WINFIELD, W.Va. — Putnam County Commission President Andy Skidmore said Tuesday the commission is going to take action on a resolution in connection with Google’s plans for a data center at its meeting later this month.
“I think we plan to actually have, and it may not be the exact resolution, but put that resolution before us at the end of this month,” Skidmore said during Tuesday’s meeting in Winfield.
The proposed resolution was submitted to the commission last month by the group Putnam United which formed after the data center to be located in the Buffalo community was announced.
A new state law doesn’t give county commissions a say in the data center approval process. The proposed resolution calls for transparency and points out there’s more impact than just the financial impact when the a data center opens.
“At its core, this resolution is about something very simple: the people of Putnam County having a meaningful voice in the decisions that affect the future of this county,” Putnam United lead point-of-contact and organizer Jessica Lacy told the commission at its Aug. 25 meeting
Putnam County resident Joseph DeGroff urged the commission Tuesday to join with residents.
“A house divided cannot stand and if the people and their government and their elected officials are divided then what are we doing? What is the point of this?” DeGroff asked.
Skidmore said Putnam United has done its homework and its proposed resolution is evident of that work.
“You presented a resolution to us that we’re going to review. There may be a few modifications but not much,” Skidmore said.
The next Putnam County Commission meeting is set for Sept. 29.