Conflicting meetings center on Springdale data center proposal

Springdale residents interested in the proposed data center project might have to choose which meeting on the proposal to attend next week.

After several official meetings before various Springdale bodies, community members are planning to take things into their own hands.

Locals will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at From Italy Pizza on Lincoln Avenue.

The gathering is Springdale resident Marty Garrigan’s idea. He said he wanted to provide a space for residents to organize themselves and raise potential objections to the data center in a less regimented format than borough meetings.

“In general, it’s just to keep everyone active and let the community voice concerns,” Garrigan said.

Garrigan said he enlisted the help of local environmental advocacy group Protect PT, which has helped organize and publicize the meeting.

Protect PT originally was organized in Penn Township, Westmoreland County, to oppose fracking and other drilling operations there. Since then, the group has expanded and weighs in on other fracking and environmentally sensitive projects throughout southwestern Pennsylvania.

Meeting-goers should expect about 15 minutes of presentations from Protect PT and other environmental groups followed by open-ended discussion and organizing by attendees, Garrigan said. He said an attorney may also be present to answer questions.

At the same time, representatives from data center developer Allegheny DC Property Co. will host an informational meeting at the Springdale Borough Building.

Though Garrigan called it “most interesting” that the two meetings conflict, Allegheny DC consultant Brian Regli said he wasn’t aware of the community meeting until after he and the borough had scheduled their own gathering.

The developers’ meeting will not be part of any official proceedings. Instead, Regli said acoustician Jeff Babich would present the results of a recently completed noise study and developers would field questions from the community.

Regli said representatives could be on-site as late as 10 p.m., and he would do his best to accommodate those attending both meetings. He said developers would be willing to reiterate any information throughout the evening.