Hut 8 Corp. could avoid scrutiny from the Logan County Board if it convinces Latham Village Board members to annex the proposed site of the company’s planned 500-megawatt data center – two miles west of the village – and thus take control over the future of the $5 billion project.
The five-member Village Board – in charge of a community with 350 residents, a handful of village employees, total annual revenues of $291,000, no stoplights and virtually no businesses – plans to meet at 7 p.m. Aug. 3 to hold a public hearing and vote on the plan at Village Hall, 220 N. Main St.
The village’s attorney, James Jankowicz, said the proposed annexation wouldn’t take effect unless owners of property in between the data center site and village boundaries petition the board to annex their own property into the village. That process wouldn’t take place until after the Aug. 3 vote, he said.
An official from Hut 8, a Miami-based, publicly traded company, told Illinois Times in a statement that it just wants to help the community most affected by the 200-acre Logan Prairie Data Center about 30 miles northeast of Springfield.
“We believe the proposed structure would more directly connect the project’s economic benefits with the village located closest to the project,” said Gregory Irwin, Hut 8 senior vice president for energy origination and asset management.
Latham Village President Theodore Allen, 68, a retired state prison correctional officer, at first was an opponent of the data center when it was proposed to county officials seven months ago.
He said he changed his mind after learning how the village could benefit.
“If we can improve our little town, I’m all for it,” he said. “Our community could use a lot of upgrades.”
Hut 8 has proposed a “community benefit agreement,” to be voted on by the Village Board at the same time as the annexation agreement and new zoning classification, that would allow for a large-scale data center, in which the village would receive $8 million to $11 million a year for its budget once the center is operational.
Based on the village’s current budget, that amount would increase the village’s annual revenues by 27-fold to 38-fold over a 15-year period – or by more than 2,600%.
The money would allow Latham to improve its water system, create a municipal sewer system that replaces individual septic systems, and improve its public parks, Allen said.
Allen said three of the four other village board members appear to like Hut 8’s plans. Allen said he doesn’t consider the village’s consideration of the proposal rushed, and he said Hut 8 hasn’t given him any reason not to trust the company.
“I look at it this way: It’s coming, one way or the other,” he said.
Irwin said the funding for Latham wouldn’t stop other relevant taxing bodies, such as county government, the Mount Pulaski school district and Laenna Township from benefitting from the additional property taxes that would be generated by the data center. Hut 8 has said the project would create 200 full-time, permanent jobs and hundreds of temporary construction jobs.
“The village of Latham would have direct authority to administer and enforce the applicable zoning requirements, giving village officials direct, hands-on oversight of the project and Hut 8’s compliance with its commitments,” Irwin said.
“The taxable financial commitments to the county will remain the same, including benefits from the collection of taxes that go to the Latham Fire Department and Laenna Township,” Irwin said.
Hut 8 has said the center would bring in about $65 million a year in new property taxes for Logan County taxing bodies, though other estimates put the new revenue at $16 million per year.
Opponents of the project told Illinois Times this latest move by Hut 8 took them by surprise. They said it shows the ruthless and cunning nature of a company they said shouldn’t be trusted. The opponents said they still hold out hope that the project can be defeated at the village or county level.
Opponents said Latham would have even fewer resources than Logan County government to ensure Hut 8 is abiding by village and county codes, fulfilling its promises and not creating environmental hazards, excessive noise and stress to underground water supplies.
“I think it is vile,” said Rachel Strechman, a resident of Atlanta, Illinois, and founder of Logan County Indivisible. “They’re just as sleazy as we thought they were the entire time. I think it’s disgusting the way they are cutting out the entire county.”
Added Mount Pulaski resident Amanda Maxheimer, a founder of Sustain Logan County Communities, “It just seems like a lot of risk for the village of Latham. There’s always a new game plan by Hut 8 to force their way in. I’m still wrapping my arms around it. We didn’t see this coming. Maybe we should have.”
Maxheimer said data center opponents plan to hold a town hall meeting on the issue at 6:30 p.m. July 29 at the Latham fire station.
Hut 8 continues to request zoning approval from the Logan County Board for the unincorporated site on farm fields currently owned by other entities two miles west of Latham.
Public hearings and a potential County Board vote on the company’s proposed zoning change from agricultural zoning to industrial are still scheduled, as is the company’s proposed zoning alternative – approval for “conditional permitted use” in an agricultural zone.
There’s a dispute between the Logan County state’s attorney and Hut 8’s lawyers on whether a technical error in the company’s zoning applications will require the requests to be resubmitted and the approval process delayed from August to September.
Hut 8 didn’t respond to Illinois Times’ questions about the reason for the company’s concurrent proposals at the county and village level, but critics said the company is wisely keeping its options open if the Latham annexation plan fails.
Jankowicz said he is reviewing, and potentially making changes to, the annexation agreement, zoning ordinance and community benefit agreement proposed by Hut 8’s lawyers.
He said the document to be voted on by the Village Board will be available in a few days and can be obtained by filing a Freedom of Information Act request with City Clerk Brandee Allen, the village president’s wife, who can be reached at clerkvillageoflatham@yahoo.com.