VIENNA — With talks about artificial intelligence data centers ramping up in Trumbull County over the last several months, township officials are looking to be proactive.

Trustee Phil Pegg said Tuesday that he’s received calls inquiring about whether a database company is coming to the township — clarifying that there have been no proposals or indication that one is even coming.

Pegg said officials are trying to stay “ahead of the curve” to avoid scenarios where a database company appears, and trustees would have to figure out how to regulate them.

“You regulate them before they show up; we already have lighting requirements in our zoning, because of the airbase (Youngstown Air Reserve Station),” Pegg said. “You need to do setbacks — setbacks is a huge thing. Sound barriers, setbacks, again, where is the water coming from? Where is the electricity coming from?”

Pegg said the trustees are preparing for an instance where a database company might show interest in entering the township. He said the township has a location with everything a developer might need.

“We have water there, and, as far as power goes, there’s two ways to go; they could have new lines run, because there’s lines off of King Graves (Road),” Pegg said. “Instead, we can actually require them to put in a pocket plant. There’s gas, there’s natural gas there, and down in southern Ohio, they’ve done those pocket plants to generate their own electric; they could do that here.”

Residents’ natural gas prices would not go up as a result, if a company chose to put in pocket electric plants, Pegg said.

Pegg said noise could be regulated if the township’s zoning code were changed to limit the plants to making a maximum of 70 decibels.

Pegg said the land in the possible location is paying about $46 to $48 a year in taxes.

If a plant were to be built on that land, Pegg said the land could bring in between $1,000 to $2,000 an acre annually.

“We could really use some kind of income like that — do we really want to discourage it?” Pegg said. “We have to look at the good and the bad and, again, get ahead of the curve.”

“I’m not saying we’re putting one in tomorrow — hell, it takes years to actually develop one. But if we get ahead of the curve now, we won’t be facing any lawsuits or any other problems in the future — and that’s what it’s all about.”

HUBBARD

Although a data center has not been announced for the city of Hubbard, some residents were looking to prevent its construction.

Melissa Wade, a resident, warned at a November city council meeting that “mega corporations” have been coming into the state and buying land near residential neighborhoods.

Peggy Warnock, another resident, said she hoped the city was doing an impact report on the centers.

Council President Bill Williams said council had nothing to do a study on, however, noting that there hasn’t been any information indicating that a data center was going to be constructed on the Deer Creek Golf Course property. Williams was referring to a possible economic development project on the state Route 304 site that Mayor Ben Kyle spoke of in February.

Margie Johnson, a resident, asked about the status of a data center ordinance she submitted to council, which officials recognized as received communications at the start of a Dec. 1 meeting.

Law director Mark Villano said city council will consider it. He said that what she had written and submitted was not an ordinance — only something for them to read and consider.