Chesaning takes up data center ban, $645,000 OHM deal Tuesday

Chesaning is moving to shut the door on data centers before anyone knocks. The Village Council's Oct. 20 packet contains a draft ordinance, No. 2026-06, that would bar the village from accepting or processing any application for a data center until Oct. 31, 2027, or until the village writes new rules governing them — whichever comes first. Tuesday's agenda lists the item for discussion only: "Set public hearing for December 1st: Data Center moratorium."

The draft ordinance states the council "is aware of significant public health, safety, and welfare concerns being raised by the public about the impacts of data centers," and that a pause would give the council time to study the question and take citizen input before any application lands. Village Attorney Peter M. Bade is listed as approving the draft as to form. A moratorium is a temporary freeze — it does not ban the use permanently, it stops the clock while an ordinance is written.

The bigger number on Tuesday's agenda is an engineering contract. OHM Advisors' proposed agreement with the village for the project "generally identified as 2027 Chesaning Water Main Improvements" summarizes compensation at $345,000 for basic services and $300,000 for resident project representative services — $645,000 in engineering alone, billed at hourly rates and based on a 12-month continuous construction period. The packet cautions that totals based on hourly rates "are estimates only." The agenda lists it for action as the "OHM design and construction proposal for 2027 Streets and Water projects." The Oct. 6 minutes show the Finance & Administration Committee "[m]et and discussed financing for street and water repairs to be discussed at a later meeting."

Also Tuesday: a public hearing on vacating a stretch of Railroad Street. The draft resolution describes it as "the public right-of-way reserved for potential street construction" running from the south line of Brady Street to the north line of Pine Street, bounded on the east by Block 52 and the Michigan Central Railroad right-of-way and on the west by Lots 1 and 10, Block 7 of Clark's Addition — in other words, a platted strip, not a street the village maintains. The resolution says "the Village has not utilized the Right-of-Way and has no future plan to do so," and ties the abandonment to the property at 900 Lockwood Street. Any abandonment would be subject to existing utility easements. The Current reported in June that the council vacated a Lockwood Street strip that synopsis minutes said may have been left undone earlier because of a clerical error.

Every household with village trash pickup has a dime riding on another item. Granger Waste Services Municipal Manager Jami Anderson wrote the village Oct. 5 asking the council to approve a temporary fuel surcharge of $0.10 per month, per household — a charge the residential waste agreement allows when diesel tops $4 a gallon for three straight months. Anderson's letter says Granger is using a $5-per-gallon benchmark instead, and cites Midwest No. 2 diesel retail prices of $5.42 in August 2026 and $6.35 in September 2026. The letter says it is the first time Granger has asked for the surcharge during the term of the contract, that it would first appear on the village's November 2026 invoice, and that it comes off once the monthly diesel rate falls below $5.

The consent agenda carries $176,620.83 in accounts payable, with no itemization in the packet. That follows the $334,724 the council approved Oct. 6. At that meeting, with Danek absent, the council also approved a separate Rootnote invoice for $3,445 on a motion by Navarre, supported by Larner, with Chludil abstaining; booked Showboat Park for the Chamber of Commerce fireworks on July 1, 2027, rain date July 8, and for the Dry Tri on Aug. 14, 2027; and canceled the Nov. 3 meeting on a motion by Bueche, supported by Navarre, to give people more time to get to the polls on election night. Candle Walk is back before the council Tuesday with a request to close a section of N. Saginaw Street.

What happens next: The council meets at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, at the village offices at 218 N. Front St., with the Railroad Street hearing, the Candle Walk closure and the OHM proposal set for that night. The data center moratorium is only set for discussion, with a public hearing proposed for Dec. 1. Because Nov. 3 is canceled, the next regular meeting after Tuesday is Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m.