A potential data center on Old Ferry Road in Wiscasset was not on selectmen's agenda Oct. 7, but was on the minds of Wiscasset and Westport Island residents who told the board their concerns. One concern was not about the would-be center, but a "non-disclosure" deal the town made.

"That is the absolute opposite of transparency," Westport Island's Sam Godin said. "It gives everybody the heebie jeebies (and will) make everybody nervous/oppositional right off the bat." Godin, who said he builds power lines for a living, voiced concern about data centers' environmental and other impacts. "There are questions here that could have huge consequences not just for Wiscasset, but for Westport, Edgecomb, Georgetown, Boothbay, Southport. I hope you're doing your due diligence, because once (it's) here, it's a vampire. You're never getting rid of it."

Wiscasset's Jim Stewart said he and others are calling for "full transparency (and) full disclosure. He said the data center matter "has come to us with very little information, on something that may have decades-long impact on our community. We wish that all potential impact on our community, environment, shoreline, health, fiscal management, property values, safety and quality of life are open for discussion ... To be clear, we are opposed to the development of a massive data center in Wiscasset, but we are open to hearing all points of view ..."

Prefacing the public comment period in anticipation of the data center topic, Selectmen's Chair Sarah Whitfield told attendees the town signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) "because, as part of our due diligence process, we wanted to learn more about the potential investors. Because the project is conceptual ... the parties involved didn't want their identities known, which is very common early in development projects ...," Whitfield added.

Westport Island's Trevor Harris did not speak for or against a data center. He told the board, "As a stakeholder to the air and the water that the data center will use, I'm interested to know ... what the benefits and detriments to Westport Island will be."

In her preface, Whitfield told attendees "The town has been communicating with a site assessor regarding the potential development of a data center" at the town-owned 300-acre parcel opposite Maine Yankee's spent fuel storage facility.

Said Whitfield, "Both the town and site assessor are conducting due diligence. We are asking questions of one another, but no formal proposal has been presented to the selectboard."

When and if one is on the table, "we will share that information with the public," Whitfield said. She said the town is reviewing its ordinances and, before any data center would be built on the parcel, "it must complete a thorough public process ... to obtain state and local permits ... The selectboard believes it has a fiduciary responsibility to the citizens of Wiscasset to listen (to), study and evaluate any proposal, if there is one, particularly of this magnitude, with the potential to create jobs and increase the town's valuation. So, I will just add that personally, anything moving from here forward will be a very, very public process. And I cannot stress enough how much this is just an inquiry."

Whitfield dispeled comments she has seen, that a data center is coming and has already been decided. "None of that is true at all ... Everything from environmental concerns to traffic to sound, light, water, community, all of that will be addressed, and a million more things, if this moves forward, and we don't even know if it will."

After the night's comments, Whitfield told the meeting: "I do really appreciate how much you all care about your community, and please know that we do, too. And when I say community, I mean the entire surrounding area, not just Wiscasset folks. So thank you, and we'll let you know when we have something to share."

Oct. 8, Wiscasset Newspaper asked for the NDA, "redacting anything you believe the NDA does not allow you to disclose, i.e., the inquiring parties’ identity and any info that would also result in their identification."

Town Manager Dennis Simmons responded, "Our attorney is reviewing all of the documents regarding the data center. Once that is complete, we will release what we can legally release."