Coachella hosts town hall on proposed data center and municipal utility

COACHELLA, Calif. (KESQ) - Coachella hosted a community town hall tonight regarding the city's Municipal Utility and the proposed data center concept.

It was a packed room at the Boys & Girls Club of Coachella Valley as residents pressed city leaders and Stronghold developers for answers.

The meeting started with a presentation on the proposed project before shifting into a heated Q&A session.

City representatives shared an overview of the municipal utility, provided a timeline of actions to date and outlined the process for evaluating any potential future projects.

No project has been approved at this time.

CV Strategies, a local communications firm that has worked with the City on community outreach efforts, facilitated the town hall.

Tensions did escalate as residents questioned where water would come from, how the project could impact public health and what protections would be in place if it moves forward.

Alex Rodriguez, advisor on government affairs at Stronghold Power, said the project would go through years of environmental review before any construction begins.

"There are significant guardrails in place that the state of California over years has put out there," Rodriguez said. "To protect residents, to protect small businesses but more importantly to protect public health."

The proposal has raised a lot of controversy in the city over the past few months, with more than a hundred people protesting the plan during the April 22 city council meeting. Many against the project say they are concerned about the project's environmental impacts as well as the city's lack of transparency.

Coachella's proposed 240-acre technology campus would be located at Avenue 52 and Filmore Street. City records show the campus could grow as large as 450 acres with six data centers.

Newly appointed Coachella Mayor Dr. Frank Figueroa told News Channel 3's Athena Jreij last week that the campus is still in the early stages, but that hasn't done much to quell residents' concerns about potential pollution from the project.

"From what I know and what I've asked, there's no plan submitted for this data center at this time. I think that's what's very important is there's no actual formal process, and it still has to go through all these layers of applications, reviews and processes," Figueroa said.

Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing coverage.