SUNSET, Utah — For the third time this spring, the Utah group Grow The Flow sponsored a town hall meeting about data centers.
This one happened in Sunset and also featured a candidate forum for Utah Senate President Stuart Adams and two people hoping to unseat him.
Tuesday’s town hall had a little extra buzz because Adams was on hand. A week out from Primary Election Day, Adams and the two people challenging him answered questions about data centers and water.
The evening began with Brenna Williams, who started the Box Elder County Accountability Referendum to try to stop the Stratos data center.
Williams said people need to be more aware of all data center projects, including the one being proposed for Box Elder County.
“Our fight in Box Elder County is your fight. These projects are dangerous projects in our desert communities," Williams said.
WATCH: Poll shows 7 of 10 Box Elder County voters oppose Stratos Project data center: Watch this video on Youtube.
Poll shows 7 of 10 Box Elder County voters oppose Stratos Project data center
Adams and those opposing him in next week’s primary election then took questions from the crowd — most pertaining to data centers, the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) and the Great Salt Lake.
Stephanie Hollist, one of Adams' challengers in the Republican primary, said Utah needs leaders who will lead.
“We’ve heard lots of promises; we haven’t seen results, and because we haven’t seen that, we’ve lost trust, so now is not the time to say, ