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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 — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

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 kickoff meeting on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM in Meeting Room 301 of the Civic Center Complex. Commissioner Justin Elpers opened the meeting, welcomed and thanked committee members, and outlined the committee's charge: to research and evaluate the potential impacts of data centers on Vanderburgh County and its residents, and to present findings and recommendations to the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners and the Area Plan Commission. Eleven of the thirteen committee members were present. The meeting minutes record the meeting time as 9:00 AM–10:00 AM local time; the record timestamp indicates 18:30 UTC.

Attendance

Present (11): Jason Naab, Scott Ambrose, Tom Shetler, Jr., Lloyd Lamberton, Jenna Richardt, Lauren Lynch, John Bates, John Diekhoff, Jon Robertson, Richard Reed, and Chaitanya Mamidala.
Absent (2): Blair Doneske and Susan Hardwick; the committee agreed to send them the minutes.

Election of Officers

Chair: Lloyd Lamberton was nominated by John Bates, seconded by Scott Ambrose, and elected unanimously — 11 yes votes and 0 no votes.
Secretary: Jenna Richardt was nominated, seconded by Lloyd Lamberton, and elected unanimously.

Discussion Items

Committee purpose and expectations. Chair Lamberton opened discussion on structuring meetings and research. Members introduced themselves and shared relevant expertise; a small number had toured data centers, while many had not.
Noise and sound. Jon Robertson, a sound engineer, recommended establishing baseline noise measurement standards, cautioning that low-frequency noise can be measured in ways that make it appear permissible when it is not.
Related land uses and property impacts. Richard Reed noted that battery storage, solar facilities, and data centers are often related and can raise concerns for neighboring properties, including potential property-value impacts and setback distance questions.
Community guidance and protections. Tom Shetler stated that the committee should provide clear guidance and rules to protect residents from noise, overcrowded streets, and other issues while remaining "open for business." Lauren Lynch (Evansville Climate Collaborative) said there is "a lot of concern throughout the community" driven partly by uncertainty, and John Bates stressed the importance of clear, consistent guidelines that do not vacillate.
Draft ordinance overview. Ron London of the Vanderburgh County Area Plan Commission reviewed a draft data center ordinance. He described an ordinance development process in which the commissioners forwarded an initial ordinance to the plan commission, which made modifications before the commissioners ultimately approved the final version. London noted the draft was adapted from the county's solar ordinance, that no data center project is currently filed in Vanderburgh County, and that the committee will need to decide whether a data center should require a special use. He offered a list of Indiana case-study ordinances, said he could expand it to other states, and noted that ordinances in Georgia and other locations break topics such as noise, electricity use, and water usage into specific sections.
Research and case studies. Members expressed full support for using case studies as a starting agenda topic, while observing that individual projects vary and that the committee should bring additional research to the table.
Document sharing and transparency. The committee discussed using a SharePoint repository, since Vanderburgh County uses SharePoint; a request will be made to the County for shared access. One member suggested the County provide temporary email addresses so committee communications are retained. Chair Lamberton stated that all committee meetings will be public and that information from any out-of-town data center site visit will also be made public.

Key Outcomes

Lloyd Lamberton was elected Committee Chair, and Jenna Richardt was elected Committee Secretary.
The next meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at 1:00 PM in Meeting Room 301, Civic Center Complex.
The committee will request a SharePoint repository from the County and will send minutes to absent members Blair Doneske and Susan Hardwick.
Tom Shetler set a goal of having recommendations or proposed ordinance amendments in hand by the end of the year.
The meeting adjourned unanimously on a motion seconded by Jenna Richardt.

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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