific purposes. We definitely need to have that conversation in society. It's gotten out of control. So definitely I am not in favor of data centers here in our city. So with that, I'll turn it over to the mayor.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem, and thank you to my colleagues as well for their input. And again, thank you to the residents as well for coming out and participating. sharing your concerns, asking your questions. And, I mean, this is what it's about, you know, really hope that we see rooms filled with more people moving forward. You know, one of the things that we've tried to do is to make sure city hall more accessible it's not always easy and we're not always able to solve every piece of it because we're just one organization one government entity and there's so many others that you know have their own schedules and all that but hopefully we do see more participation more engagement now that we have the virtual options as well we're seeing more of that so that's always a good thing that our residents can come out and have their voices heard on topics like this and so Not to repeat everything that's been said because I agree with pretty much everything that's been said already. But to share a couple of other things as well that, for example, for anybody that watches the economy very closely and the various economic variables, factors, we can throw out things like inflation, treasury yields, interest rates, Federal Reserve making different decisions, tariff wars, the war in the Middle East and what that does to oil prices and everything. Right now, things are definitely obviously not headed in the right direction. And I bring that up because there's a lot of discussion growing every day about what's being nicknamed the AI bubble and comparing that to the dot-com bubble in 2000, comparing it to the Great Depression and industrial revolutions where technology's came about, they were created, they caused massive disruptions in society and the economy. And that's a major concern right now that so much money is going into these AI companies and so many different question marks that are coming up there. So I think those are serious concerns that we need to look at. And then I'll mention another one if you want to look into this is SpaceX when they went public, how that affected a lot of people in this country's 401ks and retirement accounts and things like that. These billionaires and corporations are playing games with the American people's retirements and equity and all of these things, and it's not okay. And that segues into AI regulations. And what we've seen this federal administration, when they got back into the White House in 2024, almost two years ago, They're using every tool and policy and legalese and even ignoring court orders to allow their donors and their corporate puppet masters to sell off public lands, federal lands. prevent or hold back AI regulation. Just in, I think it was Wisconsin, Elon Musk was fighting, I don't even want to say it because I have two young children at home, but it's those type of people that we're fighting against. And they're all trying to protect themselves, trying to fill their pockets more, trying to increase the value of their stocks and their companies. And Those are things that need to change, but we can control whatever is within our authority. Everything else, we can advocate for it. We can try to work with our state and federal legislators, but it's really tough to get anything done at the federal level, so we need to do what we can here. I also want to mention, because it was part of the presentation, that any AI data centers really are moving into industrial buildings across the country for the most part. And back in 2017, because one of the speakers brought it up, at the beginning, I was very new to politics, all that. I was learning a lot. I was 21, 22 years old and very quickly learned that the picture that was being painted about industrial and warehousing and how it's going to create all these permanent long-term jobs and it's going to be so good for the community, quickly learned that that was not the case. When I finally realized that, These people are not in it for the right reasons. They're in it to buy the votes on the council and get their projects approved. I decided to vote against the World Logistics Center. And ever since then, I've had warehouse developers basically coming for me. And it hasn't been easy, but it's because I wanted us to diversify our local economy, move away from just industrial. We've had too much of that going on. And so I think little by little, we're seeing progress in that direction, but we need to keep going. I won't talk about infrastructure or electricity or water because that's been covered already. But in conclusion, I will say that, you know, our society is at a major crossroads because we in many ways can't. live without many of these technologies our our society is just so interconnected and intertwined uh whether it's our our screens here and our agendas our cell phones our computers the internet um you know all those things um We have to figure out what the future is going to look like because we can't on one hand say we don't like AI and we don't want data centers. But then on the other hand, you know, folks are on TikTok and making Instagram reels and someone mentioned making cat pictures of yourself. we have to really figure out what that's going to look like and what do we want because we can't really have both. So in conclusion, I just want to say that I look forward to these conversations. It looks like there's clear consensus on this dais, on bringing an item back to the council, having a discussion, and taking formal action. We cannot do that tonight. This is a study session. Our processes, our bylaws, We don't take action in study sessions, but I'm sure we can give direction. That is correct. So now that the council has clear consensus, this is typically what we do. Staff will ask or see if there's consensus and then move forward with bringing back an agenda item in the future. So staff, I'll turn it over to you as far as any additional questions you may have, any clarification that you need on how to move forward.

Yeah. Mayor, just so it's codified for the official record, Policy 1.01, Section 1.4.3, although this is a study session and there is absolutely no vote, the council members may individually express their opinions and ask questions concerning the study session item. and may, by majority consent, give general direction to staff concerning further actions to be taken prior to formal city council consideration of the item. But any final action or formal motions or vote required to affect council approval or denial shall take place at a regularly scheduled council meeting. So based on this, there is definitely consensus for staff to come back. and we will do so in a ample time. Keep in mind we're going to have to discuss internally what meeting would be the proper meeting to come to and whether or not public notice is needing to be done through the newspapers and so forth. So we'll And we also are dark September 15th. So sometime in October we'll be coming back.

Perfect. Sounds good. Thank you so much.

Perfect. Thank you. And then I did have, just before we adjourned the meeting, received notice that we had one more request to speak that came in at the end here. So I just wanted to ask my colleagues if that's okay with you. We can take one more public comment. Okay.

Let's hear them all.

Christopher Baca.

I highly appreciate you allowing me to speak and I don't want to ruffle any feathers but I'm not for data centers but I think you I think Cabrera did make a point you know we need to look into the future and there are some fallacies involving going around about data centers for instance some of them What they're talking about the water and the electrical uses are these antiquated and old technology. And we're talking about data centers that use 2000 gallons of water that is completely always recycled. Also, it's insanity that our city does not allow warehouses to have solar panels. Whereas in the new technology, some of the windows, some of the other stuff can be used as solar power that can power these data centers. You know, when I was a kid, The year 2000, we're going to have flying cars. We're going to have robots. We're going to be living halfway up the sky. You know, we really, you know, we can't jump into these conclusions. I agree with Council Member Santa Cruz that a moratorium would satisfy it until there's more... information given out. I didn't see the study session, but they didn't mention anything about some of the water consumption. That is not, you know, yes, we're in the desert. I don't think a couple million gallons of water that is recycled indefinitely is, you know, the benefits for the future. You know, like I said, I'm not for data centers, but I think it's irresponsible to 100% ban something that we don't have the complete information for. I didn't see the study session, I didn't see the presentation, but there are future developments in solar panel and recycled water. And in case you didn't know, there are many data centers around. Did you know there's some in Lake Paris? It's state. It's here. They need it. We may have one here in City Hall. Who knows? So my conclusion is A bad is excessive at this point, although it could be rescinded down the line, but we need more information and we need to stop, you know, going with the political activity of like I band data centers vote for me.

That concludes public comment mayor.

Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. So that will conclude our meeting for this evening, and we will officially adjourn at 8.27 p.m.