HUBBARD — One resident noted concerns with a lack of transparency from city officials when making her plea to council to pass an ordinance banning data centers.

Melissa Wade, a Franklin Avenue resident, said at a city council meeting Monday that “mega corporations” have been coming into the state and buying up farm land and fields near residential neighborhoods.

Wade said there’s already 200 data centers in Ohio and they’re going to continue increasing in number and receiving tax breaks while residents are being heavily taxed.

“They (the corporations) are always the highest bidder; they have the most money, so they’re buying up all this prime land. They produce nothing,” Wade said. “This is going along with the AI buildout, and that’s just going to take freedoms, they’re setting up for digital currency and things like that.”

“We’re concerned that this is not really the direction that we want Hubbard to go in, and we’re asking for you to pass an ordinance to exclude data centers from the city,” she added.

Peggy Warnock, another resident, said she’s been looking into what happens when data centers enter an area — adding that Lordstown has been having issues with them.

Warnock said she hoped the city was doing an “impact report” on the centers and what could happen to the city.

“You’re hoping we’re doing an impact study; we don’t have anything to do an impact study on — we have no information,” Council President Bill Williams said. “We have nothing in front of us that even says one’s going there (Deer Creek Golf Course).”

Williams was referring to a possible economic development project at the golf course on state Route 304 that Mayor Ben Kyle spoke of in February. It is an economic development project alongside JobsOhio, a partner of Lake to River Economic Development.

Kyle said the project is called Project Milo, and it’s an unnamed company exploring a project that promises “significant economic impact and benefit” for the city itself.

Williams said the only people who know anything about the project are Lake to River officials and Trumbull County Planning and Zoning, adding that the city has never been contacted about the project other than a request for a utility availability.

“Lake to River held a meeting with the city administration to find out what would be needed for a feasibility study for utilities, and that would happen with any company, even on Myron Street, if they wanted to occupy the location on Myron Street,” Kyle said. “Because they have a certain water requirement or power requirement — whatever it may be.”

Kyle said “some information” was given to Lake to River, but no formal presentation has ever been made to the city’s administration or council.

“I know that a couple of people have called me and asked questions about it, and anything that would need to happen for a zone change or anything about that would go through all of the steps,” Kyle said. “Starting with the City of Hubbard Planning Commission all the way through the actual council vote.”

Kyle reiterated that a company is working with Lake to River and the JobsOhio economic development to do site selection at multiple places across the state, and one of the places just happened to be within the city’s limits.