Crowded City Council Meeting: Proposed data center in La Pine frustrating residents

LA PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- An ordinary city council meeting in La Pine Wednesday night was unexpectedly attended by nearly a hundred members of the public, who all had the same message.

They want the city to say “no” to data centers.

Back in March, the council heard a proposal for the creation of a data center in La Pine on Reed Road. The city requested a more formal presentation of the proposal.

However, news of this potential data center recently reached the public, and people encouraged each other to attend to oppose it.

KTVZ streamed the entire meeting on KTVZ+, and spoke to a number of people outside the meeting.

“We should not be paying for the infrastructure that is required by these data centers. But we are. The people are taking care of the bill for people who are making more money than you and I could ever dream of," said Stephanie Butler, a Three Rivers resident. "We can't afford anything. Like, to allow this is to put another rubber stamp on something else. It makes it even harder for us to exist.”

“I hope that they listen to the people that live here, the people who are raising families here and grandkids, and the people that are going to be paying for it," said Sandy Loftus, a La Pine resident. "I hope that they aren't just thinking about other special interests and things, short term. I hope that they look at the long term."

Even though the data center was not an item on the city council’s agenda, so many people turned out for the meeting, they had to wait outside.

Nothing was decided at this meeting, and KTVZ has asked the La Pine City Council when it would be considering the proposal.

The group behind the data center is known as BoxMiner. According to BoxMiner’s website, it specializes in data center development, and mining crypto currency.

A proposed data center in La Pine is causing concern for residents throughout the city.

KTVZ News has received multiple emails and phone calls from community members asking for the Problem Solvers to look into how the proposed facility would impact the Deschutes County city.

Tonight, a city council meeting is scheduled for 5:30 pm and according to several residents, members of the community are going to voice their concerns to leadership about the proposed development. KTVZ News will be in attendance and will also stream the city council meeting LIVE on KTVZ+.