Ad Hoc Committee Meeting on SABI Data Center, Feb 3, 2026
Ad Hoc Committee Meeting on SABI Data Center, Feb 3, 2026
The Ad Hoc Committee convened on February 3, 2026, to review the proposed SABI Data Center project in the Montana Connections park. The meeting focused on four primary topics: economic impact (taxes and jobs), infrastructure requirements (water, wastewater, and power), permitting processes, and community comparisons. Representatives from the Butte Local Development Corporation, Butte-Silver Bow, and local educational institutions provided updates on the potential benefits and operational models of the facility, drawing parallels to a similar project in Quincy, Washington.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of the minutes from the previous meeting was unanimously accepted with no comments, questions, or clarifications.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Lori John Sandrish (former Microsoft safety manager) expressed strong support, citing excellent safety records in Quincy data centers and highlighting the positive economic shift in a former agricultural community to a tech-centric hub capable of retaining young families.
- Don Patrice expressed reservations regarding the lack of clarity on job numbers, questioning if the 200-300 jobs cited are total for the area or per facility, and raised concerns about future fire department needs, their funding sources (TED increment vs. taxpayers), and the potential scale of tax benefits for a single facility versus the six cited in Washington.
- Pam Dietrich expressed confusion regarding the timing of design release (before or after sale) and raised concerns about future power supply requirements, specifically the potential use of small modular nuclear reactors, urging the committee to investigate this possibility.
- Lila Klovacar, a well resident, expressed apprehension about e-waste and water contamination risks, noting that Butte residents rely on aquifers and are not on the public water system; she also suggested sizing the project down to preserve land for future economic opportunities.
- Linda Trevanna expressed concern that tax increments from a Tax Increment Financing (TED) district might not flow to general city services but remain trapped for the 15-year TED period, potentially misrepresenting the direct financial benefit to the community compared to the Quincy model where tax revenues directly funded expansions.
- Michael Barrett argued the extension timeframe (32 months) is excessive, comparing it to the rapid closure of the Alcoa plant deal, and warned that the current extension removes community leverage while tying up resources for non-contiguous parcels without guaranteed outcomes.
- Cindy Sanderson urged the committee to conduct an "impact statement" on current citizens, emphasizing opportunity costs of tying up resources and the social adjustment period required for the community.
- Mike Houston (identifying himself as "hyperbolic" regarding power concerns) questioned if the data center would be prioritized over human life during grid blackouts or geomagnetic events, asked if the project requires a reclamation bond similar to hard rock mining, and inquired about safeguards for Butte's water rights against potential legal manipulation.
Discussion Items
- Economic Impact & Taxes (Kelly Sullivan & Director Burns): Kelly Sullivan presented data from Quincy, WA, where six data centers added approximately $7.5 billion to the taxable value (from $937M to $8.47B since 2006), funding infrastructure and schools even if rates dropped. She clarified that while TED increments are collected for 15 years, a remittance agreement could be enacted to return funds to taxing jurisdictions if district goals are met. Director Burns confirmed that all new taxpayers contribute to the base regardless of the TED, and the 15-year increment allows for infrastructure investment. JP Gallagher clarified that the base of the new TED now includes the old TIFF base, meaning current collections go to the city, with new increments going to the district.
- Infrastructure & Water Systems (Director Burns & Bob Morris): The committee discussed the closed-loop cooling system for the servers, which would collect and ship treated coolant off-site rather than discharging it. A spray system on condensers using Silver Lake water is intended to evaporate rather than pool, but Director Burns noted the need to clarify if catch basins will be installed. Bob Morris, though absent, provided context on his independent review of the water system. The group clarified that the facility would connect only to sanitary/sewer systems for restrooms/kitchens, with industrial discharge being a distinct issue to be permited during the design phase.
- Workforce & Education (Tammy McLean & Highlands College): Montana Tech remains neutral but committed to supporting workforce training in STEM fields (engineering, computer science, welding) regardless of site location. Highlands College expressed readiness to expand programs in heavy equipment operations, HVAC, and cybersecurity. They noted that SABI in Quincy partnered with local community colleges to create specific technician career launch programs with paid internships. The committee discussed the possibility of short-term certificates for these roles to avoid long board of regents approval processes.
- Permitting & Zoning (Julie Crane): Julie Crane outlined the pre-application process for heavy industrial (RM2) zones, involving multiple departments: Planning, Public Works, Fire, Building Code, Health, and environmental partners. She confirmed that air quality, vibration, and lighting standards would be reviewed, often requiring state and federal permitting alongside local approvals.
- Traffic & Construction (Director Burns): Discussions addressed traffic impacts primarily during the construction phase (peaking at 500-600 workers) and future commute patterns. Director Burns noted that road design in the park accommodates truck traffic (FedEx, REC) and that the TED increment can fund infrastructure improvements like bridge or road expansions if needed. The potential for using a loop road for construction access was suggested to minimize disruption.
