SALT LAKE CITY — A civic group that aims to hold government institutions accountable claims the board that approved the proposed Box Elder County data center violated Utah law in doing so.
At the Utah State Capitol on Tuesday, Utah Civic Compact presented findings that allegedly detail how the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) skirted state guidelines to fast-track the approval of the Stratos Project.
MIDA is a state agency that was created to further "economic development" in the state.
Utah Civic Compact claims MIDA adopted the plan for the proposed 40,000-acre, 9-gigawatt facility to be built in the Hansel Valley before Box Elder County had legally consented to the project.
The group also alleges that MIDA signed an agreement with the data center's development team, led by reality television star Kevin O'Leary, before the project's plans were "legally effective."
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Finally, MIDA is accused of claiming that the project promotes public health, safety and welfare without any supporting studies or analysis.
Utah Civic Compact claims all its allegations against MIDA are backed by public records, which the group made available ahead of its Tuesday news conference. One of those records was a recording of a county commission meeting in April in which Commissioner Lee Perry intimated that he and his colleagues had only recently been made aware of the data center plans.
"The commission has not been sitting on this for months. This started back in January, February. The commission's only been made aware of it in the last couple of weeks," said Perry during the April 22 meeting.
"The thing that's so frustrating for us, for commissioners, is all of a sudden, we're brought in the last hour, and we're expected to hurry," added Commissioner Tyler Vincent at the same meeting.
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The group shared how Utah Code states a "MIDA project area plan may include private land only if the county has passed a consenting resolution." However, a plan document adopted on April 24 claims the county had given legal consent on April 26, a date the commission did not meet. Consent was not actually given by the Box Elder County Commission until nearly two weeks later, on May 4.
Utah Civic Compact also claimed MIDA violated another code that mandates it cannot enter a binding agreement with a developer until the project area plan has been "lawfully adopted." The group alleges MIDA signed the development agreement on the morning of April 24, 10 days before the county consented.
