Did U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate coronate himself the Czar of Economic Development for Jackson?
This little tale of judicial overreach began Friday when WLBT reported Friday:
Records obtained by 3 On Your Side show city officials have been working behind the scenes for months on a strategy to bring data centers to Jackson, including eyeing Lake Hico as a potential site to create a data center hub in the state. The documents were obtained through an open record request and show members of Mayor John Horhn’s administration have met with attorneys, lobbyists, tech experts, and others to map out a strategy to attract data centers to Jackson, and to make Jackson an anchor of the state’s tech corridor.... The document states that the 654-acre site of the former Rex Brown Steam Electric Station at Lake Hico is likely “Jackson’s single best opportunity in 50 years to reverse the structural decline of its tax base, restore Jackson Public Schools’ lost revenue, and position the state capital as the anchor city of the Mississippi tech corridor.” It also states that based on what’s happening in other areas, a $5 billion to $15 billion hyperscale data center at the site could generate between $9 million and $20 million a year in direct revenue for the capital city, as well as $9 million to $20 million a year for Jackson Public Schools.... Rest of article and copy of records.
Such economic development news is usually not made public until after the contracts are signed and the deals are made. However, the city of Jackson dropped the ball. The Mississippi Public Records Act allows governments to exempt records involving economic development and proprietary information from public disclosure. However, Jackson's carelessness meant WLBT got a nice little scoop that caught Judge Wingate's attention.
Judge Wingate sent out a notice on Saturday night that a hearing on the data center's effect on the Jackson water system would be held Monday afternoon. Monday came and held the hearing was. WLBT reported:
The judge was concerned about the impact a data center could have on JXN Water, and whether the interim third-party manager, Ted Henifin, had been looped into the process. “Because Mr. Henifin is manager for the water company, and I found out he had not been in the process at all, I wanted to make sure JXN Water was at the table,” he said. Horhn said no project had been approved, and that any talks on data centers at Lake Hico were still “very, very, very premature.” “All the things you mentioned would be steps of taking if there was a project, but there is no project now,” he said. “The developer has up to three years to enter into an agreement with the Board of Trustees of Jackson Public Schools to do the examination and [determine] what is the best thing to do on the property, to get the maximum return for the district, the city and the county.”... The judge directed all parties to attend the hearing, and had several questions for the city, including what was being proposed, whether the city had received a formal application for development, details on the city’s approval process, whether JXN Water could support the project, whether the project would require the court to modify its priorities related to the city’s ongoing water system recovery, and how the project would impact ratepayers. City Attorney Drew Martin said no project has been approved for Lake Hico, and “there is not even an application for one.” “There is a developer who has entered into a lease option for JPS to do due diligence to develop the property,” he said. “Is it possible one thing the developer will propose is a data center? It is possible, but even the developer doesn’t know which way it will go.” The company Martin was referring to was Goel Investments LLC, based in Houston, Texas. According to information revealed in court, Goel has a three-year option on the 654-acre Lake Hico site in Northwest Jackson. That property is 16th Section land and is owned by Jackson Public Schools. Article
Well, the cat is out of the bag now. There is a reason such projects are kept confidential. How long will it be until the neighboring burbs and counties try to poach this project. "Heyyyy.... I see you are interested in building a data center. We'd love to talk to you about the advantages of building it here." Hell, it wouldn't be surprising if Louisiana jumped in as aggressive as Governor Landry has gotten on recruiting data centers.
There is also the matter of Judge Wingate. Think about what he did. He forced Jackson officials to show up and provide more information in court on what should be a confidential economic development project.
Suppose a miracle happens and Jackson manages to land a plant similar to Continental Tire. Is Judge Wingate going to hold another hearing to force Jackson to divulge more information and determine whether the water system can meet its needs? What project will be too small to escape Judge Wingate's notice? Is Judge Wingate now in charge of all economic development in Jackson through his control of the water system?
There is a simple solution. Ted Henifin is perfectly capable of determining Jackosn's water production and needs. If there is a problem such as a project that requires a great deal of water, he is perfectly capable of discussing it with the Court.
Judge Wingate simply went too far Monday and that, my friends, is the bottom line.
34 comments:
The sooner the transition to the regional water authority the better. That will end Wingate’s reign of meddling.
Wingate needs to be benched.
He is a senile old goat who needs to retire.
I'll ask again ... why in the world is Ted Henifin still down here?
How he's put up with these idiots for so long is beyond me. If I were Ted...I would have left long ago.
