Ozark County Commission: Commissioners discuss AI data centers

Discussion after the weekly county commissioners’ meeting Monday morning centered around one of the hottest topics in Ozark County recently: the possibility of AI data centers in Ozark County.

Commissioners are quick to assure county residents that they are staying informed on the issue that is on many people’s minds.

According to the Kansas City Star, there are roughly 70 data centers in Missouri with the majority in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas. However, the centers are expanding into other areas of the state, including one located in Springfield.

The commissioners understand the concern residents are expressing about the possibility of a data center being located in Ozark County and say they are attending a meeting in Jefferson City on June 17 about the expansion of data centers in the state. The meeting, which is only open to members of the Missouri Association of Counties, will be attended by all three Ozark County Commissioners. Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe and representatives from Amazon and Google, two of the companies who most utilize AI data centers. Those representatives are scheduled to speak to Missouri commissioners. 

“We’ll know more after that meeting,” says Presiding Commissioner Terry Newton. But the commissioners also want residents to know that they have not been approached about a new data center in the county.

“We’re doing our due diligence,” says Newton. “I don’t want to see them. We are not overlooking [the possibility] and we are actively looking into it.”

Newton uses Camden County, near Lake of the Ozarks, as an example of a county attempting to prevent a data center from being established in their area. There, the county has a proposed ordinance that includes no incentives for data centers, requires the centers to  generate their own power, restricts them from using normal water sources including wells, city water or lake water (only collected rainwater would be allowed as a water source) and imposes other very strict rules for potential data center development.

“I’ve read it and [we’ve] got Lee [Pipkins, county attorney] looking it over,” says Newton. “It created a bunch of hoops that they have to jump through. But if they want to be in a place bad enough, they’ll jump through those hoops and comply.

“Short of planning and zoning, and people don’t want planning and zoning, but at the same time…planning and zoning doesn’t fix it either. It doesn’t necessarily 100% keep them out... it just makes it harder for them to be there.”

“I don’t think there’s much of a chance they will come here,” says Eastern District Commissioner Jim Britt. “But we are keeping informed to ensure the best quality of life in Ozark County. We are doing all we can to make the best decisions for Ozark County.”

The Ozark County Commissioners meet at 9 a.m. each Monday morning in the upstairs meeting room of the Ozark County Courthouse. The meetings are open to the public, and veryone is invited. For more information, call the County Commission office at 417-679-4096.