Groton — A proposed data center agreement for land south of Interstate 95 between Hazelnut Hill and Flanders roads, which has been met with opposition and questions, will be presented to the public Thursday.

NE Edge LLC, under manager Thomas Quinn, is requesting a data center host municipality fee agreement with the town, which is the first step in the process of developing data centers.

According to the agreement, NE Edge seeks to develop one or more data centers on contiguous properties, which are south of I-95 and north of the Groton Open Space Association's Sheep Farm and Sheep Farm South properties. The properties listed in the agreement include about 56 acres at 327 Hazelnut Hill Road, about 92 acres at 351 Flanders Road, and about 1 acre at 449 Hazelnut Hill Road, as well as several properties with the address 0 Flanders Road that overall comprise about 19 acres.

A host municipality fee agreement sets conditions to potentially allow data centers "on particular properties under certain conditions and sets the revenue that would be provided to the Town, since the State has made data centers tax exempt," Town Manager John Burt said. "These agreements are required before anything could be built."

Any proposed building project then would have to go through all standard requirements, including through the Planning and Zoning and Inland Wetlands Commissions, Burt said.

The General Assembly passed legislation last year to provide tax incentives for data centers, defined as facilities to house computer servers "to centralize the storage, management, and dissemination of data and information pertaining to a particular business or classification or body of knowledge." To be eligible, the developer must make at least a $200 million investment, or a $50 million investment if the data center is located in an enterprise or opportunity zone. 

Quinn said at a Feb. 8 meeting that his team was instrumental in getting the data center legislation passed in Hartford.

The act provides tax exemptions for 20- or 30-year periods "based on the size and location of the data center investment" and requires state approvals and for the company to sign a host municipality fee agreement before the center facility can be built, according to a town document.

Burt said the town is considering the agreement because having a data center can help spur ancillary businesses and hopefully continue putting the town on the radar as being a tech hub, which has started with the town's blue tech economy. He also said the proposed agreement allows the Town Council to put conditions on the industrial zoned properties, whereas other industrial uses don't afford the same opportunity.

But before any decisions are made, he said, the Town Council wants to hear from constituents.

"I've done extensive research on the project and I think as a whole it's great for Groton," said Town Mayor Juan Melendez Jr., who is one of nine members of the Town Council. "However, we are being careful to make sure concerns from the community are answered before the council votes on approving the agreement. On the 24th we have a presentation from the developer and we encourage residents to come out and give us their thoughts."

The Town Council was slated to do its first review of the proposed host municipality fee agreement at its Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday. The council had not yet begun its review as of print deadline and was discussing other matters on the agenda.

Burt said the council is expected to continue to discuss at its March 1 meeting the agreement and digest the information from the public meeting; there will also be an opportunity for public comment during the March 1 meeting.

He said the council may vote on March 8, but is taking it step by step and will see where to go from its discussions on March 1.

Groton Conservation Advocates Co-Chairs Elizabeth Raisbeck and Eugenia Villagra wrote a letter to the Town Council in which they raised questions and concerns about the proposal, including calling for an annual economic analysis and for an environmental impact study to assess the data center's potential impact on streams and wetlands and the impact of noise and air pollution.

They requested that the council postpone a vote until the town has more information about the project, its leader and site-specific plans. They said the proposal should first go through Planning and Zoning and Inland Wetlands, and if permits are received, then to the Town Council.

Melendez said the council still is gathering information and input and expects to learn a lot at this week's presentation. "After that we'll be in a better position to evaluate how to move forward," he said.

When asked at the Town Council's Feb. 8 Committee of the Whole meeting about environmental concerns that people have raised, Quinn said it would be an electrically run facility with efficient cooling and efficient back-up diesel generators. Burt said language related to environmental protection and noise was added to the proposed agreement.

Burt said the water resource district touches the corner of the land, but not where the development would be, though no specific plan has been filed yet.

The agreement calls for NE Edge to donate at least 50 acres from the properties to the town, "with at least one accessway to and from Hazelnut Hill Road. A portion of the donated land shall directly abut the conservation land to the south" of the properties.

The developer plans to pursue the purchase of a 17-acre town-owned parcel along Flanders Road, to the east of 351 Flanders Road, though it is not being considered as part of the agreement, Burt said.

Burt said specifics, such as the number of data centers, size, specific location on the properties and value, are not yet available.

At the Feb. 8 meeting, Quinn said NE Edge would bring in a construction entity and an operating entity for the data center, but NE Edge would stay on as a joint venture partner throughout the project. 

The Groton Conservation Commission and the Groton Economic Development Commission will host the public presentation on the proposed agreement, followed by a period for questions or comments, at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Thrive 55+ Active Living Center, formerly called the Groton Senior Center, at 102 Newtown Road. People also can view the meeting via Zoom, with a link available on the town's website, or on Groton Municipal Television.

Other projects in the region

Burt said the proposed agreement for the properties south of I-95 is similar to a data center host municipality fee agreement with Gotspace Data Partners LLC the town approved last year for properties off Route 117. Quinn was a former Gotspace partner, according to the town.

At the Feb. 8 meeting, Quinn told the council that an investor "contracted to fund, partially funded, defaulted, and, when we called the default, attempted a hostile takeover." He said it took some time to "straighten out."

"We have straightened out," he said. "We have our whole team with us."

When asked for comment on Tuesday, Gotspace Data Partners Chief Operating Officer Mike Grella, who spent seven years at Amazon, said in an emailed statement that "Gotspace Data Partners is on a trajectory to become one of the leading developers for the Connecticut data center/high technology corridor."

He added that "Gotspace was ahead of the marketplace in seeing the potential for big data in Connecticut before the State passed one of the most aggressive tax incentive programs in the country and is well positioned to seize upon the momentum created by the proliferation of 5G, Internet of Things, Streaming, AI, and cloud computing. Partners and customers we speak with every day share our enthusiasm and are aligned with the Company's strategy to build out data infrastructure throughout Connecticut."

"I am fully supportive of the Gotspace's ownership and leadership team as well as the actions taken to preserve the Company's business interests," Grella said.

In 2019, Quinn was quoted by The Day as the CEO of Verde Group LLC in an article about the company's plans for a data center campus in Montville.

Joel Greene, the founder of the company, who died last summer, and Verde Group were subject to litigation related to the proposed data center, The Day reported.

A lawsuit, brought in June 2020 by Vineyard Meadows Investment and Bruno Blanchet and scheduled for trial in July, against Greene, Verde JG LLC and Verde Group LLC, accuses the defendants of breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, breach of duty of good faith and dealing, and unjust enrichment, among other counts. Blanchet was working on the data center project, the lawsuit said.

There also was litigation brought in September 2020 by All of Us at North LLC against Mohegan Hill Montville LLC, Kleeman Farms, LLC, Verde Group LLC and Joel and Donna Greene, according to court documents. 

Quinn, who was not named in the litigation, could not immediately be reached to comment.

Burt said the town did a background check and its due diligence on Quinn and did not find any issues, but will continue its research.

k.drelich@theday.com