Retiring Quinte West Mayor Jim Harrison and Council faced nine delegations and 23 people in the public input session, in a four-hour meeting Wednesday night.
The core issue at the final council meeting of the current term was about the future of data centres, what has been started, and what information still needs to be released.
Council was faced with a motion by Councillor Egerton Boyce, that called for creating an interim by-law that would place a pause of up to a year, on all approvals and creation of any data centres and similar facilities. A decision around the motion was left to the final council meeting, following a move by Councillor O’Neil who wish to give time for the business community to weight in.
Trust and due process were brought up on several occasions as Quinte West is one of at least eight known municipalities in Ontario who are facing data centre development, while waiting for more framework and guidelines from upper levels of government.
A wide variety of views were shared during the delegations and public input sessions, with most residents coming forward against the data centres, raising concerns about long term impacts. Those who spoke up in favour of the data centres, advocated that given the economy, job opportunities, and existing industrial land that is being used in the two current projects, Quinte West has a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of embracing a fast growing sector.
There are two projects that are currently involved in the planning and paperwork process with the City of Quinte West.
A representative from each company spoke at the meeting. A summary of their discussion and power points can be found below. Both highlighted that their proposed data centres would be a loop system, with one end heating up and one end cooling. Their data centres would rely on distilled water and glycol mix, that would function in one continuous circle. Both stated that the sound near the property lines would be quieter then a refrigerator. They have different classes of approvals by Hydro One. Both committed that they would offer any excess heat that is made and not used, to other business and community ventures as requested.
1) 7 Riverside Drive – Former Saputo Dairy Plant
-The site that started the discussions earlier this fall about a potential moratorium on any process and work around data centres and similar facilities for up to a year.
-Truth North Sustainable Infastructure is behind the project and has over 20 data centre projects on the go in Canada. The Saputo site was chosen over two others they were considering based on the fact it was already an existing industrial site.
-The company requires re-zoning from the City to move forward on their proposed 8 megawatt facility, with a price tag of $380 million.
-Speaking to Council, Greg Stanway who is the Chief Technology Officer with True North added that if the community only wanted to have one data centre, they would remove their application because the second project is further ahead in the process, specifically pointing to greenhouse rejuvenation.
Regulations was a key focus of the True North presentation / Screenshot of their powerpoint
2) 920 Trenton-Frankford Road – Old Sonoco Paper Mill Plant
-There are three main companies involved. All Season Fencing is the owner of the property. First Block is the company that would create the data centre. Trinity Smart Farms plans to create vertical farming, using the heat generated by the data centre. Their investment is contingent on First Block moving ahead with the data centre. The two phases of their project would create a total of over 120 farm jobs. A representative for Trinity Smart Farms also shared that they would commit to growing some food for the local food bank, and have a five-year commitment from some entity to buy the food they grow.
-It was revealed in the meeting that from 2023-2025 there was an 8 megawatt data centre operating in the building. The project stopped when First Block started working.
-Quebec-based First Block held an open house on Monday at the site. The company currently has 30 projects up and running in Quebec that consist of small data centres operating in places like mechanic shops. FirstBlock’s plan for Frankford highlights an integrated industrial system that uses the heat it creates to power a vertical farm nearby run by True Vertical Farms.
-The site is already zoned Industrial and First Block is proposing an 18 megawatt data centre. Their Hydro One approval is set to expire in January 2027.
-Vincent Paquet, co-founder of First Block, told council that they would bring in six commitments in exchange for being exempt from the potential moratorium.
Screenshot of First Block’s powerpoint outlining layout.
-A representative from All-Season Fencing stressed that over the last 12 months, over $10 million has been invested in technical studies for the property, including about the flood plain, structure and acoustics. Further advocating that they should be allowed to continue given the significant process that has been underway with Quinte West staff.
Joe Southwell, the CEO of the Quinte West Chamber of Commerce, shared with Council in his delegation that they asked their members about how they felt about data centres. Southwell stated that 63 per cent of members surveyed recently were supportive of data centre development. While 29 per cent were against it, and 8 per cent were not sure. He stressed to council that there is a difference between supporting responsible regulation of data centres and supporting a blanket moratorium on a sector. Southwell added that Quinte West should have project specific requirements with the normal planning process, rather than a broad pause.
Final Vote: Council voted 8-5 to defeat Councillor Boyce’s motion that would have set a temporary pause on all data centre planning and proposals for a maximum of one year.
Voted No: Alyea, Armstrong, Kotsovos, O’Neill, Reid, McCue, Roseblade, Sharpe.
Voted Yes: Boyce, Card, Kuntze, Stedall, Mayor Harrison.
The idea was floated around of possibly having a moratorium, but allowing the two current projects to continue through the lengthy process. Secondly, there was also a pitch to possibly have the moratorium in place now, but see if staff could speed up the planning process for First Block given their Hydro One current approval as it stands, is set to expire in January.
The full meeting can be viewed on the City of Quinte West YouTube channel.
