In King George County, the topic of data centers typically causes consternation amongst members of the board of supervisors.
But while a 485-acre data center campus passed unanimously without debate Tuesday night, the Fire Department and Emergency Services’ Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) manual set off fireworks between Chair William Davis and James Monroe District Supervisor T.C. Collins.
Davis began to fume as Collins peppered Fire Chief David Moody with questions.
Collins spoke out against the SOP manual, which permits someone on jury duty to be paid for both their civic obligation and their job despite missing a day of work. He also questioned whether family members should be able to ride in county vehicles with public servants.
Davis said it wasn’t the questions that irked him, but rather Collins’ manner in talking to Moody and others on the board that was upsetting.
“You’ve had four years on the board, and you’ve never acted this way,” Davis said. “Now, all of a sudden, these past few months, it’s just about getting up pontificating.”
Collins’ tenure on the board is wrapping up at the end of the year; he’s not running for re-election. Collins said he’s unconcerned if his behavior offended any board members, but he was doing his job by asking questions.
Davis said Collins was more focused on putting on a “show” than doing his job.
“In four years on the board, you haven’t done your job then,” Davis said. “You wait until the last little bit to do it.”
That response angered Collins, who rose out of his seat and told Davis to “go to hell.”
“You Christian brother, you,” Davis said.
“Go to hell, Christian brother,” Collins responded.
Davis accused Collins of attempting to “monopolize” the time by not giving other board members opportunities to speak.
The board was able to conduct business despite the testy exchanges. The supervisors unanimously approved Dahlgren Innovation Hub’s Industrial rezoning request for the Dahlgren West data center campus that will be located on the north side of U.S. Route 301.
Two residents spoke in favor of the project, including Economic Development Authority member James Shaw and Renee Parker, president of the King George Historical Society.
“This developer probably learned a lot in previous applications from other parties, and this is, in my opinion, just a huge benefit for the county, not just financially, but they care,” Parker said. “I believe we’ve become so jaded we can’t believe any developer with money would actually care about our community, about staying rural … but this looks like they do.”
The developers said during the meeting they are offering a value of $12 million in proffers, including donating 1.5 acres of industrial land to the county to use anyway it sees fit.
The developers are projecting 1,500 construction jobs, 50 to 60 full-time jobs per building and between $100-$120 million in estimated fiscal benefit at full buildout.
They’re also promising 40% of open space with a community trail, increased setbacks, a maximum height of 70 feet, $1 million to the parks and recreation department, $500,000 for the trail installation and maintenance, $500,000 in workforce development, a 20,000-gallon water tower valued at between $5 million and $6 million, $3 million in public safety, plus the rental of a ladder truck if necessary.
The facility will not utilize the county’s well water system for cooling purposes. It will operate Tier 4 generators and developers will perform soil and water testing during construction and three years afterward.
“We, as a county, are trying to get high-tech, low-impact-on-county-services businesses to come into this county,” Shaw said … “This business and the infrastructure they’re providing … fits those kinds of basic criteria.”
In other business, Collins made two impromptu motions that were shot down. He first proposed to appropriate $2.25 million for the county’s school division to begin engineering in preparation for the construction of a new elementary school.
The county’s voters approved a referendum in last November’s election to construct a $57 million elementary school.
Collins said there has been no progress on the school since the vote, and he was attempting to get the ball rolling. The supervisors voted down his motion 4-1, citing a lack of information on the project, including whether Head Start or pre-k will be included in the building. King George students currently attend Head Start in the City of Fredericksburg.
Collins also made a motion to appropriate more than $7 million to renovate the school division’s Career and Technical Education facility. That motion died when it did not receive a second.
“There is a level of transparency we have to address here,” At-Large Supervisor David Sullins said. “We’re getting nothing but a nice big round number. We need to know what’s behind that number. The public needs to know what’s behind that number. This is not transparency at all if we were to go with that.”
