The Van Buren Township Planning Commission is preparing to vote on the final site for a massive data center proposed by Google on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

Some residents fear the facility could harm the environment and raise utility costs for customers.

The township’s top official, Supervisor Kevin McNamara, says Van Buren has little choice but to consider the data center, since it meets the necessary zoning requirements.

But McNamara says that has not stopped people from giving him an earful about the plan.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

Kevin McNamara: Every single day for the last ten months and every night. And every church parking lot and every elected official from Lansing to Washington to Wayne County.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: Pressing you on both sides, or are they always for or against it?

KM: A lot of them just don’t seem to understand. The data centers are legal.

They say “Just say no.” You can’t just say no. If you do, you go to court like Saline did. And the court decides what to do and how to build it. As badly as maybe I didn’t want a data center, I’m not letting a judge in downtown Detroit build our data center.

We’re gonna build the best damn data center we possibly can. So you basically gotta take all the abuse and get what’s best for your community.

We didn’t get a great hand to be dealt with. We zoned data centers into industrial areas. We have one of the largest data centers in the state in J.P. Morgan Chase.

We have another one across the street. We knew what they were and we said we want them in industrial areas. They have morphed since 2018 when we said that into these hyperscales.

Still, if they were going to be in zoning it would be in an industrial area. You can’t not zone them. Saline did not zone them and that’s how they lost in court. The judge took over and decided how to build Saline’s data center. That wasn’t gonna happen here.

QK: Under the zoning laws, you really couldn’t turn down the facility if it met certain criteria?

KM: No, you can’t. Your best case scenario would be to have the judge broker a deal with all parties.

Your worst case scenario is that you go into a long legal fight, you lose, the property owner gets millions, the developer gets millions. Perhaps the data center people want money, too. But now you’ve lost and you’ve got to take the next data center. I darn sure love Google compared to any of the other ones out there. I don’t want BlackRock. I don’t want mergered ones. I don’t want highly leveraged ones.

QK: Why do you like Google?

KM: I’ve traveled the country. I’ve called the communities, I’ve called the schools. I think the best answer was a school in Virginia that said, “Which data center?” I said, “Google.” They said, “You’re fine, they’re great.” They’re already working with our schools. They own the Discovery Channel, they’ve just gifted the Discovery Channel curriculum K-12 over to our school system.

They had an open house for STEM day. I saw seven-year-olds creating wormholes in the middle of the classroom. I saw kids that were ten years old coding robots and they were being taught by discovery instructors and discovery videos how to do this. It’s just amazing the capabilities they have.

They’ve got robotics teams that teach and kids walk out of the classroom with their own robot that they built and they coded. We got the right partner. They actually do care about the community and they care about their reputation. And I believe that they’re gonna do a really nice job for us in Van Buren.

QK: There have been concerns raised in Van Buren, the same that you often hear about data centers in general, especially the use of electricity and water. How are you addressing those concerns?

KM: First of all, when we went through the process we got screamed at constantly. Probably like 40 meetings we’ve had where the public has come and spoke. What they don’t know is we listened to them. We heard what they said. And so we brokered a deal on what happens if they cause our water rates to go up. We believe they’ll go down because we have greater sales to disperse our fixed costs over. But there is a scenario where water rates for residents and businesses in our community could go up.

It’s brokered right into our agreement with Google that they will cover any of those cost increases.

As far as electricity, they’re off of our grid. We brokered a deal where they had a 150 generators for power outages. They’re down to 24 generators. They can only last three hours during a power outage and then they have to go dark. They’ve got two different lines that feed them from different sources.

I don’t know how that works, but I do know that the history of those two lines goes back ten years and they’ve never both gone down. We heard the population and we brokered those agreements into it. As for the cost of electricity, I don’t really know at all, but I believe that they have about $350 million dollars that they’re putting down.

They’re guaranteeing 19 years of billing. So when DTE goes out to build these plants, they know they’ve got a customer that has to pay them for 19 years.

QK: The Wayne County Commission had to override a veto from County Executive Warren Evans, which he rarely does, to approve tax incentives for the center. You guys had already approved them. The county exec said he felt Google was rushing the county to try to get the incentives approved. What’s your response to those comments?

KM: I’m not going to speak on behalf of Warren Evans. He made a determination that he thought was right. I can tell you that when a business builds anywhere in a community, they have to follow the zoning laws and they have to follow the codes and the ordinances that are in that community.

