HUBBARD TOWNSHIP — While recent data center talks have mostly been centered around their city counterpart, one official noted proactivity as part of the reason for a moratorium approved several months ago.

At Tuesday’s regular meeting, Trustee Jason Tedrow discussed the moratorium officials placed on data centers entering the township back in February, in a 2-1 vote.

Tedrow said the township’s planning commission was looking to ban the facilities outright, but they learned through the county’s planning commission that they were not capable of doing so, resulting in their present moratorium.

“That was just so our zoning commission can hopefully have some time, get some community input on what the community feels about data centers,” Tedrow said. “Is there concerns, but it’s also hopefully getting some additional assistance on trying to find out some of that information.”

“Everybody’s kind of got jobs, different things to do, and it’s a little overwhelming at times, and any support that they can get on that would be a positive,” he added.

Regarding the potential for a data center at the Deer Creek Golf Course area, which abruptly closed in March due to “economic reasons,” Tedrow said it was a city matter, in response to a resident’s question about the property.

“It was annexed into the city, I believe, in the mid-’90s — that’s something that’s working through the city,” Tedrow said. “That is city property, and as much as we might not like it, we don’t have a whole lot of say on it.”

Tedrow said the lack of say was part of the explanation for the moratorium, referencing Lordstown and Jerome Township near Columbus as examples.

“Some of the problem they ran into was basically, somebody submitted for permitting before they did anything,” Tedrow said. “Those companies invested time and money into those projects, so once they went in and tried to put a moratorium or a ban afterwards, they said, ‘No, you’re changing the rules on us,’ and they threaten litigation.”

Tedrow said the township doesn’t have a big budget, and he didn’t want them to get into litigation on things they could avoid.