Richard Labrie of Westfield started off a robust public participation before the final vote on a 12-month moratorium at a special City Council meeting on July 6.
Photo credit: Westfield Community TV
WESTFIELD — Days after the council voted unanimously in favor of a 12-month moratorium on data centers in the city, the body officially confirmed that stance in a second and final vote during a special meeting on July 6.
But before that closing vote, residents once more showed up in force to speak about the proposed moratorium.
During public participation, the residents took no time getting to the point. Richard Labrie of Big Wood Drive started by thanking the City Council for supporting the moratorium on the first reading. He said the moratorium on data centers in Westfield was a necessary and responsible step to protect municipal resources, the local environment and taxpayers. “A temporary pause allows the city to establish ironclad zoning protections and performance guarantees before large-scale energy-intensive technology campuses alter the community landscape.”
Labrie went on to speak about the data centers’ reliance on massive amounts of electricity and vital water resources.
Labrie said the moratorium aligns with actions recently taken at the state level. He said that although the state implemented a sales tax exemption for qualifying data centers for up to 20 years in November 2024, Gov. Maura Healey recently paused applications for the exemptions to enact stronger guardrails.
“Creating permanent and resilient zoning, filling regulatory gaps, the 12-month pause overwhelmingly backed by the Planning Board and City Council [on] first reading, equips the city with the time it needs to draft deliberate, well-researched zoning laws that stand the test of time,” Labrie said.
Jessica Britton of Casimir Street said she hoped the councilors had seen the constituents show up at three meetings in a row, and asked them to “do the right thing” and vote in favor of the moratorium.
Michael Roeder of Western Avenue questioned the actions that had not been taken to date by the proponents of the proposed Servistar Data Center to justify an extension, which he said included not accepting the permits awarded in 2021, not purchasing property and not applying for formal consideration by ISO New England. “They never did anything to justify coming back here, in my view. But I understand from the Legislature that the law entitles them to do so,” he said.
Roeder also asked the council to bring back the original developers and find out what they spent almost $700,000 on to date, and where it went.
Donna Liese of Shaker Road thanked the councilors for their first vote on the moratorium, and singled out Councilor Kristen Mello for “her dedication, research, and representation, clearly demonstrating the environmental issues already impacting the health of Westfield residents … Based on her findings, the additional research presented to the council by concerned citizens, and the testimony of residents who live near these data centers, it is clear that housing one here would detrimentally impact our community,” Liese said, before asking for a unanimous vote in favor of the moratorium.
Andy Montanaro of Big Wood Drive raised the issue of non-disclosure agreements currently in force or anticipated in the future in respect to the moratorium, which City Council President John Beltrandi III said he couldn’t answer during public participation.
Montanaro went on to ask the council, mayor, and all city agencies to formally commit to full disclosure about all the obligations, promises, and commitments that the city will make in reference to data centers. “We have an obligation to transparency in our community, and I see no reason why we cannot obligate ourselves to formally disclose what’s happening. So I’m asking that there be a proposed amendment to this moratorium to prohibit non-disclosure agreements throughout the entire process as a commitment to transparent governance,” he said.
Ann Ripley of Victoria Circle urged the councilors to do their due diligence on any data center applications. “If you’re going to get sold a bill of goods on this without doing your due diligence, because this city doesn’t have a good record for due diligence, then we’re in a lot of trouble,” she said, adding, “My question is, who do the aggrieved citizens, residents in this city, sue when it comes to that?”
Kathy Labrie of Big Wood Drive made an emotional plea to the council, drawing on her history with many of them as a supporter, Little League coach and church-goer. She said her children and grandchildren live in Westfield, and she asked the councilors to think of their own and not be fooled “by the gold they’re dangling in front of you. So please, look in your heart and do the right thing.”
Suzanne Paquette of Summer Street said over 230 environmental groups are asking Congress for a pause on data centers, which she said has been hampered by the gutting of the Environmental Protection Agency and OSHA. “It’s the Wild West when it comes to data centers,” she said, while also questioning the amount of water in closed-loop systems, which she said use much more water than is disclosed.
Judy Lamothe of City View Road also thanked Mello for her hard work in presenting the moratorium and to the City Council for voting in favor on the first reading.
Finally, Rachelle Randall of Southwick asked the council to consider the effect of data centers on neighboring towns, especially on the rising cost of utilities. “So I really urge you guys to go with the moratorium. We did in our town,” she said.
With no other speakers coming forward, Beltrandi thanked the residents for their input. “Before I move on, I’d like to thank everybody for coming here tonight and the last time that you were here. It’s very impressive,” he said.
Beltrandi then asked Mello to make a motion to move the vote to item one on the agenda. Before the vote, he asked Mello if there was anything further to discuss.
“I don’t think there’s anything we could say that was better than what they had to say for themselves,” Mello said, to which Beltrandi agreed. The final vote on a 365-day moratorium on data centers then passed unanimously.
After the meeting, Mello expressed her gratitude for the process. “What an amazing example of community engagement and responsive government working together to address an issue! From the first emails from residents, to Councilor [Karen] Fanion co-sponsoring the original motion, to drafting with the Law Department and City Planner, the overwhelming public participation, unanimous support from the Planning Board and City Council, and a public pledge from the Mayor to sign, everyone has stepped up and worked together on this moratorium to protect our community,” Mello said.
The investigation on the ecological and public health impacts of siting a data center in Westfield will now go to the City Council’s Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Mello. “While acknowledging the mountain of work ahead, the dedication, engagement, and co-operation for the common good shown by all involved has really made this process quite a hopeful and humbling experience for me, and I’m very grateful,” she said.
