TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Project Blue data center is still shaking up Pima County government. It’s not clear if the center will be built or not, but the uproar it created is leading Pima County Supervisors to build some new county policies.
High water and electrical use were not the only reasons people came out in force to oppose the Project Blue data center.
They objected to the secrecy, to the NDA, the non-disclosure agreement that kept Pima County from even saying what Project Blue is until just a few days before the vote.
In Tuesday’s meeting, Roma Lamor said, “If Project Blue was good for Pima County it wouldn’t have been kept a secret for more than two years.”
Supervisor Jennifer Allen was one of two “no” votes to the County selling land for the project.
Now’s she’s convinced her fellow supervisors to narrow down what NDA’s cover and define how long they last.
“I’ve been using the phrase of wanting the precision of a scalpel rather than a wrecking ball when it comes to what is covered in non disclosure agreements.”
Reining in non-disclosure agreements combines with another measure Supervisors passed to define how they’ll handle the next big business proposal they receive.
Together the two:
-Restrict what NDA’s can keep secret
-Allow NDA’s to last no longer than two years
-Require project secrecy to lift 90 days before Supervisors vote on it
-Set standards for information project organizers would disclose
-Assess the potential impact a project could have on people and the region in general.
District Four Supervisor Steve Christy opposed both measures. He says business interests should have had more say in developing them .
“If we put more hurdles in front of companies that want to look into moving into Pima County it’s just going to make it that much more difficult for us to obtain them.”
