OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Vanderburgh County Data Center Research Committee Kickoff Meeting - September 2, 2026

City Council — Wednesday, September 2, 2026
BodyEvansville, Indiana
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, September 2, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:05:01

Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

All right.

0:03

Good morning.

0:05

It's a good looking group.

0:07

Hey, just uh a few things uh on behalf of the commissioners.

0:11

Uh just wanted to thank each and every one of you.

0:15

I mean, you're you're volunteering your time and your energy and your expertise.

0:20

So just really want to stress thank you.

0:22

So um the matter before you is important.

0:27

Uh the public has obviously voiced their concerns.

0:30

So um we just as the commissioners have mentioned, we just want you to separate fact from fiction and uh uh do the research and then all that comes back to the commissioners.

0:44

Um in a normal circumstance, um APC and the commissioners work to you know come up with guidelines um for things.

0:54

Uh but the commissioners went a step further and we've got a group of um citizens in our community, and you're gonna do the fact finding and then come back with us with that with that.

1:07

So we've uh we value your your input.

1:11

Uh a couple uh housekeeping items uh today.

1:15

I believe you're uh going to introduce yourselves, hopefully get to know one another, uh, get your contact information from one another, uh, decide who's gonna chair this group.

1:26

Uh we'll leave that up to you.

1:28

Uh if somebody wants to volunteer and basically whoever chairs it's gonna organize the the meeting, make it flow and um also uh who would uh all of you are gonna take notes uh but maybe elect someone that would good at taking notes and they can send that uh over to the commissioners.

1:48

We've also uh in our office um we're gonna have Rachel uh listen into all your meetings and she'll be taking notes as well.

1:56

So if there's any questions, concerns, commissioner's offices is right here.

2:03

So um there has been a question that's been brought up about um attending the meeting virtually.

2:13

Um the commissioners really would stress the importance of physically being here for the meeting because this is public and there's gonna be people uh that will be listening in and so forth, but we just stress the importance of physically being at the meeting and then uh but we know things come up.

2:32

We all have families.

2:34

Uh some of us have you know eight or nine kids, so we understand that you're busy.

2:38

So uh if you have that, um that's gonna, you know, things are gonna come up.

2:44

So and then um again, can't stress enough.

2:47

Um the commissioner's office is right over here.

2:51

Please give us a call, uh, drop a message to Laura and Rachel in the office, email us.

2:57

So um, yeah.

2:59

Any questions for me before I go?

3:03

No.

3:04

Mr.

3:04

Shetler.

3:06

Um we're gonna be recorded.

3:08

Is it gonna be on the recording and then granting us and things like that?

3:11

Everything's public, yes.

3:12

Yeah, okay.

3:13

Because I know a lot of that is pretty technical.

3:15

Yeah, sometimes gets a little bit so somewhat it's important someone being here present.

3:20

Yep, right now we're right over there, and I think they're gonna come in like okay.

3:24

Normal meetings, they'll come in and make sure everything's set up so it's recorded.

3:28

Okay, all right.

3:28

Yep.

3:29

Good question.

3:30

Anyone else?

3:33

Yeah, Jason.

3:35

Uh is this everybody?

3:36

Because I thought there was 13.

3:39

Um, I believe, yes, there might be someone missing today.

3:43

I think there was a conflict that they could not be here.

3:46

So yes, we have 13.

3:47

So that that was mentioned.

3:48

We wanted to have 13 members.

3:51

There's gonna be some times when people can't make it to the meeting.

3:54

So um, you know, it'll happen.

3:58

So any other questions.

4:02

So again, good luck to you.

4:05

And again, we can't stress enough, you know, you volunteering for this important matter.

4:09

So and uh you need anything, we're right over there.

4:12

Thank you.

4:26

I'm Lauren Lynch with the Evansville Climate Collaborative.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Data Center Infrastructure█████████████████████████████████33%
Procedural█████████████████████21%
Technology and Innovation██████████████████18%
Infrastructure████████████12%
Zoning Variance███████7%
Environmental Protection████4%
Economic Development███3%
Community Engagement██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Vanderburgh County Data Center Research Committee Kickoff Meeting

The Vanderburgh County Data Center Research Committee held its first meeting on September 2, 2026, to organize and begin work on researching the potential impacts of data centers and developing recommendations for zoning and development regulations. The committee consists of 13 members representing various sectors including energy, construction, utilities, agriculture, and public safety. The meeting focused on introductions, election of leadership, defining scope, and establishing initial research priorities.

