The Washington City Council meeting Monday evening centered around economic development. First on the agenda was Daviess County Economic Director Bob Grewe, who updated the Council on several projects. Grewe told the Council that CSX Railroad has officially designated the area near the I-69 interchange as a certified CSX Select Site, which puts the area on the railroad’s rail-served site list for potential business development. Grewe also said there is potential grant funding to help with the removal of the concrete slab at the old Tokheim property.
Most of the council meeting was focused on hearing a presentation from representatives of Outrigger Industrial. Outrigger Industrial is looking at the Washington area as a potential site for a proposed data center. The data center would be located on about 120 acres located on the east side of I-69 and south of US 50 and would be a large building housing computers storing information for industries and businesses. The Outrigger representatives said the data center would potentially have between 100 and 150 employees. The proposed data center would consume an estimated 100 megawatts to a gigawatt of electricity. Outrigger has already talked with the Indiana Municipal Power Agency about accessibility to adequate power. The other needs are adequate water and sewer access from the city. Outrigger is asking the City of Washington to sign a “willing to serve” letter in regard to the water and sewer service. They would also like the city to explicitly permit data centers in its zoning code. Several council members asked for potential numbers in relation to water and sewer usage. Outrigger was unable to provide estimated numbers or the name of the potential business entity that would be occupying the data centers. The general consensus of the Council seemed to be they could not commit the city to any agreement without seeing at least estimated usage numbers. The Building Commissioner’s office will also need a proposed plan for the building or buildings to occupy the site to be presented to the City’s Plan Commission. The Outrigger representatives were told they needed to have information to the Building Commissioner by April 20 to be on the Plan Commission agenda in May.
Following the Council meeting, the Board of Public Works and Safety met and heard a request from the American Legion and VFW to sponsor a 4th of July parade to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary. The parade is scheduled for 10 a.m. on July 4 and will march east on Main Street beginning at the library and ending at Washington High School. The Board put the request on the next meeting’s agenda so that the city could check on the availability of police officers for traffic control. In other business, the Board received bids for concrete work from Hardrock Concrete and Milestone. The bids were taken under advisement.
