About 400 fill high school gym’s stands over Festus data center agreement

About 400 people came to the Festus High School gym Monday night, not for a game of hoops, but to either state their views or listen during a four-hour City Council meeting about a proposed data center development.

The council has scheduled a special meeting for Monday, March 30, to consider approval of the development agreement between the city and CRG of St. Louis, the company that announced in late 2025 it plans to develop a data center on property north of Hwy. 67 and west of Hwy. CC in Festus.

The special meeting will be held at the Festus High School gym, 501 Westwind Drive, Mayor Sam Richards said Tuesday morning. He said a possible vote on the development agreement would occur during an open session and there would be a public comment session prior to a vote.

Attendees at Monday’s meeting were every bit as loud and vitriolic in making their views known as if they thought a referee blew a call against their sports team. To make the scene even more game-like, city officials used the Tiger electronic scoreboards to count down the five-minute allotment each speaker was given, with the buzzer sounding at the end of the five minutes.

Richards had issued a public statement on March 20 announcing the subject and location of the meeting and also broke the news that the city had reached an agreement on the “framework” with CRG on a proposed data center project.

Before Monday’s regular meeting, Steve Etcher of MarksNelson Advisors, the firm the city hired to help negotiate potential incentives in a data center development agreement, went over what he said were the agreement’s benefits to the community during a half-hour council work session.

Sixty-four people signed up to speak at the regular meeting, but 10 of them did not respond when the mayor called them to the podium. About 40 of the speakers opposed the data center development project and about 10 spoke in favor of it. In some cases, it was not completely clear how the speaker stood on the matter.

As they have done during prior meetings, data center opponents raised concerns of how a data center could increase their water and electricity bills, pollute the area and hurt their health and property values, among other issues. Opponents also called city officials to task for what they said has been a lack of transparency during the city’s dealings with CRG.

Likewise, data center proponents again said a data center would be a financial boon to the city and county, would provide a substantial number of jobs and that modern advances have solved or improved prior data center problems.

Those opposed to the data center clearly outnumbered those in favor of it, sometimes drowning out the pro-data center speakers with yells or chants during their times at the podium.

Below is a sampling of what the speakers opposed to the data center said:

■ Mary Fakes of Festus, along with several other speakers, said the mayor and council members were ignoring the voice of the people.

“Perhaps this lack of attention to your citizens demonstrates the level of disdain toward the very citizens you represent,” she said.

■ Andrew Shelley of Festus, along with several other speakers, described city officials’ talks with CRG as a “backroom deal.”

“Whether you believe it or not, you’ve embarrassed yourselves and the city, and you’ve eroded the trust,” he said. “You’ve eroded the trust the residents have in our local government.”

■ Lori Merriman of Festus chastised city leaders for not including citizens in the data center project discussion.

“We are stakeholders in this, not just the school and the hospital,” she said. “We had no seat at that table (at a special meeting March 2) with MarksNelson. Not one citizen did. And that was not right. We should be considered as much as these and CRG and all of the billions of dollars they’re going to make off our properties.”

■ Mary Youmans of Festus, along with several others, called for current council members to be voted out of office at the upcoming April 7 general election.

“So tonight, I say, vote them out,” she said. “Our council members have forgotten the oath they took to work for the people, that you work for us. So, the four of you who are up for reelection in two short weeks, I say, you’re fired!”

■ Gwen Mercer of Festus, along with several others, questioned the speed at which city officials have moved along the data center project.

“If this deal is so good, why are you rushing?” she said.

■ Roslyn Daniels of Festus, among others, spoke about potentially moving because of the data center project, adding that she lives in the area of buyout homes announced as part of the project deal framework.

“I literally have no clue what I’m going to do,” she said. “I hate this situation. If I (accept a buyout), where am I going to find a house comparable to what I have?”

Below is a sampling of what the speakers in favor of the data center had to say:

■ James Gerding of Festus, like several other pro-data center speakers, praised city officials for bringing about the project.

“I want to thank you for all the hard work you have done to bring this great project to our community,” he said.

■ Kirk Hilzinger of St. Louis disputed some assertions made by those opposed to the project.

“Not a single drop of well water will be affected by this,” he said. “So, if anyone is lying to you about the well water, what else are they lying about?

■ Joe Maddock of Arnold, who introduced himself as the president of the Jefferson County Republican Club, spoke of how he believes the project will be a financial windfall for Festus.

“You cannot deny the numbers,” he said. “Approximately 1.4 times Festus’s current revenue is expected to be generated from this singular piece of property. That’s incredible.”

At the end of the meeting, Richards was asked if anything said during the evening had changed his mind about supporting the project. He simply answered, “No.”

He declined to elaborate, other than in answer to another question saying no data center user had yet been announced.

Data center agreement framework

CRG President Chris McKee has said CRG, which is the data center development arm for Clayco, would develop the property, and then a data center company would operate it, although no operator has yet been identified.

Clayco is the same company that, in August 2025, withdrew its plans to develop a 440-acre data center in St. Charles following a public outcry against it.

As those proposed data center plans in Festus became public, public opposition soon arose.

In a statement issued March 20 as part of the packet for Monday’s meeting, Richards described the CRG development project as a $6 billion initial investment in the community, with: an estimated $1.3 billion in property taxes, utility taxes and community benefit payments over 25 years; an estimated benefit to the community of more than $53 million annually; significant, direct community benefit payments totaling $45 million over 10 years starting at $3 million the first year; and also including a payment of up to $5 million for a new city firehouse.

The city has negotiated a commitment from CRG to not request real property tax abatement for the data center and there will be no cap or abatement on the city’s utility taxes, Richards said. In turn, the city has agreed to support the developer’s application to the Jefferson County Port Authority for partial personal property tax abatement, he said.

For those who live closest to the project, he said, the city would establish a voluntary buyout program to be administered by CRG for 11 houses on Glenkee Court and one other house to the north of the property.

Eligible properties for the voluntary buyout program were identified by the developer through a site proximity analysis of residential homes within 1,000 feet of the project area. Under the agreement, the purchase price is to be based on fair market value as of June 1, 2025, plus 10 percent.

Among the other information from the city included in the meeting packet are the following site plan stipulations, subject to final site plan approval.

■ Developer agrees to enter into a preliminary funding agreement of up to $500,000 for the city’s development costs, with the first $100,000 due upon signing; thereafter, the city may submit monthly invoices for reimbursement of actual costs incurred against the remaining $400,000 balance.

■ Developer will enter into a binding agreement with Ameren that ensures the developer is responsible for all energy usage and expanded energy structure.

■ All water and sewer improvement and mains required by the developer are to be paid by the developer.

■ All required additional infrastructure or plant upgrades/expansion for the city and the Jefferson County Water Authority and related costs shall be paid by the developer, subject to mutual review and approval of the scope of cost.

■ Developer agrees to use advanced cooling technologies, work in good faith with the city to make the project acceptable to both parties, with no adverse impact to the city’s water supply as determined by the city’s engineering consultant.

■ Developer shall comply with all applicable noise and light city ordinances.

■ The developer intends to maintain the ridge line and tree buffer along the ridge near Glenkee/Ashford Place.