Officials with Oasis Digital Properties were in Lebanon last week to meet with members of the Russell County Industrial Development Authority regarding a proposed data center that could be constructed on the old Moss 3 coal site.
Over the last two years rumors of a data center coming to that property have been circulating, although nothing official had been announced.
Last month, Oasis confirmed the rumors by listing Russell County among its projects on the company’s website. The website described the project as a “236-acre site adjacent to an AEP power plant with immediate power availability.”
Before going into closed session to discuss the pending agreement, members of the IDA and Oasis heard from David Dingus, a county resident who lives near the property in question.
Dingus had a number of questions, including how big the data center will be, how many jobs it will create and if those jobs will be held by local workers, and what safety measures have been put in place to protect the community and the environment.
Dingus also called for more transparency and said the code names given to IDA projects “is like CIA files”. He pointed to names like Project Neptune and Project Powder as examples.
“You have to understand our culture,” Dingus said. “People in this county have been taken advantage of by folks in fancy suits. These things are concerning to us.”
Nick Over, a co-founder of Oasis, stressed that the company will be transparent with the public. He said the reason more information has not been released at this time is because the project is still in its infancy and many details must still be ironed out.
Over said Oasis plans on having an open house sometime in November. He said the event will be three or four hours long and rather than having someone on a stage addressing the crowd, members of the public can speak to Oasis officials “one on one.”
“We want to listen,” Over said. “We sometimes get the best ideas from members of the public.”
Ross Litkenhous, who also co-founded Oasis, said, “We understand your sensibilities.”
Litkenhous said he grew up in a rural area in Alabama and understands the economic challenges of such localities. He said that is why Oasis works with rural counties to construct data centers in such areas.
He said the project will take five to seven years to construct and will employ approximately 1,000 construction workers.
“There will be a net of 30-50 high paying jobs,” Litkenhous said, once the data center is up and running. He said Oasis will work closely with regional community colleges and the University of Virginia’s College at Wise to prepare the necessary workforce.