LORDSTOWN — Village council on Monday gave the second of three readings on legislation to ban any future data centers in the township.

Mayor Jackie Woodward and members of council stressed to the more than 40 people who attended the council meeting that there are no plans for any data centers at the present time with the legislation aimed at preventing any from locating in the village.

The final reading for the ordinance is scheduled for the November meeting.

Woodward and members of council said no one has come before council about locating any large data center in the village.

“There is no data center coming here or being proposed in Lordstown,” said Councilman Ernie Bowen, who said false information has been placed on social media sites about data centers,

Woodward read a letter from former resident Nicholas Frank who asked council to carefully act on the ordinance, noting a data center in the village can provide benefits for future generations.

“While any new development brings challenges, I believe this project represents a pivotal once in a generation opportunity that our struggling village cannot afford to pass up. A data center, when approached strategically, offers solutions to the village’s problems. As the undeniable future of nearly everything, technology shows no signs of stopping. Nearly every single piece of technology that we touch has some component that can be traced back to a data center,” Frank said in his letter.

He said a data center would generate revenue for the local tax base and direct funding to the school district, benefit local infrastructure, create high-quality local jobs such as technicians and facility engineers, and would be a good community partner.

“A data center would offer the village a sustainable long-term economic foundation and help stabilize the village finances, and bring high-paying jobs. Look at the positive impact this opportunity can present,” Frank stated in his letter.

Several residents spoke against any future data centers, citing noise, bright lights, pollution, and water and electric usage issues.

When asked if the village could support a data center, Village Engineer Chris Kogelnik said the village could not support such a facility.

Resident Jeff Alderman said, “Why does Lordstown feel it needs to provide jobs? Why do we have to be the industry center for the rest of the area?”

Resident Patricia Conrad said any artificial intelligence data center would affect the village’s utilities.

“The light, the noise, the electricity, the water, the tax abatements, what is that gonna leave here? That’s my biggest concern is please just look it up. Don’t look at the future, look up the reality of these,” she said.

Mike McGiffin, vice president of Lake to River Economic Development, said passage of the ordinance would discourage such industry from locating and developing in the village.

“A blanket ban against any particular industry certainly discourages that particular industry from looking into development in Lordstown, but it also sends a message to the broader marketplace that Lordstown is potentially closed for business. This can have a negative impact on the businesses you are looking to attract,” he said.

Councilwoman Jessica Blank said the village only has so much land available and council can decide what it wants to have here and what it doesn’t want to have here.

“Our job is to represent the people and if the majority of the residents do not want something here, then it is our job to listen,” Blank said.

Resident Philip Fisher said research needs to be done on any proposed data centers.