Several Bloomington residents say they don’t want to see a data center in the community.
Ten of the 11 people who spoke during the public comments portion of Monday’s Bloomington City Council meeting voiced opposition to a perceived possibility of a data center development on 375 acres south of the intersection of Ireland Grove Road and Abraham Road.
“Basically, data centers have never been profitable. They don't create significant numbers of long-term jobs,” said Katherine Scheck. “That's not a long-term investment, and it's going to ruin our community in the process.”
At the outset of the meeting, Mayor Dan Brady said the item authorizing a three-party agreement between the city, Central Illinois Regional Airport and CES Farm, LLC, was removed from the night’s consent agenda.
City staff’s memo to the council on that agreement makes no mention of any data center.
“I am concerned about the lack of transparency regarding which types of industry will this land be proposed for,” said resident Alan Leger, participating virtually. “The strategic land use plan laid out for this project includes a designation of a ‘technology park.’ But what kind of technology is being input here?
“I am not opposed to computers or even technology in most regards. What I am opposed to is the use of our town’s resources to prop up an emerging technology that has not shown any major benefit to society and is conversely a parasite on local infrastructure. AI technology and the massive data centers that are erected to house AI technology offer no benefit to the people who have to suffer having these data companies in their back yard.”
City staff recommend approval of the development agreement that would allow Bloomington to apply for an Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity [DCEO] site readiness planning grant on behalf of the property owners. The financial cost-share burden would be borne by the property owners themselves.
The staff memo to council members indicates the property to the south and southwest of the airport offers “significant potential for the development of an industrial park,” with the primary focus on industrial use east of Abraham Road and “lighter commercial/industrial uses to the west.”
Many of the residents who spoke during the 30 minutes of public comment pointed to the burden data centers place on infrastructure and resources, particularly noting the drought conditions Bloomington recently faced.
“As many others have said, [a data center] does nothing good for our community. It provides fewer than 200 permanent jobs,” said Sarah Adelman. “The water use, the pollution, the energy costs we are already — people already cannot afford their energy bills.”
Brady said that while matter would not be taken up for consideration at this time, it would come before the council at a future meeting.
Some of those who spoke also voiced objections to the city’s purchase of gas masks for the police department and its ongoing use of Flock Security cameras.
Items authorizing spending just more than $73,000 on the gas masks and a purchase order change of $27,000 related to partial annual payments to Flock, covering May to December of 2025, remained on the consent agenda that was approved unanimously.
“I don't understand the use of gas masks in our communities. Our crime rates are low. We don't have a rioting problem here,” said resident Madeline Gibbons. “Our citizens aren't using gas on the police. So will they be using gas on us? This is unwarranted and an absolute waste of our funds.”
Kaitlyn Selman, a resident of Ward 4 and criminal justice professor at Illinois State University, said data does not support the effectiveness of automatic license plate reader cameras [ALPR] as a law enforcement tool.
“A 2025 study found no evidence that the ALPR expansion in their city was associated with reductions in violent crime, and they could not confidently attribute the decreases they saw in shootings, motor vehicle thefts and property crimes to ALPR expansion,” said Selman.