Those things aren’t maximum ordinances. Your house might have to be half brick, but you could build all brick if you want.

You don’t have to but you have to at least build half brick. What you end up with if they follow the minimum standards of your community is a baseline data center.

We don’t want that because those are the ones that can cause problems. We want a maximum data center.

We want the next generation quiet cooling towers. We want the next generation generators that run on sulfur-free diesel and they have their own scrubbers on each one of them. We want wildlife corridors, that’s what our people have told us.

They told us they don’t want noise, so we want sound barriers, sound walls, we want maximum setbacks of 450 feet, not the 65 feet they probably would have to do under the minimum.

We want 15-foot-high berms, a $30 million landscape package. You will not see the data center unless you have a drone to get over the 15-foot-high trees that they have to plant that are gonna grow 30 feet.

But you have to understand that you don’t get any of that unless you negotiate the tax incentives. That’s the only thing that a community is left to negotiate. And the Wayne County Commission understood that. They don’t want a baseline data center in their community either. They want the best darn data center they can possibly get that’s quiet, pollution free, and does all those things.

QK: Have you felt rushed at all by Google?

KM: No, in fact this process is longer than usual. Usually a major project would take as long as six months. This has been probably 10 months right now. Every single detail has been gone over and over and over because the population really doesn’t want it.

We’re kind of having to deal with the cards that are dealt to us. You can’t just say no. Every day we are dealing with another issue. We have to take everything they say seriously because God help us if they tell us something that could happen and we didn’t write it into the agreement. Then we are at fault. We have to take everything seriously. Every day we’re working on this.

QK: The major party gubernatorial candidates here in Michigan have both said that they would call for moratoriums on data center development. If you guys have this all approved before any new administration would get into Lansing, would that cover you guys at all?

KM: They can’t have a moratorium on an existing project. Since these people already came in, they couldn’t stop it.

Van Buren Twp. actually has a moratorium on data centers at this time. We put the moratorium after Google came in because we realized that there are a lot of aspects of this that we need to sit down and really hash out. Right now there is a moratorium in Van Buren Twp. on new data centers, but it does not affect any data center that already applied. Which is one.

People just don’t seem to understand how locals look at tax captures sometimes. Yes, we are giving up some of our money. But we’re giving up some of our money to build a premier facility that’ll have low impact on our community. That’s why we gave up some of our money. People in the state think that these tax captures are about competing with other states. To us, that’s not the way it is.

It also adds something that people completely miss that locals understand. If I have a problem with a person that takes a tax capture, Google, for example, because they know it and they’ve even had speeches on it. Say they decide that they’re not bringing quiet cooling towers. Or say they start operating and they’re quiet and all of a sudden they start getting loud.

We’ve negotiated that they have to have continuous sound monitoring on the perimeter. And if it’s coming in loud, the only thing the local community can do is write an ordinance ticket for $500. That’s a joke. I mean they’ll just pay the $500 and they may or may not fix the problem. But if I call them up and tell them, “You’re breaking the ordinance for sound and I’m calling back your $100 million in tax incentives and you’re gonna have to pay it now,” they’re going to fix the problem.

QK: And you would have the authority to do that, to call back the tax incentives?

KM: I have the authority to petition the state. And right now data centers are not exactly loved up there, are they?

Five organizations are receiving $1.5 million in awards from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services for community violence intervention efforts.

MDHHS acting director Ashley Epkey says the money goes toward reducing firearm violence and adverse outcomes in communities. 

MDHHS says community violence includes homicides and nonfatal shootings, which cause substantial harm and trauma to communities, especially in “racially segregated and historically disinvested neighborhoods.” Community violence is a public health problem, which can lead to people developing chronic diseases and avoiding resources such as recreational spaces and access to healthy food outlets. 

The funding hopes to strengthen community violence intervention services for groups with a high likelihood of firearm violence. Proposals were accepted based on measurable efforts that integrate public health and safety. Each organization was awarded $300,000 for a 2 year project that spans Sep. 1, 2026 – Sept. 30, 2028.  

Two organizations in Detroit were awarded funds. The first is Detroit Life is Valuable Everyday, or DLIVE. DLIVE will use a hospital-based violence intervention program model to help with post-injury recovery, retaliation, mortality risk and victim services.

