After reading aloud the entirety of a four-page resolution acknowledging Fredericksburg City Council’s continued support pursuing data centers, Mayor Kerry Devine broke script to “editorialize a little bit.”
“I truly think that this potential development is really a generational economic development opportunity,” Devine said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. “Potentially much greater than the financial impact that Central Park originally had on Fredericksburg.
“That was significant in its day and is still significant today; this is even more so.”
The resolution projects $45 million in annual tax revenue based on 2.5 million square feet of development, or at half buildout of a stated limit of 2% of the city’s land area.
It includes six “significant investments” that data center development would allow the city to pursue. They include lowering the real estate tax rate, increasing pay for public safety employees and teachers, and enabling City Council “green initiatives” and historic preservation measures among other priorities.
Ahead of the city council’s unanimous vote on the data center resolution — and prior to a closed session likely related to such a development in Celebrate Virginia South — a series of speakers with connections to the rapidly growing industry took the dais in council chambers.
Don Slaiman, who represents IBEW Local 26, an electrical union representing workers in the region, said that data centers have directly contributed directly to the growth of his union, which he said has doubled in membership over the past seven years.
“This industry has been a tremendous boon for our membership,” he said. “We took in 500 apprentices in August.”
Slaiman revealed that immediately following the recent graduation of a Germanna Community College-AWS program, six contractors hired the program’s graduates. He also noted that union members have “jumped at the chance” to work locally when jobs are available, such as during construction of the new Veteran’s Affairs Clinic in Spotsylvania County.
Since graduating from Spotsylvania’s Career and Technical Center’s carpentry program, Andrew Moeller has spent the bulk of his apprenticeship working in data centers across northern Virginia.
“I have traveled to Leesburg, Ashburn, Loudoun County, Prince William… but I’ve never had the opportunity to work locally,” Moeller said. “They bring great revenue, it’s provided health insurance for me, good wages, a pension for my future. But I’d love to be able to do it close to home.”
The irony of embracing resource-intensive data centers in the interest of meeting the city’s established environmental goals wasn’t lost on councilor Will Mackintosh (At-large).
“No prince charming is coming riding to the rescue to help us buy the electric buses we need to meet our 2035 zero carbon goals,” Mackintosh said. “I have confidence we can pursue data centers in the absolute most environmentally responsible way possible.”
In other business, city council voted 6-1 to uphold a ruling by the Architectural Review Board (ARB) denying a certificate of appropriateness for a rooftop addition at 314 William St. The current building dates back to 1955, when it was rebuilt following a fire.
Architect John J. Burger told city council that the addition was designed as a second-floor dining room for his client, Fahrenheit 132 owner Cole Berlin, who recently purchased the building formerly occupied by Vivify Burger & Lounge.
Berlin called the ARB denial “a tough pill to swallow.” He said that following the decision, he spent three hours on the street canvassing passersby about his plans, gathering 147 signatures in support of the proposed renovation.
“It was unanimous that people supported it,” he said.
For his part, Burger opined that ARB’s decision-making process was heavily influenced by the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation (HFFI). ARB member James Jarrell said that the body held three public hearings and two work sessions before arriving at its decision.
Vice Mayor Chuck Frye Jr. (Ward 1) against the measure to affirm the ARB decision, to essentially overturn the appeal.
