County government
Bulloch County
The Burkhalter Road site is inside Statesboro, so the City decides on it. But the County sets the rules for the rest of Bulloch, and on October 6 it named a committee to advise on future rules. Here is what the record shows, and what nobody has said yet.
The short version
- The County has a pause (a moratorium) on data centers in the part of Bulloch outside city limits. It runs through December 31, 2026. Commissioners voted down a permanent ban, 4 to 3, on September 1.
- On October 6, commissioners named a 15-member Data Center Committee, 3 to 1. It is "expected to assist the county" as it considers future rules.
- The news story does not say what the committee has to do, when it meets, or whether its meetings are open to the public. We will post those answers when we have them.
- A County rule would not cover the Burkhalter Road site, because the City and the County have separate zoning (WSAV ↗).
What the County has done so far
- February: a 90-day pause on data centers outside city limits (Statesboro Herald ↗).
- May 5: commissioners extended the pause through the end of 2026. The same day they voted 5 to 0 to start the process of a zoning change that would ban data centers outright (WTOC ↗, Herald ↗).
- After that: County staff wrote the ban text, and the appointed Planning and Zoning Board voted to send it forward with a recommendation to approve (Herald ↗).
- August 4: commissioners tabled the ban 3 to 2. That left the pause in place, and a vote on the next step was expected the following month (WTOC, August 5 ↗).
- September 1: commissioners voted down the ban, 4 to 3. Commissioner Timmy Rushing moved to deny it and leave the pause in place through the end of 2026, and Commissioner Ray Davis seconded. Rushing, Davis, Commissioner Ray Mosley and Chairman David Bennett voted to deny. Nick Newkirk, Toby Conner and Anthony Simmons voted against denying it. Bennett cast the deciding vote, saying an outright ban would put the County in legal jeopardy (The Georgia Virtue ↗).
- August 18: the planning director showed a different draft. It would allow data centers only in certain overlay districts, with design, noise, setback and lighting rules. Commissioners took no action (Herald ↗).
- October 6: the committee below was approved (Grice Connect ↗).
So the County does not have a permanent ban. It has the pause, and the pause ends on December 31, 2026.
The Data Center Committee
Each commissioner nominated three people. The list passed 3 to 1. Here it is as the Bulloch County meeting packet and Grice Connect ↗ reported it. The "background" column is what the news story listed, not something we checked.
| Member | Nominated by | Background listed |
|---|---|---|
| Jeanne Marsh | David Bennett | Retired GBI agent; chair of Planning and Zoning |
| Ben Hirsch | David Bennett | Ogeechee Riverkeeper legal counsel |
| Nick Shealy | David Bennett | Sheppard Lumber Company |
| Keith Hamilton | Ray Davis | Arcola Septic Tank |
| Seth Upchurch | Ray Davis | County coroner |
| Will Anderson | Ray Davis | Farmer |
| Sandra Wooten | Ray Mosley | Military Family Life Counselor |
| Glenn Womack | Ray Mosley | Businessman; Lincoln's Logs LLC |
| Kelvin May | Ray Mosley | Not listed |
| Keely Nesmith Fennell | Timmy Rushing | Not listed |
| Frank Davis | Timmy Rushing | Retired trauma surgeon |
| Rick Mock | Timmy Rushing | Farmer and businessman; Planning and Zoning Board |
| Alana Olson | Anthony Simmons | Coastal Communities United |
| Ben Watkins | Anthony Simmons | Retired insurance broker |
| Vicki Lewis | Anthony Simmons | Educator |
Commissioner Nick Newkirk said at the meeting that he asked for a seat on the committee and was turned down. He said the commissioners had never set rules about who could serve. "I'm the one that's going to vote on it at the end of the day," he said, "and I felt like I needed to be on the committee so I could hear everything that's going on."
Newkirk voted for the ban on September 1, and his request for a seat is on the record. The story does not say which commissioner cast the one "no" on the committee, so we are not guessing.
What we don't know yet
- What the committee is supposed to produce, and by when.
- Whether its meetings are open, and where the dates will be posted.
- Whether neighbors of a proposed site get a seat or a chance to speak.
- Whether the committee will start from the County's draft or from a model like the one on our ordinance page.
- What the County will do when the pause ends on December 31, now that the ban was voted down.
One more thing from the same meeting
The same night, commissioners voted unanimously to raise the design and engineering contract for road work on Burkhalter, Cawana and Harville roads. The City picked Kimley-Horn at $1,195,700 (Grice Connect ↗), up from a first estimate of about $1 million. The City and County split it evenly, about $597,850 each. The news story does not say the road work is tied to a data center.
What is the Data Center Committee's job, and what is its deadline? Will its meetings be public, with notice and minutes? Will the people who live near a proposed site be heard? Will it ask for the same records we are asking the City for: the power contract terms, an independent fiscal study, and a night noise test? And will the County vote on a ban or on rules before the pause ends on December 31?