Introductions & Committee Formation

  • Members introduced themselves, highlighting relevant expertise: John Bates (plumbers union), Jenna Rickhair (Center Point Energy), Lloyd Lamberton (retired water utility), Rick Reed (fire and water safety), Chai Mamidala (traffic engineering), Scott Ambrose (construction), John Robertson (audio engineering), John Deacoff (remodeling contractor), Lauren Lynch (Evansville Climate Collaborative), Jason Nabb (farmer/engineer), and Tom Shetler (business). Two members (Blair and Susan) were absent.
  • The committee elected Lloyd Lamberton as Chair and Jenna Rickhair as Secretary by voice vote.

Discussion Items

  • Purpose & Scope: The committee was charged by the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners to research and evaluate data center impacts (land use, infrastructure, utilities, transportation, stormwater, environmental resources, public safety, noise, heat, and economic development) and present findings and recommendations by December 15, 2026, with possible extension.
  • Data Center Experiences: John Bates and Jenna Rickhair shared visits to data centers in Fort Wayne and other Indiana locations, noting large scale, noise considerations, and community integration. John Robertson emphasized the need for proper low-frequency noise measurement.
  • Research Approach: Members advocated for case studies of operating data centers nationwide, not just in Indiana, to understand real impacts. Jason Nabb shared existing research from Posey County including ordinances, water studies, and hydrologist reports. Ron Lyndon from the Area Plan Commission provided a draft ordinance template based on the county's solar code, along with examples from other states (e.g., Georgia).
  • Key Topics Identified: Water usage, energy consumption, economic impact, environmental and community impacts, setbacks, bonding for construction and decommission, noise limits, property value guarantees, well vs. municipal water, height, square footage, and megawatt limits were flagged as critical areas.
  • Logistics: The committee discussed file sharing via SharePoint or cloud, potential use of temporary county emails for public records, and travel budget for site visits. It was agreed all meetings are public except possibly out-of-town visits.

Key Outcomes

  • Elected Lloyd Lamberton (Chair) and Jenna Rickhair (Secretary).
  • The next meeting agenda will be set after follow-up on logistics (temporary emails, SharePoint).
  • Members will gather case studies, ordinances, and research materials for review. The first topic may be energy and water or a broad case study overview.
  • Ron Lyndon will share his draft ordinance and collected ordinances with the committee.
  • The committee aims to deliver recommendations to the Board of Commissioners by December 15, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

All right. Good morning. It's a good looking group. Hey, just uh a few things uh on behalf of the commissioners. Uh just wanted to thank each and every one of you. I mean, you're you're volunteering your time and your energy and your expertise. So just really want to stress thank you. So um the matter before you is important. Uh the public has obviously voiced their concerns. So um we just as the commissioners have mentioned, we just want you to separate fact from fiction and uh uh do the research and then all that comes back to the commissioners. Um in a normal circumstance, um APC and the commissioners work to you know come up with guidelines um for things. Uh but the commissioners went a step further and we've got a group of um citizens in our community, and you're gonna do the fact finding and then come back with us with that with that. So we've uh we value your your input. Uh a couple uh housekeeping items uh today. I believe you're uh going to introduce yourselves, hopefully get to know one another, uh, get your contact information from one another, uh, decide who's gonna chair this group. Uh we'll leave that up to you. Uh if somebody wants to volunteer and basically whoever chairs it's gonna organize the the meeting, make it flow and um also uh who would uh all of you are gonna take notes uh but maybe elect someone that would good at taking notes and they can send that uh over to the commissioners. We've also uh in our office um we're gonna have Rachel uh listen into all your meetings and she'll be taking notes as well. So if there's any questions, concerns, commissioner's offices is right here. So um there has been a question that's been brought up about um attending the meeting virtually. Um the commissioners really would stress the importance of physically being here for the meeting because this is public and there's gonna be people uh that will be listening in and so forth, but we just stress the importance of physically being at the meeting and then uh but we know things come up. We all have families. Uh some of us have you know eight or nine kids, so we understand that you're busy. So uh if you have that, um that's gonna, you know, things are gonna come up. So and then um again, can't stress enough. Um the commissioner's office is right over here. Please give us a call, uh, drop a message to Laura and Rachel in the office, email us. So um, yeah. Any questions for me before I go? No. Mr. Shetler. Um we're gonna be recorded. Is it gonna be on the recording and then granting us and things like that? Everything's public, yes. Yeah, okay. Because I know a lot of that is pretty technical. Yeah, sometimes gets a little bit so somewhat it's important someone being here present. Yep, right now we're right over there, and I think they're gonna come in like okay. Normal meetings, they'll come in and make sure everything's set up so it's recorded. Okay, all right. Yep. Good question. Anyone else? Yeah, Jason. Uh is this everybody? Because I thought there was 13. Um, I believe, yes, there might be someone missing today. I think there was a conflict that they could not be here. So yes, we have 13.

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