Proposed Wisconsin Rapids data center to be discussed in May

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By CAITLIN SHUDA

USA Today Network via ReutersConnect

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Wisconsin Rapids’ Planning Commission will hold a public hearing next month to address two requests, including the construction of a data center in the city.

According to a public notice posted April 19 by the city of Wisconsin Rapids, the city’s Planning Commission will hold the public hearing about two requests.

The first is a public hearing and action on a request from We Energies for a conditional use permit for a major utility installation at 800 Fremont St. in Wisconsin Rapids.

Kyle Kearns, the city’s director of community development, told a Daily Tribune reporter We Energies is looking to upgrade its natural gas infrastructure.

The second is a public hearing and action on a request from PCH WI Holdings LLC for a conditional use permit to construct a data center at 950 Fourth Ave. N. in Wisconsin Rapids.

According to the public notice, the request would include three existing parcels of land. According to land records, the three parcels of land add up to 208.95 acres.

Kearns said the parcels on Fourth Avenue North stand on the north side of the paper mill property, north of the railroad tracks, near where the pulp mill had been demolished. While the proposed data center would mark a significant redevelopment of a portion of the former paper mill property, the almost 209-acre project would not use up the entire acreage, Kearns said.

Kearns said from a power standpoint, the proposed data center development stands in the service territory of Consolidated Water Power Company, which owns and operates five hydroelectric projects on the Wisconsin River, according to the company’s land use policy.

The two public hearing items are not connected and involve separate properties, Kearns said.

The public hearings will be held at 4 p.m. May 4 in Council Chambers at City Hall, 444 W. Grand Ave. in Wisconsin Rapids.