- E-Waste & Disposal (Ms. Bordoon): The committee identified e-waste management as a key area to be addressed. Ms. Bordoon proposed adding an action item for SABI to detail their e-waste collection and recycling procedures, including whether they will use third-party firms or internal logistics, noting that local landfill regulations could dictate disposal methods.
- Process & Extension: The Montana Connections Board voted 5-1 to recommend a one-year extension of the purchase and sale agreement, with additional language addressing Butte-Silver Bow's review process. The committee agreed to continue operations post-presentation to the Council on Feb 18 to address ongoing questions, rather than disband.
Key Outcomes
- Extension Recommendation: The committee received confirmation that the Montana Connections Board voted 5-1 to extend the SABI purchase and sale agreement for one year, including language to ensure compliance with the city's review process. This recommendation is set to be presented to the City Council for a final vote. The Council must approve a two-thirds vote for the extension to be effective.
- Information Gathering Directive: The committee agreed to compile all slide decks and gathered data (covering power, taxes, jobs, water, e-waste, and permitting) into a unified slide deck and accompanying technical papers to be distributed to the Council before the February 18 meeting.
- Action Items:
- McKenzie: To centralize all submitted slides and background information into a single, clear presentation format.
- SABI: To provide detailed responses on e-waste disposal protocols, specific job breakdowns (direct vs. indirect), and wastewater discharge permit requirements.
- High School Engagement: To reach out to Ramsey School (via Chris Kellogg) to gather input on the potential impact on high school students and local workforce pipelines.
- Website Update: To publish answers to public questions regarding water, traffic, and jobs as they are finalized.
- Continuity: The committee agreed to remain active beyond the Council vote to continue addressing community questions, ensuring transparency and a model for future large-scale economic development projects.
Meeting Transcript
All right, folks, let's uh like to call the meeting to order, please. It's four o'clock. I'll I'll go and introduce all the team members again for the committee for everybody so they can see who is who. You just raise your hand as I call your name. Um, Brian Sullivan, uh JP Gallagher, Andy Durkin. Paul Babb. Have you all had a chance to read the minutes? Any comments, questions, clarifications? Okay, is there a second? Second. All in favor. Opposed? Okay, thank you. Good evening. My name is Kelly Sullivan. I'm the executive director of the Butte Local Development Corporation. I recently had a conversation. I recently had a conversation with Darcy Klein, who is the controller at the Port of Quincy, and the Port of Quincy is the economic development authority in Quincy, Washington. Ms. Klein is a lifelong resident of Quincy, and so she had a lot of good things to say about the data center landscape there. Quincy has a population of about 8200 people. It is primarily an agricultural community, and is currently home to six data centers, which she says have been a boon to the local economy. There are hundreds of construction jobs that came along with those data centers, as well as the permanent jobs at each center. They've been very beneficial to young people in the community who now stay versus leaving to find work. The data centers have been willing and active community partners, assisting with a lot of different projects there that I'll touch on in just a minute. A company called AHO Construction has built hundreds of homes in recent years to address a previous lack of housing, and I'll show you a little chart on that as well. And people are now choosing to live, work, and raise families in Quincy versus previously commuting 15 to 45 minutes to Efreda and Winatchie. She did admit that there have. Again, these major investments are made by possible possible by increased assessed value. And these projects demonstrate how targeted tax incentive and economic development policies can translate into tangible long-term benefits for the community. So talking a little bit about assessed value, when a big new facility is built, its assessed value gets added to the tax rolls. Before the Quincy Data Center arrived, all the taxable property in the Port of Quincy area combined was about 937 million for tax purposes in 2006. After the data centers were built, that total value grew to 8.47 billion. That means about 7.5 billion dollars in new taxable property value was added, largely from data centers, but also from some related development. And why does this matter to the community? Well, property taxes are calculated like this, and this is a very simplified model. The assessed value multiplied by the tax rate equals your tax revenue. So an assessed value goes up a lot, the community can collect more tax revenue, even if tax rates go down. Schools, fire departments, hospitals, and inner infrastructure get funded, and existing residents may see lower tax rates because the tax base is much larger. So here's some updates from SABI. We're still waiting to hear back from them from their operations team to get some more questions answered. But I spoke with Maria Randazzo, and she talked a little bit about noise. She said that SABI's model of data center is much quieter than that of a crypto mining center. I think some comparisons have been made maybe between Atlas Power in Butte and what this data center could bring, but she said it's very different. We're waiting on more infrastructure information on lighting. And then it's very common for them to do a traffic study later in their process. So the traffic is not constant, but just based on shift work, uh starting in times of shifts. But she did say that a comparison with a retail center, um, that was a finding from the Quincy study, found that the traffic was much less. And then I've put up a little link here, SAIB datacenters.com locations. You can go to on their website, they have some great information there if you want to take the time to look at that.
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