BURGIN, Ky. (LEX News) — Nearly the entire town of Burgin gathered inside Burgin Independent Schools for a city council meeting over a proposed data center that could be built across 10 farming lands stretching from Burgin to Shaker Village — a move residents say would destroy historic thoroughbred grounds.
Residents packed the room, with many shouting their opposition and demanding answers from city leaders over what they described as a lack of transparency in the process.
Representative Adam Moore said the council's handling of the proposal has frustrated many in the community.
"It feels like a predatory nature that they're coming in and now essentially a community like Burgin is on the back foot and they're literally in a room shouting no we don't want this. Isn't that what we said? If we don't want them here, they're not gonna come here. But essentially we seem to have a rubber stamp council that's letting it go through," Moore said.
Moore pointed to unanswered questions about the ordinance and agreements surrounding the project.
"The biggest turn off for me is the lack of transparency. That we have a council member saying they haven't seen it yet. The ordinance yet, the first reading. NDA's haven't been signed, and we don't have the request for information come through where we can see who signed what, who agreed to what," Moore said.
One council member said the emotion in the room was overwhelming.
"I literally got emotional. And it was because the unity of the people here today. I tried to hold back but I was about to burst in tears. And it was just for the love that I stood for my people today," the council member said.
Bethany Corea, who moved to Burgin from Ohio in 2020, said the town quickly became the place she and her family planned to spend the rest of their lives.
"Well it quickly developed into 'wow this is where we want to grow old'. I used to joke they're gonna drag me out here into a retirement home. We just fell in love with the area. It became 'oh this is a nice little slice of the country', but still close to what we needed to be of 'oh this is our forever home'. This is where we want to raise our children," Corea said.
Now, Corea said the prospect of the data center has changed everything.
"I was astounded by all of the negative ramifications. It went from not only caring about my community, but again thinking about my daughters. I was thinking we want to grow old here, I have sentimental attachment to my home. All of these wonderful things, but if this comes here I can't risk my family to stay here, so I have to help my family fight," Corea said.
Corea said residents feel abandoned by those in power after she reached out to some state representatives.
"So we feel left out. We feel let down by our state legislators and other government officials," Corea said.
Among the concerns raised by residents were higher taxes and utilities, increased brownouts, noise, and the visual impact of the facility on the surrounding area.
“They are taking our resources. They are wanting to extract our water, our electricity. The soil we have counted on for generations to support us and nurture us," explained Betty Dean who is part of the "We Are Mercer County" group.
Dean says Burgin doesn't have a planning and zoning department, so whoever buys the land will control what happens in Burgin. She says the company out of Lexington who bought the land is finding loopholes to make sure the center gets built.
Another member of the group, Suzanne Roberts, says “We have so many [concerns] with the threat to our health. The threat to our water, our soil, the noise. We cannot stay there because we can’t take that risk.”
Roberts goes on to say, "It’s gonna be a devastating thing to Mercer County, and we’ve been fighting this since January. We’re gonna continue to fight though."
One council member, Sindicat Dunn, said he initially supported the project for its economic potential, but ultimately deferred to the will of the community.
"Basically the economic impact it would have on our town would be tremendous. But the people don't want it. So even though I was like, this is great for our city. It's not about me at the end of the day. It's about the people that elected me. And that's who I always stand with," the council member said.
Some residents and officials agreed on one potential path forward: placing the issue on the November ballot and letting voters decide.
A second reading will be held on Monday, July 20 to continue talks about the center.
In the mix of all of this, the Burgin Mayor Jamie Keebortz submitted a letter of resignation to the council on Wednesday night, which was approved in Thursday's meeting. The reasoning behind Keebortz resignation has not been made public.
This is a developing story that LEX News will continue to follow.