The second one is Detroit Peoples Community. Detroit Peoples Community will implement five evidence-based community violence intervention strategies to serve people in the Detroit ZIP codes 48219 and 48235. 

Additional headlines for Monday, Sept. 28, 2026

Local leaders agree: data center regulations are needed

Local government leaders across Michigan say they support state regulations for data centers. The University of Michigan’s Center for Local, State and Urban Policy interviewed village, township and county officials. Center director Stephanie Leiser says almost 60% of those who responded think setting rules should be a high priority for lawmakers. 55% expect strong opposition to data centers.  

Speaking on those survey percentage points regarding data centers, Leiser notes, “It’s coming through loud and clear that they (local government officials) really think the state needs to step up and help with things like decommissioning plans, health and environmental impacts, water use and discharge.” 

Leiser says the survey shows more opposition in rural communities, where 53% of local politicians say data centers’ costs outweigh their benefits. 

Gun safety a necessary step in suicide prevention      

Suicide deaths are the second leading cause of death for people aged 10-34 years old as of 2024. That’s according to a new report by the Michigan Suicide Prevention Council.  

Lindsay DeCamp is the State Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. She says increased access to firearms contributes to suicide. “Research shows that states with higher rates of household gun ownership have significantly higher rates of suicide. Storing firearms securely and limiting access for those that are in heightened risk can help reduce suicide.”  

DeCamp says societal, community and individual-level factors such as unemployment, feelings of despair and social isolation remove protective factors against suicide.  

The council recommended two priorities: sustaining state funding for suicide prevention infrastructure and aligning policy and licensure to educate professionals across sectors in risk assessment and prevention. 

If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide or harm, please call or text the Suicide and Crisis Hotline at 988 for confidential emotional support 24/7. 

Spirit of Detroit given to immigrant business leader 

Mohammed Abdul Muhit received a Spirit of Detroit award from the Detroit City Council last week, recognizing his service, leadership, and commitment to Detroit’s small business community. Muhit is the District 3 Business Liaison and the associate director at the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation.  

Muhit, who immigrated to the Detroit area in 2016, says he’s grateful for the opportunity to give back. “It’s really a wholesome experience from day one that I started living here. From day one, I have had the opportunity and privilege to work in the city administration with a lot of great people every day.”  

Muhit previously worked at Global Detroit as a community organizer and engagement specialist focusing on the Banglatown neighborhood before joining the DEGC. 

Skilled Trades Task Force meeting

The City of Detroit is hosting a Skilled Trades Task Force Meeting. At this meeting, people can find out about tuition-free apprenticeship programs.  

The meeting will take place at the Union Carpenters and Millwrights Skilled Training Center on Sept. 23rd from 4-6 p.m. That’s located at 11687 American Street, Detroit, MI 48204. 

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Ypsilanti Township officials passed a 180 day moratorium on major electrical infrastructure in a continued effort to pause plans by the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory to build a high-performance computing center. 

The University of Michigan wants to build on a 144-acre area along Textile Road.

Ypsilanti Township officials say they weren’t fully informed about the size and details of the project when the university first reached out.

Ypsilanti Township supervisor Brenda Stumbo says local officials have little say over the University of Michigan’s plans. 

“The University of Michigan doesn’t have to go through local government planning, fire safety checks, or building permits because they’re legally exempt from these rules. They also don’t pay taxes to the communities where they’re located,” Stumbo says. 

Records show the university bought nearly 20 acres at 10221 Textile Road in October 2024 for a “future computing center,” and in June 2025, they bought about 125 acres at 10455 and 10635 Textile Road for more computing facilities.

Township legal advisor Doug Winters said local officials only learned the full scope of the project in July 2025, when the university revealed plans for two large computing centers, including one linked to Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The township’s new pause on construction aims to give officials time to see if current land rules are enough to handle a project of this size, especially since it will need a lot of electrical power.

“Right now, we need to review whether our land-use rules match what this project requires,” Winters said. “We’re doing our homework. A 180 day pause is a reasonable amount of time.”

The university says the first phase of the facility will use about 50 megawatts of electricity, with plans to eventually reach 100 megawatts. The site would have its own substation from DTE Energy. The university argues that the center would use less than one-tenth the electricity of a typical commercial data center and it should be seen as a scientific research facility, not a commercial one.

Town officials are still worried about possible impacts on wetlands, wildlife, the nearby Huron River, noise, heat, stormwater runoff, and nearby neighborhoods.