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Data center developer offers $10,000 checks to 4,500 households if the 1,300-acre facility is approved — locals push back over noise and 'bribe' concerns Report says that many residents are rejecting the offer due to fears of noise, falling property values, and mistrust. NorthPoint Development wants to build a data center on 1,300 acres in the Pocono foothills, near Hazle Township, Pennsylvania. As well as seeking to charm the local government with various funding packages, it has proposed paying checks of $10,000 per household. Despite the Pennsylvania town’s median income of $60,000, the offer isn’t being warmly welcomed by locals, reports the Wall Street Journal. Those interviewed were widely against the data center development plans and cited several reasons for being averse to accepting the payout. The major concerns regarded potential impacts on property values, the specter of noise pollution, and a distrust of both the AI moguls and local government representatives. Offer letters began to be received by Hazle Township back in June. The WSJ recently talked to several residents about NorthPoint’s $10,000 offer. While some say the $10,000 would be handy, it couldn’t find many residents who were “eager to welcome the data center for the payout,” in the journal’s words. We’d point out that opinion polling can often be inaccurate, as what people say and what they do, voting-wise, doesn’t always line up. Interviewees cited a number of key reasons for their data center development aversion. We distilled the following points from the source: - Noise pollution concerns - Water and energy cost worries - Dislike of AI - Distrust of AI moguls and local authorities - Potential negative impact on property prices Traditionally, developers have offered towns and cities packages worth tens of millions, including funding for local services. But direct cash payments to residents represent a new phase of their charm offensive, the WSJ indicates. Perhaps the idea for the direct payments to residents came after “a raucous public meeting last year, where angry locals asked what they had to gain by supporting the data center,” ponders the source. The locals won’t just get the direct payout, though. Other funds up to $120 million over the next 15 years have been dangled like a carrot for community and local services investments — improved schools, emergency services, and so on. Meanwhile, Hazle Township’s government already rejected the data center project on zoning grounds last year, and it has enacted a temporary moratorium on data center construction. Finally, the $10,000 offer to households is simply not enough in many interviewed folks’ opinions. Residents could feel insulted by it, regarding the offer as a bribe, concludes the WSJ report. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason. - hotaru251 1 time payments shouldnt ever be accepted.Reply Make it quarterly payments for a decade & guarantees of taking feedback serious and if they do nothing they are massively fined until they do so. - ferdnyc In fairness, Hazle Twp residents only feel like the offer is a bribe because it's totally a bribe.Reply - Marlin1975 That 10k will not cover the lost value in property let alone higher cost for power, long-term cleanup when it closes, noise, etc....Reply - SkyBill40 Ah, yes. The ol' "Appeal to their wallet rather than their sensibilities" approach. Shocker.Reply - MyUserNameWas Be forewarned!! Since data center was built our power goes out or throttles on/off multiple times a week. We are in Boise ID area.Reply - Fomdoo I mean, at least they're being transparent about it. How many other towns just had their local government bribed quietly?Reply I wouldn't take $10,000. That's not nearly enough for the reduced air and water quality. That and I'm sure the power company will jack up its prices for everyone. They might as well offer double everyone's house is worth to buy their homes and move everyone out of the town. That's the only way you'll get people to accept a data center. - teckel12 For the local Meta data center in my area, the sound and light pollution are really bad. They have now purchased all the surrounding homes/farms for a power plant expansion (at fairly high valuations).Reply But for sure, only $10k isn't enough. - 3tank I'd rather see a nice shopping mall with stores we can buy things we want and take our kids to, or otherwose hang out like the 80's and 90's.Reply We last this long without Ai that does nothing for us personally. Maybe the eltists should pilot a program to have the Ai put them exclusively into a panopticon control grid and be completely up their a$$es for a decade or so first with the rest of us being able to look at all the data they would have on all of us, and then let us know how it great it is - jackt If they want give 10k to the citizens how much they give to the polit****** ?Reply Thats how they act, thats how they are taking the world.
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