MORGAN COUNTY āĀ The Morgan County Commissioners were able to return to their regular office in the administration building Monday nightĀ for their second meeting of the month.
Commissioner Mike Kirsch said he wanted the county to look at updating their Unified Development Ordinance to include some restrictions on data centers and battery energy storageĀ systems.
āOne of the reasons I ran for commissioner was to try to get into a position where we can protect and preserve our county,ā he said.Ā
Kirsch, who is on the county plan commission, said he felt it was time to begin discussing those two items.Ā
He said the county now has a data center but does not have any battery container storage systems in the works. He was concerned about what developmentsĀ could go in at the Eagle Valley GeneratingĀ Station on Blue Bluff Road.
By law, any changes to the countyās unified development ordinances (UDO) dealing with planning and development must begin with the countyās plan commission.
KirschĀ said there are several items the county can use through the UDO to limit the effect the developments would have on their neighbors.Ā
āIn regards to data centers right now, our UDO currently doesnāt have any provisions in there,ā Kirsch said.
Some of those items could include limits on sound that could come from the building to require the business to obtain a special exception to operate. The county could also limit the testing schedules for backup generators, and require a binding verification from electricity and water providers that they have enough capacity to serve any new big-load customers with existing infrastructure.Ā
He said AES Indiana is going to be adding more electrical generation at its Eagle Valley plant on Blue Bluff Road, and the company is also āone of the largest battery energy storage system developers in the region.āĀ
āIf theyāre going to be doing it, we need to be out in front of it,ā Kirsch said. āWith these things in discussion, Iām just trying to get everything up and rolling. While we donāt have any thing on our agendas in the near future for data centers or battery, I think this is the time to be discussing it.āĀ
Commissioner Bryan Collier said he was open to begin work on new requirements for those developments. While it was too late to do anything about the Google data center, they could enact new regulations for any additional centers.
āNot that we know of anything that is coming this way, but Iām sure ā relative to our location, the proximity to a power plant, our proximity to the water source, our proximity to Indianapolis ā there will be other things knocking on our doors in a relatively short period of time,ā Collier said.Ā
They asked Kirsch to begin discussions with the countyās planning and zoning director and begin the process of developing new regulations and requirements.
Council unhappy with newspaper
Most of the county council members attended the commissioner meeting Monday night, including council president Chip Keller, who addressed the commissioners.
Keller took issue with the headline in last Thursdayās CorrespondentĀ about the countyās 2027 budget. The headline stated the countyās proposed budget for 2027 had risen 10 percent over 2026.
Keller said he and other council members had received angry calls about raising taxes, and he wanted to set the record straight.
While he acknowledged the article was factual, it failed to tell the whole story ā that most of the increase was due to a $12 million cash transfer to the Rainy Day Fund in order to pay for the upcoming remodel at the administration building.
Other business
- The commissioners approved a grant application for the countyās Emergency Management Agency and two grant applications for the county sheriff.
- They approved two rezonings, one on Paradise Lake Road in Green Township for residencesĀ and the second on West County Road 1000 in Adams Township for industrial use.
- They tabled, again, agreements for road usage on Keller Hill Road and the Morgan County Humane Society for animal control.
- They approved ordinances establishing Wellhead Protection and Water Supply Development in the county.
The next scheduled commissioner meeting is Monday, Sept. 8, at 9:30 a.m. at the county administrationĀ building, 180 S. Main St. in Martinsville.
