Brookwood Mayor Gives Fiery Defense of Data Centers at Tuesday Town Hall
Emotions ran high on both sides of the City of Brookwood's town hall Tuesday afternoon as dozens of residents questioned Mayor Joe Barger and the City Council about at least three data centers proposed for the town's industrial corridor.
Youngwoo & Associates, doing business locally as Project Brookwood LLC, is separately seeking to annex and rezone hundreds of acres of land across from Brookwood Middle School for a data center campus.
And another company, Provident Data Centers, owns 500 acres north of Interstate 20 and west of Brookwood Parkway. That land was annexed into and out of the city of Tuscaloosa last year, ultimately returning to Brookwood's planning jurisdiction to better pursue business interests.
At the Tuesday town hall, the city had distributed tickets ahead of time which allowed 50 residents to speak for three minutes each. They also left a 5-page "Fact vs. Fiction" information sheet in each chair of the G.G. Hardin Center, laying out the case for embracing data centers and bringing them to the area.
Residents' concerns included the close proximity of one project to Brookwood Middle School, the impact these projects could have on Hurricane Creek and local power bills, noise generation and more, all raised two weeks before a council vote that could clear the way for one of them.
Most citizens who spoke voiced concern or asked for more time and information. A handful spoke in support.
Barger opened with his most detailed public argument yet. He claimed to have shared some of the same concerns voiced by residents, but said he had researched the issue himself and spoken with mayors in communities that host AI and blockchain data centers.
"I wanted to know about the noise. I wanted to know about the water usage and the utility usage. I wanted to know about the safety and the environmental concerns, and I wanted to understand the impact on neighboring property owners. I wanted to know whether the promised benefits were real," Barger said. "Through the research and those first-hand conversations, many of the concerns I had initially have been resolved. That does not mean that I was going to stop asking questions. It does not mean that we give a developer a blank check and accept promises at face value. And it certainly does not mean that we will stop protecting the citizens of our community. It means that we will continue moving forward on facts, on experience, accountability, and appropriate safeguards. I have said before, if we are not growing, we are dying."
He framed this moment as Brookwood's chance to lead again in the spirit of coal miners and auto workers of the community's past and present, and to become "the first home of real tech investment in Tuscaloosa County and West Alabama," calling data centers infrastructure for the economy of the future.
He said a hyperscale data center project would bring 2,000 to 3,000 construction jobs and employ 100 people once open, and pledged he would not support anything he believed posed an unacceptable risk to the community.
As citizens began speaking, the most frequently raised concern was Brookwood Middle School, which is right across Brookwood Parkway from the land that Youngwoo & Associates is acquiring and rezoning for data center development.
Kim Bohannon-Moore, a longtime real estate agent, urged the council to protect the Title I school from construction dust, noise and falling property values, and said it might be better to move it.
Asked directly whether the school would be relocated, Barger said it had been discussed, but that there are no definite plans, especially considering no contracts have been signed with Applied Digital, Provident Data Centers or Youngwoo - the three data center developers the Thread has tied to land in Brookwood so far.
Water and Hurricane Creek were also topics visited throughout much of the night. A rancher who raises Jersey cattle off Covered Bridge Road said two natural springs that water his herd and feed the creek had never stopped flowing in his family's time there, and he worried about what the projects might do to them. He also questioned how the city could be sure its water supply could serve more than one data center.
Another speaker who lives near Hurricane Creek Park, outside Brookwood city limits and closer to Tuscaloosa, noted that the creek feeds the Black Warrior River, drains a 120-square-mile watershed, and has segments on the federal 303(d) list of impaired streams. She pressed for guarantees that the biodiverse Appalachian creek would continue to be protected and treasured.
Others focused on their power bills. A resident on a fixed income said she is already shocked by her bill, pointed to a rate break she said Georgia Power gave Savannah residents near a data center, and asked whether Barger would "go to bat" for a similar cut.
The city's information sheet argues that skyrocketing utility bills are prevented by an Alabama Power rate freeze, a new state law, and an industry pledge.
Some of the sharpest moments came over disputed technical claims. One resident said data centers will increase temperatures around them, making already hot conditions dangerous. Another said data centers generate 85 to 105 decibels of noise as they operate.
Barger disputed the temperature claims, saying the leaders he spoke to in other communities reported no increase. On noise, he said the AI data centers that may come to Brookwood operate at roughly 40 to 42 decibels, and behind 8- to 12-inch block walls, far quieter than the notoriously loud open-air blockchain operations, which he said are not planned for Tuscaloosa County.
One recurring demand was for more transparency and more time, with residents asking for additional information, a professionally moderated forum, a slowdown on any upcoming votes, and more.
Larry Holloway, who was elected to the city council in 1977 and served as its second mayor, may have been the most passionate among them.
"Joe, when you signed a [non-disclosure agreement] with either the Tuscaloosa County Economic Development Authority, Applied Digital, Youngwoo & Associates, or all three, you joined forces with people you did not know and not the citizens of Brookwood who elected you to represent them," Holloway said. "Now, you and the five members of the city council are poised to make one of the most controversial decisions this town has faced in its 49-year history. A decision that has the potential to disrupt the lives of the citizens who elected you and future generations, without even letting them have an opportunity to vote on this. For the sake of this generation and future generations, I ask that when the time comes to vote to enter into a contract with Applied Digital or Youngwoo & Associates, you align with the citizens of Brookwood."
Barger also gave his fullest explanation yet of the NDA he signed as a member of the Tuscaloosa County Economic Development Authority board. He said board members routinely sign such broad and legally binding agreements to protect companies' trade secrets.
He also noted that the private landowners who have sold land to these three companies can sell what and whenever they choose, and the city's leverage comes only when a developer seeks to annex, rezone or permit.
He reiterated that there is "no deal at this time."
Not everyone opposed the projects. One speaker said he approved of the data centers and asked Barger to walk through the possible benefits to the community, arguing that "all great cities are built on the back of industry." Another said he trusted the council to act responsibly.
The weight of the decision showed on the council itself. Near the end of the night, Allen Abston, who said he lives close to the proposed development, grew emotional and choked up, wiping away tears as he spoke about wanting to do right by the community.
"There's been Abstons around here for about a hundred years, and that's been good in some ways and bad in some ways. When we first came in, my great-great-grandfather opened the first coal mine in Brookwood. And he carried coal, I was told when I was growing up, to people in Brookwood in Kroger sacks to make sure they didn't get cold," Abston said. "So the reason I wouldn't make a comment to start with is because I don't know as much as I need to know to really give you my opinion, but as soon as I do, we'll do the right thing."
Councilman Kenny Herring, who also said he lives near the site, told residents the council would not decide "on the seat of our pants" and could not answer many questions "until they bring us something concrete."
In his closing remarks, Barger made a fiery, pointed argument that there are big fish out there who would love to land these multi-billion-dollar opportunities. The Mercedes-Benz U.S. International plant in Vance is annexed into the Tuscaloosa city limits, after all.
"I was never elected to be re-elected. I was elected to do a job to the best of my ability, and I will stand on the decisions I make, the opportunities I bring, and the safety that I bring to this community, because I love this community and because I defend this community each and every day," Barger said. "If we were not looking at this economic development opportunity, the city of Tuscaloosa would be in and running this opportunity, and you wouldn't get a voice, and they wouldn't care what you have to say."
The council is scheduled to vote on rezoning land for the Project Brookwood - the Youngwoo & Associates project - on Sept. 15.
For more coverage of this project and other industrial development in West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.
Top Stories from the Tuscaloosa Thread (8/24 - 8/31)
Gallery Credit: (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread)
More From Tuscaloosa Thread
