Groton — The Town Council is postponing a vote on a data center agreement scheduled for Wednesday after the developer agreed to give the town more time to address concerns raised by residents, particularly about sound.

The council still will meet at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to hear comments from the public but will not take a vote, town officials said.

NE Edge, under manager Thomas Quinn, is seeking a host fee agreement with the town for an area south of Interstate 95 between Hazelnut Hill and Flanders roads. The agreement sets the parameters to potentially bring one or more data centers and establishes the annual revenue the town would receive. State legislation provides 20-to-30-year tax exemptions for qualified data centers.

The developer also would need land-use approvals.

Quinn had requested the council take a vote this week on the agreement, because he said he is working with a data center company and preliminary decisions will be made soon. A majority of councilors had agreed, but Town Manager John Burt said that as "the week progressed and we neared a new draft" of the agreement, it become more apparent that more time was needed to properly vet the document.

Burt spoke to NE Edge by phone on Monday about the sound attenuation language in the draft agreement, and the company was told "additional time was necessary to review the draft sound attenuation details with a consultant," Quinn said in a statement.

"We agreed this is a sensitive issue and understand this may take some time to sort out due to the technical language," Quinn said. "This is clearly the most technical part of the agreement."

"We requested a later date subject to the council's schedule," he added.

Burt agreed, saying, "The stakes are too high to approve this before both the Town Council and our residents are comfortable with the agreement."

In an email to councilors on Monday afternoon, Burt said the town "drafted a very strong agreement," and the data centers "can be built green," but he doesn't "want to risk the neighbors having a sound issue."

"I am very supportive of data centers, but I personally cannot support the agreement without time to bring in a sound consultant to review the language to ensure there's not going to be a negative impact," Burt said.

In a follow-up email later in the afternoon, Burt wrote that he spoke with Tom Quinn and Chris Regan, an NE Edge partner, about the concerns, and Quinn requested the town cancel the vote to allow more time "to complete our due diligence."

"He would also like some time to propose a few additions to the agreement to help with concerns," Burt wrote about Quinn. "While the delay could diminish the interest of the current data center looking at Groton, Tom will do what he can to keep the interest going for as long as he can. If the Council is interested in continuing the process, I recommend we get a sound consultant to work with the Town."

Quinn recommended the council remove the vote on the development agreement from the agenda but may wish to still hold public comment "to allow as much input as possible."

Town Mayor Juan Melendez Jr. said in a statement that Burt convinced the developer to give the council more time to deliberate, and Burt "saved the day and deserves all the credit."

"I think the town should use the extra time to hire a noise consultant so we can truly understand what impact this building will have on the neighboring properties," Melendez said. "While no vote will be taken on the 16th, public comment will still be heard in person and on Zoom, and I encourage everyone to come out and give their feedback."

Town Councilor Portia Bordelon said in a statement that she was pleased with the decision to slow down the process and that there will still be a special council meeting to hear public comment, as she believes "the public perspective needs to be a prominent part of this process."

"In addition to the comments collected this coming Wednesday, I will continue to advocate for a full proper public hearing on the document in particular and the idea of data centers in town, at large," said Bordelon. She added that concerns over environmental issues and the close proximity to residential housing with wells need to be addressed more thoroughly.

The special Town Council meeting for public comment will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Groton Senior Center (Thrive 55+) and by Zoom. The Committee of the Whole meeting has been canceled.

k.drelich@theday.com