An extended public comment session on the Grayslake data center was abruptly canceled just a day before it was scheduled at the University Center of Lake County, with the venue pointing to safety concerns over social media posts.
Earlier this week, the Village of Grayslake sent out a news release announcing the Thursday evening meeting at the University Center, “for the public to provide further comment on the approved data center campus.”
However, a second Grayslake release Wednesday announced the event was being postponed after the University Center informed the village it would not host the meeting due to safety concerns, which a University Center representative confirmed Thursday.
The village’s release included screenshots of comments on a social media post by the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Lake County about the T5 data center controversy.
According to the release, area law enforcement had raised safety concerns with the University Center. Although the College of Lake County and the University Center are separate entities, the building that houses the center is owned by CLC. The CLC Police Department did not respond by Thursday afternoon to a request for comment.
While Grayslake Mayor Elizabeth Davies said she didn’t blame the center for its decision, she emphasized it had been the University Center’s call, not the village’s, to cancel. She had been preparing her presentation Wednesday evening when she was informed by staff of the decision, she said.
“You can see on social media and posts online, there are posts that directly threaten very violent actions,” Davies said.
The initial village news release announcing the event had also said that future village board meetings would include additional public safety measures, including pre-entry screening and a prohibition on bags, backpacks, and similar items.
Davies couldn’t say what plans the village had for rescheduling, asking “for patience as we assess the situation and figure out how best to proceed.”
Morgan Coghill, a Lake County progressive who has joined anti-data center advocacy work in the area, criticized the reported threatening comments.
“We don’t condone any sort of violence, there’s no place for that. We’re doing this through the courts,” Coghill said. “We think we have the law on our side, and this is a distraction.”
However, he and Michael Smith, co-founder of the Lake County Illinois Data Center Opposition Coalition, also both criticized the nature of the meeting, arguing it was only an attempt to improve public sentiment as public backlash grows.
Smith accused Grayslake of having already failed to engage the public before and during the approval process.
“They purposely didn’t do it, and so this is too late, an insincere PR effort to try to persuade the public that this is not only good for the people that live down near the Cornerstone campus, but also that it was legitimately done, which it was not.”
Davies reiterated the approval process had been done “openly” and “very transparently.”
“This was an additional opportunity to hear residents, hear from area folks,” Davies said. “I think it just shows our willingness to continue to listen and to engage with folks.”
Dominating controversy
The Grayslake T5 data center has dominated village board meetings, and grown far beyond the village, bleeding into municipal meetings across the county. It reflects a broader fight in Illinois and the country over data centers, which have grown increasingly controversial over electricity, water and pollution concerns.
Earlier this year, Avon Township and Round Lake Park both officially voiced their opposition to the development after public pressure, and Lake County is moving towards an 8-month moratorium on data centers in unincorporated Lake County.
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The opposition coalition recently celebrated the filing of a lawsuit against the development, with the aim to ultimately stop the project.
But Davies said that for Grayslake, after approvals are given, they can’t be rescinded. Now, they were focused on making sure the development “meets the stringent requirements that the village has set forward, and make sure we’re working with our partners to make sure they’re meeting national, state, local and county ordinances.”