Washington County Commissioners Charlie Schilling, middle, and Greg Nohe, right, review the list of bills during the meeting Thursday. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

MARIETTA — The Washington County Commissioners made a motion to table a letter of intent and discussion about the potential of data centers in the Waterford area during their regular meeting Thursday. Commissioner Eddie Place was absent for the meeting.

The letter of intent included a nondisclosure agreement involving a developer to work on the project.

Commissioner Charlie Schilling said there is an opportunity to speak with potential developers about a “major data processing” center in Waterford. He said those developers have discussed potential projects with the Waterford Township Trustees and Wolf Creek School District staff.

He said the developers are asking for a letter of intent but they wanted to table it until more discussion could be had with the community.

“There’s not a lot that we can share right now as far as that goes,” said Schilling.

Washington County Attorney Nicole Coil said this is standard procedure and there are no preliminary legal concerns.

Schilling asked what Coil’s thoughts were on bringing in an outside council to assist with the agreements and legal contracts if the process were to go through.

“It’s a little preliminary because we haven’t obviously made any decisions regarding the project at all but I can certainly understand why it would be under consideration,” said Coil.

Some members of the public who were in attendance at the meeting said they had concerns about an NDA and a data processing center in the county.

Steve Tornes, a longtime resident of Waterford, said these decisions affect him directly.

“It kind of puts this behind closed doors,” said Tornes. “I don’t know if I feel comfortable about you going into this and you’re saying it’s for proprietary reasons and this whole proprietary thing is when nothing is disclosed,” he said.

Muskingum Township resident George Banziger said if they’re considering data centers then they should look into establishing community green spaces.

“One thing I hope we could do at some point is to find some common ground,” he said.

Banziger said the group ReImagine Appalachia is working on proposing strategies that do not rely on extracted industries. He asked Nohe if he would consider taking action regarding injection wells in the county.

“I’m still evaluating, Mr. Banziger. I think that I’m trying to keep an open mind and utilize the concerns of all parties involved,” said Nohe. “I haven’t reached that conclusion yet because I’m still gathering evidence.”

Nohe said he wants to make an informed decision and not a “knee jerk reaction” to anything.

The commissioners approved the proposed tax levy from the Washington County Board of Developmental Disabilities to appear on the ballot in May.

While receiving approval from the commissioners is the first step, that is only a part of the process.

The Board of Directors for Ewing School met Tuesday night for a lengthy executive session to discuss the future of the school’s services. While those decisions were placed on hold until more information was gathered, the board approved the tax levy which was brought to the commissioners by Superintendent Tiffany Neill late Wednesday.

“We certainly appreciate the commissioners for taking the time to review the numbers and learn about the work we do,” said Neill. “We appreciate your stamp of approval.”

While the levy numbers are still going through a process, it is expected to be significantly reduced from the original tax levy which failed in the November election.

“I just wanted everyone to know that this is an operational levy and it’s for our mandated services. This does not cover all of our expenses that we currently have,” said WCBDD board member Robin O’Neal.

She said if passed in the upcoming election, the tax levy would only cover the minimum needed for their mandated services.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com