February 12, 2026
Jerome Fire Chief Doug Stewart, pictured above, was met with applause at the township association meeting on Jan. 5 after giving an impassioned statement about how local fire departments struggle to manage emergency calls to the two data centers in Jerome Township. He warned that more data centers may serve to overwhelm EMS services and urged trustees to put them in check. (Gazette photo by Kyle Meddles)
Preparing for the data dump
By Kyle Meddles, Richwood Gazette
A meeting last week painted a picture of the impact of data centers so that elected officials might have an idea of what they bring to the community.
The reaction from local leaders differed between those who have been exposed to data centers and those who have not.
On Jan. 5, township trustees from all across Union County gathered for a township association meeting where several county and city officials gave presentations with general information about data centers. Township trustees attending the meeting from areas of the county not exposed to data centers noted that they found the information useful in getting ahead of the issue.
“Most o…
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