Over the vocal objections of attendees, the Burgin City Council narrowly voted forward an ordinance that would annex county land where a proposed data center would sit on Thursday.
Mercer County residents have raised a number of concerns about how the project would affect the area, with the president of Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill joining the ranks of critics worrying aloud about the ecosystem impact, maintaining the region's sense of history, and tourism.
Erin Petrey, who started Demanding Data Center Accountability, said the preliminary vote in Burgin — and other moves toward data center development across Kentucky — are angering residents who feel left behind in the push to embrace the controversial projects.
"This goes to all of the elected officials here in Kentucky. Your people are not feeling heard and they don't feel like they can trust the kind of ordinances and regulations that are being put forth. And moves like this annexation that would double the size of Bergen just for the purpose of a data center just isn't sitting right with a lot of people," she said in a video post.
Data center development and applications are on hold in Lexington after the council voted for a moratorium, which will last through the end of October. A draft policy would ban all major data center projects from Fayette County, while leaving room for smaller operations.
Data centers are currently planned in at least a dozen Kentucky counties.