Groton — Dozens of residents at a Town Council meeting Wednesday night spoke for more than three hours against a data center proposal, raising concerns about the impact on property values, noise and the environment, among other issues. 

The vast majority of the roughly 48 speakers were opposed or sought more information and time for the town to deliberate. Residents were applauded after they spoke, and some wore stickers that said "NO DATA CENTER NOW."

NE Edge LLC, under manager Thomas Quinn, is asking the council to approve a host fee agreement to bring one data center or more to land between Flanders and Hazelnut Hill Roads, south of Interstate 95 and north of Groton Open Association's Sheep Farm properties. The agreement outlines criteria and sets the annual revenue paid to the town in lieu of taxes, as the state allows 20- to 30-year tax exemptions for data centers. If the council ultimately approves the agreement, the developer would seek approvals from the Inland Wetlands and Planning and Zoning commissions.

Related column: Groton residents finally got their say on data centers, and it was a resounding no

Paula MacDougall, who lives on Flanders Road and was among the residents from neighborhoods near the industrially zoned property, said the town revised the agreement to address some of the neighbors' requests and the noise factor, but she had remaining concerns, including if the technology is available yet to make huge fans quiet, and "the possible need for an addition of transfer stations to handle the electric power which could be another destruction to residential areas."

"These are middle-class homes. Middle-class people's wealth, it's well known, is mainly tied up in their homes. I believe our homes would be worth less," added MacDougall, who implored town officials to not enter into the agreement and suggested they could help find another site in town.

Larry Dunn, chairman of the Conservation Commission, which took the position to not support or oppose a data center, said the host fee agreement limits the environmental impact by requiring the purchase of specific diesel generators to restrict pollution, provides direction on uses of hazardous materials, limits noise pollution and donates to the town 50 acres of open space.

Groton Conservation Advocates Co-Chair Eugenia Villagra said the council had passed a resolution to seek reductions in energy consumption to minimize carbon emissions. "Our objective is to lessen future climate change impacts by lowering the town's emission, not raise them by building a data center," she said. "Data centers use staggering amounts of electricity and generate a lot of heat which will contribute to local and global warming."

Villagra raised concerns about the impact of cutting down about 14 acres of trees and blasting: "How could this not have a huge negative impact on the many wetlands there, the wildlife, the beloved Sheep Farm, and what about the neighbors, their health, and their property values?"

"Destroying woodlands to build an energy-sucking corporate park is opposite the direction we should be going," said Kristin Distante, a resident and member of the Groton Conservation Commission. "Data centers are absolutely necessary, and there's plenty of empty factories and malls that should be repurposed to that end. Not pristine woodland."

Resident Douglas Schwartz said he grew up on Thames Street and has seen a lot of development in town. When he was a kid, the business district was on Thames Street, and Long Hill Road only had a bakery and a supermarket.

"We can’t go back at being a village but we can’t turn into Bridgeport either, and I think the council tonight — I'm getting a very good feeling — I think the council’s getting the message that the citizenry doesn't want to be Bridgeport," he said.

Lynne Marshall spoke about the importance of specifying noise limits in the agreement: "You don't want to build the data center and then have the neighbors justifiably complain about the noise."

"We are concerned justifiably about our environmental risks, and I am speaking as one family who lives across the street," said resident Michelle McCullen Green. "My child's life is going to be impacted by this."

Resident Kimberly Sheriff cried as she told the council that she just bought her "forever home" on Hazelnut Hill Road and wants to make sure the proposal won't affect her, her children or her two young grandchildren, who go hiking in Sheep Farm.

In a letter read aloud, Michael Kickingbear Johnson, acting tribal historic preservation officer for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, said construction would change the landscape around Flanders Road, creating "a substantial likelihood that ceremonial stone and other cultural features located within the project site will be adversely affected or destroyed."

Some residents, including Joan Smith, president of the Groton Open Space Association, called for town officials to take their time in their review.

“We recommend that the Town Council resist pressure to decide quickly and to take time to evaluate the host fee agreement, the promised financial benefit, the applicant’s reported history, his financial backing, the risk of litigation and potential environmental harm," Smith said. "The community deserves a more transparent and detailed plan before any decision is made to move forward."

Some residents publicly criticized or questioned the developer's experience and background and some people also criticized town staff and some of the councilors, and called for more vetting of the developer and the proposal. Some expressed anger over the Mystic Education Center proposal, the current data center proposal and a previous agreement signed with Gotspace. Several residents also discussed a recent column written by The Day's David Collins.

"I just really wish that we would take a look at our development process. I would like you to look at your own values. I'd like you to look at all these people here who are trying to give you input," resident Janet Mayer told the council. "The analysis — was enough analysis done? Here we go again. What about ethics and transparency? And I agree this should not be all on your plate. A lot of this should be done ahead of time."

