An online informational session on Amazon’s data center, planned for Hobart, covered topics from site design to jobs and economic development.
The session, which lasted one hour Tuesday night, was open to anyone who had pre-registered through a Zoom link initiated through Amazon Data Centers Online Community Information.
The session was facilitated by Heather Ennis, president and CEO of the Northwest Indiana Forum.
Presentations were from Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun and “Amazon’s subject matter experts on topics your community cares about most,” according to the promotion of the session before the meeting.
Those who pre-registered through the link were invited to post a question or concern in regard to the data center.
Covered in the webinar were: site design and construction, water usage and management, power and sustainability, acoustics, jobs and economic development, and community programs.
Ennis, who led off the presentation, said she was excited to see the data center coming to Hobart.
“This is the beginning of the conversations, not the end of the conversations,” Ennis said.
She called Huddlestun the “transformational leader of the project.”
Huddlestun said he, too, is excited about the project and he called the session on Tuesday “starting at level 101,” with more presentations to come.
He said the Amazon data center, once completed, will be the largest economic development project in the state and, more importantly, in Hobart.
Huddlestun said the city of Hobart has been cash-strapped in a way that has hindered progress.
Amazon has paid $47 million upfront cash and will be paying a total of $200 million to the city over the next three years.
Huddlestun said Amazon has agreed to pay 100% of the infrastructure cost of the project.
The money coming from the data center project can be used for expenses, including elimination of residential garbage fees recently approved by the city council.
“This isn’t selling out. This is a good project,” Huddlestun said.
Josh Weissman, director of Amazon Web Services, gave a definition of a data center, noting that “data centers are the hidden engines of the internet.”
He said they are secure, high-tech campuses that help power everything from healthcare to energy, transportation, government and national security.
Weissman said use of the data center could include a Netflix customer reaching out to the data center and picking a movie sent to their TV, or even banking usage.
“It’s built for millions of customers who rely on that infrastructure,” Weissman said.
Other Amazon representatives addressed water and electric usage, the environment, generators and air quality issues.
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Kristen Wallace, an acoustics spokesperson for Amazon, said the data center will be in compliance with the city’s maximum of 65 decibel noise level, with 50 decibels at property lines.
Amazon’s Mike Berman said the data center will create 1,100 long-term jobs and support thousands more jobs.
He has worked with local high school and area college educators in hopes of collaborating with them on future job possibilities.
Finally, Amazon’s Amy Jaballah spoke about community engagement across the infrastructure regions.
“We are proud to dedicate resources to make improvements in areas that matter most to your community. We do this through four pillars: STEM education programs, skills training initiatives, sustainability efforts, and supporting hyperlocal social impact activities,” she said.
Amazon recently launched the Amazon Hobart Community Fund, a $150,000 community fund commitment where providers, nonprofits, community groups and individuals can apply for grants up to $10,000 to support projects that mean something to the community.
Angelita Soriano, a Hobart resident and one of the leaders of the No Data Center Hobart, said she watched the webinar from her home.
“I think the webinar provided a very high-level overview but didn’t meaningfully address some of our biggest concerns,” she said. “They briefly discussed dewatering as a part of any construction, but didn’t address potential impacts and how they planned on mitigating them.”
Soriano also said she was concerned about emission controls.
“For a development located directly next to residential homes, we expect and deserve stronger protections. They also didn’t mention how many generators were going to be needed, nor where they were going to store the diesel on site.”
She added: “Instead of offering a so-called community fund, Amazon could show real transparency and engagement by providing the public with clear, independent impact studies proving this project won’t harm the surrounding neighborhoods.”
Deborah Laverty is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.