Data center debate comes to Western New York

Before I turn to Jason Leifer, the Dryden town supervisor, again, Dryden has...

He'll talk in a moment about Dryden's disposition as a Finger Lakes town that does not want data centers.

I wanna listen to some of what, uh, the President of the United States said a week ago at the White House when he welcomed tech leaders, and he was asked about some of the growing opposition, especially in rural communities across the country, to data centers.

Let's listen.

And I can say, if I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big, uh, plant in, an AI plant or a data center, I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous, and the money paid, the taxes paid, are just enormous.

And if you don't take it, you're gonna be left behind because there are plenty of places that want it.

So I would say that, uh, maybe it can use a little public relations help, but if I were a governor or mayor, I would want that plant-

Well, the supervisor of Dryden wrote the following for Tompkins Weekly.

Quote, "When Dryden was approached by an aggressive out-of-state crypto mining and data processing developer in mid-2024, we had immediate concerns.

As elected leaders, it's our job to protect and advance the priorities and values of our residents.

Our community prides itself on beautiful open farmland, walking trails, community engagement, and small-town charm.

Crypto mining and data centers didn't seem like a good fit for Dryden, so we enacted an 18-month moratorium in August of 2024 to provide time for research and review, and the more we learned about this emerging industry, the more this action felt validated." End quote.

Now, Jason, y- you know, you're hearing Steve Griffin, you hear, um, you know, political leaders say, "This is gonna help your tax base.

This is gonna help jobs, and you, you gotta get on board eventually 'cause someone else will get on board." What do you make of that?

Um, well we, you know, I, I think the, a little bit of history on Dryden is, so we, we went through this same kinda discussion during the years where hydrofracking was promoted for the same exact reasons.

And what we learned when we banned hydrofracking, um, was that these industries tend to overpromise, underdeliver.

And because in the end they're, um, you know, extractive, and with, with a data center, um...

And I think there's some background noise, but I'm hearing-

You're the supervisor.

You gotta tell them to quiet down back there.

Yeah.

Tom, you're doing something important here.

Yeah.

No, that's not on my end.

It's kinda weird.

Before I turn to Jason Leifer, the Dryden town supervisor, again, Dryden has...

He'll talk in a moment about Dryden's disposition as a Finger Lakes town that does not want data centers.

I wanna listen to some of what, uh, the President of the United States said a week ago at the White House when he welcomed tech leaders, and he was asked about some of the growing opposition, especially in rural communities across the country, to data centers.

Let's listen.

And I can say, if I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big, uh, plant in, an AI plant or a data center, I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous, and the money paid, the taxes paid, are just enormous.

And if you don't take it, you're gonna be left behind because there are plenty of places that want it.

So I would say that, uh, maybe it can use a little public relations help, but if I were a governor or mayor, I would want that plant-

Well, the supervisor of Dryden wrote the following for Tompkins Weekly.

Quote, "When Dryden was approached by an aggressive out-of-state crypto mining and data processing developer in mid-2024, we had immediate concerns.

As elected leaders, it's our job to protect and advance the priorities and values of our residents.

Our community prides itself on beautiful open farmland, walking trails, community engagement, and small-town charm.

Crypto mining and data centers didn't seem like a good fit for Dryden, so we enacted an 18-month moratorium in August of 2024 to provide time for research and review, and the more we learned about this emerging industry, the more this action felt validated." End quote.

Now, Jason, y- you know, you're hearing Steve Griffin, you hear, um, you know, political leaders say, "This is gonna help your tax base.

This is gonna help jobs, and you, you gotta get on board eventually 'cause someone else will get on board." What do you make of that?

Um, well we, you know, I, I think the, a little bit of history on Dryden is, so we, we went through this same kinda discussion during the years where hydrofracking was promoted for the same exact reasons.

And what we learned when we banned hydrofracking, um, was that these industries tend to overpromise, underdeliver.

And because in the end they're, um, you know, extractive, and with, with a data center, um...

And I think there's some background noise, but I'm hearing-

You're the supervisor.

You gotta tell them to quiet down back there.

Yeah.

Tom, you're doing something important here.

Yeah.

No, that's not on my end.

It's kinda weird.