Kearney City Council unanimously advances data center plans with new regulations

KEARNEY, Neb. (KLKN) — Kearney’s City Council has held several public hearings on zoning for construction of data centers, along with regulations.

The company TechoNE Crossing is looking to build a data center in Kearney, striking up the recent conversations.

The public spoke with council members for hours yesterday evening. The council reassured the community that precautions have been made regarding this project.

The council unanimously moved forward with the plan for the data center.

“In terms of us pursuing data centers, they’re pursuing us,” Mayor Jonathan Nikkila of Kearney said. “We’re trying to get ahead of that and make great laws. If someone thinks they can meet the bar that we’ve set for data centers then, by all means, take a shot at it. In turn, we hope it will have some great community benefits.”

The council said the data center is expected to create 59 permanent jobs, some revenue will be put back into the school district and the company will be transparent about water usage.