I'm not an expert on electrical power or data centers but I suspect the advantage of Lake Hico is the same for both: a massive, continuous cooling pond. That is necessary for a steam plant generating electricity or for a data center needing cooling for the servers. Neither is interested in pulling massive amounts of water from the Jxn Water system...that is what the surface water at Lake Hico is for and why each locates there.
A witch is recognized by its black robe, or cape. Such witch historically has been subjected to Trial by Water or Trial by Fire. The former seems a lock-in here.
the lake is gone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5UNP-d-isQ
@3:32 PM, I don't disagree with you, but Lake Hico is dry.
3:32 - good overservations, but I assume you know - there is no Lake Hico. The 'lake' has been drained, and there is no natural flow of water into the area previously flooded; the lake was created as a cooling pond for the electrical power plant built there by MP&L. There is a water diversion pipe that can bring water to the site from the Pearl River, which would suffice for your concept though, which is why it is a good potential location for a data center - one that WIngate should keep his black robe out of the process.
There is additional expense involved in treating the water from the Pearl River. A data center would be interested in that location because of the electrical advantages like the major substation. I seriously doubt that they want to be in the water treatment business when they can buy from JXN Water.
Hico was drained years ago. There is no surface water.
What case did the notice go out under?
Before further castigation of Judge Wingate, consider that he has full authority over the water system, though operations are delegated to Ted Henefin.
Judge Wingate knows the water system is weak and may want city officials involved in an eco devo project that could further strain the system; that he may want involvement from the standpoint of future financial viability.
I am slow to criticize the judge for injecting himself into the leadership vacuum in Jackson.
RMQ
The economic development authorities of the counties and cities surrounding Hinds County send their appreciation to the citizens of Hinds County and City of Jackson who continue to shoot themselves in the feet.
AKA Judge Roy Bean.
Apparently not an expert and not current on the status of Lake Hico.
I dont mind that he's looking at it. Water problem is under his jurisdiction and if something may have a big impact on the water, he should check it out. Info comes forward and, if folks tell him how it wont hurt Jxn Water, then no problem.
Water from the Pearl could easily be used for cooling in a closed loop system. The more likely advantage of the property is the lot size itself.
Welcome to one of the problems with judges. They can act like little dictators and.nothing we can do about it.
It’s time
For wingate to go! As a citizen of Jackson bring on the regional board ASAP! Wingate has botched this to high heavens
The records received by WLBT wouldn't have fallen under any exemptions because they're not actual plans for a data center. The ones related to Lake Hico are executive summaries showing how a data center could benefit there. Basically, it's a brochure for potential companies. Nothing in state law would exempt that, Kingfish.
This thing called Jackson
4:24 The water system is not weak.
That's just it, 424, the water system is not weak (their billing operation is weak, but the system is not). The Curtis plant is producing plenty of water for the city - and the Fewell plant is operational and capable of providing additional water if it were ever needed.
Wingate may be 'in charge', but according to the agreement that put him there, he has placed a professional over the operations of the system. Wingate is not a professional utility manager; if he was really worried about the capabilities, what he should have done is call in Henefin and discussed it with him; not summoned they city in to disclose their economic development plans at this stage of the game.
Thanks RMQ, but anyone who has 'full authority' but has hired someone else to do the management should understand the concept of delegation while putting the robe to the side that lets him sit above the others on his bench.
He has been out of control for a long time. With life tenure, there is no one who can do anything about his ridiculous, unprofessional conduct and he knows it. He won’t take senior status for that reason.
Pardon me. The water system financial picture is weak.
RMQ
7:13 Jxn Water is bringing in 85% with
billing.
... the Fewell plant is operational and capable of providing additional water if it were ever needed.
The very clearly and oft stated objective is to shut Fewell down permanently. How'd you miss that?
2:44 Wingate decides if a water authority
takes over.
He has done a better job of controlling this out of control city than anyone else.
I'm familiar with what is in the WLBT story but at this point, we should not even know the name of the company. Period. We ran off Northpark. We ran off Worldcom. Now data centers. It's what we do.
KF: The city's public record policy doesn't
city attorney have to approve the release
of public records? Maybe I read it wrong.
It was on city website. Maybe you could
see.
Great article in Wednesday's Rankin County News "The Pros and Cons of a Data Center". The water and electrical use they talked about was massive.
3:53 Was the person who wrote the article an expert on data centers?
Post a Comment