Resident Genevieve Cerf, who also is a Representative Town Meeting member, referenced a Forbes article about how major data companies “have been negotiating with local towns through these little shady organizations.”

Resident Michael Boucher, who held a "Stop Quinn" sign at the meeting, criticized some of the councilors and called it a "new low for the Town of Groton government getting pressed by Quinn to rush the vote with no agreement yet available."

"We, the residents of the town of Groton, have to decide what direction we want the town to go in, not town staff," said Rosanne Kotowksi of the Mystic Oral School Advocates group.

Joyce Olson Reznikoff, who represented the Groton Shopping Plaza, said her father showed her in 1951 that he was going to build the only shopping center in the county.

"The reason I'm here tonight was to say I look forward to bringing business into our town but I didn't expect to hear what I'm hearing tonight, and I understand where everybody's coming from but I don't like how you do speak, and I'm very proud that I know Tom Quinn and I'm very, very proud to have a son, Christopher Regan, working with Tom," she said.

Regan, a partner in NE Edge, said he wanted to address some of "the misconceptions and misfacts" circulating. He said there are no lawsuits against Quinn.

According to court records, there is litigation against Verde Group related to a proposed Montville data center. Vineyard Meadows Investment and Bruno Blanchet filed a lawsuit against Verde JG LLC, Verde Group LLC and the late founder Joel Greene, and All of Us at North LLC filed a lawsuit against Mohegan Hill Montville LLC, Kleeman Farms LLC, Verde Group LLC and Joel and Donna Greene. Quinn, who was referred to as the CEO of Verde Group, said he was paid as a consultant to secure land permits and is not a party to the litigation.

Regan said the annual fee to the town from the data center proposal would make it the third-highest taxpayer in town after Pfizer and Electric Boat. He said the 50 acres the developer will give the town is a donation, not a penalty for noise, and the data proposal will bring 2,000 construction jobs and between 80 to 160 permanent jobs that are opportunities for students in town at Ella T. Grasso Technical High School. He said the agreement would require an environmental study.

Resident Edward Jacome, who also is an RTM member, said he doesn't have much of a preference now about whether or not a data center is constructed and asked the town and elected officials to "continue to do their due diligence." But he said he thinks "constantly attacking the staff is not fair," and he expects a better outcome than constantly bringing down morale when they are doing the best they can and always attempting to listen to residents and governing bodies.

He said he heard people say that this might not be the right location for the data center proposal, so he asked them where they would want it: "Where would everybody want it? You want to put it down in the city? You want to put it in downtown Groton? No."

Quinn said in an email to The Day on Thursday that if two 32+ megawatt data center buildings, as conceptually sited, are approved, the annual fee paid to the town would be $3 million, plus escalation over the length of the contract. Adding a third, smaller 16 megawatt building would add an additional $500,000 per year, plus escalation. He said the agreement includes lighting, well protection, sound protocols, sidewalks and a 2-acre recreational park.

Next steps

The council initially was scheduled to potentially vote Wednesday on the proposed agreement, but later decided to postpone the vote after the town manager raised concerns, including about sound, to the developer, and they agreed more time was needed.

Town Mayor Juan Melendez Jr. said in a statement to The Day that he had been prepared to vote no, "but more time and information to deliberate on is always appreciated." He said he and the town manager will have to flesh out how to move forward. They likely will consult the council at an upcoming meeting.

“What became clear from a three-and-a-half-hour public hearing was that Groton citizens deeply value our unique landscape and will not prostrate themselves before the world's wealthiest individuals and their global corporations seeking to squeeze out more billions in profit at our expense," Councilor Aundré Bumgardner said in a statement. "We also learned the value of thoughtful citizen input in guiding elected representatives. As a whole, we are far smarter than as individuals. Democracy works, and works best the more people become involved and the more opportunities for them to participate."

"I’m proud of my community for showing up, voicing their concerns and urging their representatives and town staff to conduct their due diligence in regards to this type of development," Councilor Portia Bordelon said in a statement. "This is the most important part of democracy."

In addition to health, environmental and legal concerns raised during the meeting, she said her main takeaway is "we, as a town, need to reform and restructure the process by which these developments are deliberated upon" and include public hearings.

Councilor David McBride called the turnout "overwhelming." He said in a statement that residents brought up many concerns which have been discussed over the past few weeks, and it's now up to the councilors to determine if they can incorporate these changes into the agreement. He said he was prepared to make recommended changes at Wednesday's originally scheduled council meeting that would incorporate most of the concerns.

He thinks the councilors still need to answer three main questions: should another data center agreement be entered into once the necessary changes are made, is the current proposed location appropriate, and are they comfortable moving forward with the developer?

Town Manager John Burt said it was great to see such a large turnout of interested residents and he is waiting for guidance from the council as to next steps.

k.drelich@theday.com