Brookwood data center proposal continues to raise transparency concerns among residents

BROOKWOOD, Ala. (WBRC) - A proposed massive data center campus in Brookwood has drawn scrutiny from residents and environmental advocates, with neighbors raising concerns about transparency from city officials.

For days, WBRC has been trying to get more answers from Brookwood Mayor Joe Barger after ADEM approved a permit that could lead to a massive data center across from Brookwood Middle School.

WBRC first messaged Barger on Facebook on Aug. 5. Barger asked us to email him questions to his business email and said he’d check his calendar for availability. The same day, we were in Brookwood talking with an environmental advocate who says a data center could impact the area and nearby Hurricane Creek.

“It will cause impacts to the water shed. It has the potential to cause a great deal of impact to the power grid. Where’s the power going to come from?” John Wathen, the Hurricane Creekkeeper said.

On Aug. 6, Barger messaged us again saying he’d given us the wrong email address. He then sent us his city email address. We resent questions, including whether Barger signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Barger never responded.

Also on Aug. 6, Barger sent our newsroom a statement saying in part the city played no role in the ADEM permit which is issued by the state.

Mayor cites ‘contractual agreements’

On Aug. 7, Barger appeared on 95.3 The Bear and read a prepared statement that could indicate he signed a NDA.

“I’m subject to certain contractual agreements that limit my ability to speak in detail at this point,” Barger said. “And that’s no different than any other economic development project over the last 30 years.”

On Tuesday, Aug. 11, Brookwood’s Planning and Zoning Commission is set to discuss a rezoning petition for “Project Brookwood”, a data center campus. We’re told Barger sits on the Planning and Zoning Commission and is a voting member.

Neighbors like Carson Hunnicutt said he sees a conflict of interest.

“Why is the mayor the one who gets all the information and he gets to say — trust me, it’s going to be fine,” Hunnicutt said.

Public comment in question

Hunnicutt said when he and others called city hall to sign up to speak at the zoning meeting, they received a call back and voicemail stating public comment had been pushed to the next council meeting. He said he believes that violates Alabama Code 11-52-79 which requires a zoning commission to issue a preliminary report and hold a public hearing before a final report is issued.

“Just making sure everyone knows, because that’s the biggest thing — they’ve been trying to keep it quiet,” Hunnicutt said. “This whole thing was found out through some leaks somewhere, and I think the more people that know, the more people will be upset about it.”

When we called city hall on Monday, a representative said public comment could actually happen at this week’s planning and zoning meeting.

A legal expert said city zoning commissions are generally supposed to allow public comment before taking action.

We also reached out to Mayor Barger again for a comment and we are still waiting to hear back, as of the publish time for this story.

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