Listen Here
By Logan Williams and Pulse Staff
williamsl10@findlay.edu
Members of the Findlay City Council recently joined council members from four other Northwest Ohio cities to meet with New Albany, Ohio representatives about the controversial topic of data centers.
On Tuesday, Aug. 25, some of the members visited New Albany and took a tour of the area that has been host to several data centers over the years, starting in 2010. Datacenters.newalbanyohio.org states that today, 15 companies operate more than 40 facilities in the area, generating tax revenue that funds roads, schools, and public services.
The meeting and tour showed how the community navigated things such as pollution and noise complaints and gave insight into how to manage the infrastructure growth as well as the economic benefits of data centers.
The tour came after a previously scheduled meeting with New Albany representatives and the Findlay City Council was canceled after a complaint about an open meeting law violation.
A news release from Mayor Christina Muryn on Aug. 12 stated “At the request of a number of City Council members, I had organized a virtual meeting with representatives from New Albany, Ohio, who have served as a resource for communities across Ohio to learn more about how New Albany has thoughtfully considered Data Center Development over the past few decades, their lessons learned, and recommendations on what questions we should be asking. This was going to serve as an informational session.”
However, complaints that the meeting violated sunshine laws led to a cancellation of the informational meeting.
“In accordance with the Ohio Revised Code, no discussion specific to Findlay’s zoning or council members’ opinions would have been permitted, nor any action taken. This is similar to if council members were to attend an Ohio Municipal League Seminar and all sit in on a session related to a topic of interest in front of them. This is not a violation of the open meetings law UNLESS they were to begin deliberating or discussing their specific plans for Findlay.”
Thought some members joined other communities to tour New Albany on a fact-finding mission, in the Sept. 1 meeting council members requested an open informational meeting. Mayor Murin said she would try to get another meeting set up.
“I am not sure if New Albany will still be willing to present. I know a lot of folks; I’m not making excuses, but I don’t really want to have open meetings on this topic. They want to just be able to share information, but we will figure out a way to get folks informed if there are specific aspects or specific questions you have. Feel free to let me know because then we can try to bring in experts specific to certain issues.”
As of now, the city of Findlay is more than four months into a 12-month moratorium on building data centers in the city. The city council passed the moratorium on April 21, 2026, and it will expire in April 2027.
Meanwhile, the City website states it has developed a Proposed Data Center Zoning Ordinance that establishes where data centers may locate, how they are reviewed, and what standards they must meet before receiving approval.
The City of Findlay website explains that a data center is a facility that houses computer servers and networking equipment used to process, store, and transmit digital information. They have become more common due to the demand for services such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and a number of other digital-based services requiring significant computing capacity.
Many communities across the state and the country have bucked attempts to build data centers due to energy and environmental concerns.
Just 70 miles down U.S. 68, the community surrounding Urbana, Ohio, is fighting plans for a $1 billion data center at the corner of Ohio 55 and U.S. 68, according to the Springfield News Sun.
Despite the tax revenue and jobs the center could potentially bring, residents in Urbana said the cost of noise and water pollution, among other concerns, is too high.
Those types of concerns have contributed to Findlay’s hesitation as well. The city website states that “the City’s goal is to establish clear, predictable standards that protect residents, public infrastructure, environmental resources, and surrounding properties while ensuring any future proposal receives a thorough public review before any decision is made.”
Tom Knoedler, instructor of teaching in biology at the University of Findlay, has a background in the agricultural economy but also calls himself a proponent of the ethical use of AI in education. He’s holding a workshop in November called AI and Research to introduce students to the appropriate, ethical, and effective use of artificial intelligence tools in the research and scholarly process.
He says he has mixed feelings on the matter, describing the data centers as “a necessary evil.”
“We need to have these data centers if we want to have not just the AIs that are so prevalent now running at a decent speed,” Knoedler said. “But I mean they do also usually at least operate data for other purposes.”
Other environmental concerns include the potential contaminants from the water used in data centers. The water from these data centers can contain heavy metals that are not safe for wildlife. Knoedler used frogs as an example of an animal that is directly affected by the metals, because frogs can absorb them through their skin.
