MARANA, Ariz. (KGUN) — As the Tucson City Council rejected the Project Blue data center, Councilmember Nikki Lee said the company told her it had other local sites in mind.
Councilmembers worried about factors like high water use in our desert environment.
The City of Tucson told Project Blue to take its business elsewhere; so, where might elsewhere be? You can not rule out Marana.
Marana has plenty of room for a big project, and its irrigation district has the potential to turn water for crops into water to cool a data center’s electronics.
Marana Mayor Jon Post says, “Project Blue has talked to the staff, they've talked to development services, and I don't but I don't know exactly what those conversations entailed. They have not turned in an application with the town.”
Mayor Post says if that sort of preliminary contact turned into something more serious, Marana would be in the driver’s seat—able to demand a deal that would benefit the town in the long term.
“I think our council would be agreeable to a data center, but again, it has to be something that fits Marana, something that's good for the residents of Marana, just, I think, just a data center on its own? Yes, it does bring construction jobs, and it does have jobs when they open, but will it bring other industries with it? That will remain the question.”
Mayor Post says one, two, maybe three data centers might be right for Marana but it should not become a community full of the centers.
He says after a data center considered Marana a few years ago, the town wrote a data center ordinance that gives the town control over noise, water, electrical use and how a center would look.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
