You can watch the entire forum by going to host One Community United’s Facebook page (please click here).

Our above post was focused solely on issues surrounding data centers, including the one planned for the former regional hospital site adjacent to Summerville Park.

Attending were candidates Elaina Beeman, Jill Fisher, Vic Hixon and Randy Quick. Missing was Jamie Doss, who is one of three commissioners in Japan for a sister city event. The three candidates receiving the most votes win the seats representing Ward Two.

This was a much quieter assembly than the town hall forum on the data center held at the Summerville Park church last week, most likely because there were no live questions from the audience. Candidates were asked the same questions and their responses were timed. The program lasted around 80 minutes.

Get your first look at what’s ahead in Rome by joining our newsletter’s free and paid subscribers as well as site donors. For more:

They wanted answers on potential noise issues, electrical use, water consumption, construction and permanent jobs, and most critical, why allowing heavy industry to expand on property bordered by residential neighborhoods on three sides.

The meeting, mostly emceed by Summerville Park resident and City Commissioner Bill Collins, at first focused on Data Center 101.

The crowd packing Parkview Baptist Church heard from Georgia Power on the impact and importance of data centers.

They heard Mayor Craig McDaniel — the only person to both vote in favor of rezoning the hospital site for heavy industrial and then OK’ing the sale to Atlas Development as a development authority member --talked about Rome’s past and future.

City Manager Sammy Rich spoke on a trip to watch data centers in Douglasville. The planning director spoke. The water and sewer division director spoke.

Penny Evans-Plants, the president of the neighborhood association who has spoken before the City Commission, was next. In a polite but direct voice, she shared Summerville Park residents’ concerns about the impact the data center would have on their neighborhoods.

And finally, it was the community’s turn to ask questions and it got hot almost immediately. One or two might have been below the belt but 99 percent of what came from the residents connected. Again, again and again.

And the assembled experts answered some of it, especially on water consumption and related issues as well as zoning concerns.

But in the end, what stuck out:

* The city and its partners are clueless as to what Atlas might build on the 114 acres it is buying from the city (there’s still some due diligence to be done).

* Atlas is only the developer; no tenant or owner has been named.

* Questions about potential employment were vaguely answered — again because the size of the project is unknown. For example: The billion-dollar Microsoft data center in a rural part of West Rome — planned on nearly 350 acres — is projected to employ 150 people.

* A perception of no transparency. One resident questioned why there was no advance notice of the development authority vote to sell to Atlas. It was countered with comments about the media being notified ahead of time of the specially called meeting. The resident’s retort: The agenda for that meeting simply said “real estate” and had no mention of the hospital site.

* A “blame the messenger” tone by leadership regarding what people might have read on the Internet. It was something of a double standard regarding how the Atlas deal was basically cloaked from the community. Also, the web is filled with stories from credible news sources about data center impacts on water and power. Thursday night, Rome’s water/sewer director John Boyd said the city has plenty of water to accommodate a data center; Georgia Power’s Melissa Free says there’s an expectation the state’s growing data center hub could lower power rates).

* A disconnect between the commission and citizens. Collins and McDaniel, perhaps pricked by some of the questions and accusations, charged the residents to run for office if they want to make a difference and have their voices heard. And yet some of those same voices spoke at city commission meetings in the spring of 2022 when the hospital site was rezoned. It was never clear why running for office would make those voices louder.

The above video captures the majority of the meeting even though our phone battery died with about 10 minutes left. It is worth your time to watch it.

Stay ahead of what Rome’s talking about by subscribing to our newsletters. For more:

With the brewery now in place in downtown Rome, the former site is vacant — but not for long. Patterson and crew plan to set up shop there by mid August on Wednesdays through Saturdays from 5 until 10 p.m.

Please spend a few minutes with our latest Viral Vittles podcast about dining in Northwest Georgia, part of the drucktoday.substack.com newsletters. We’re still playing with the audio and a post-vacation cold has left our voice a little scratchy.

Please subscribe to our newsletters and podcasts by clicking below. Free or paid options are available and we gladly welcome founding partners and sponsors. For more:

ddd

Our initial goal is to get the Substack audio accompanying our newsletters posted here. For now, click the arrow in the upper righthand corner of the text post (please see the red circle below).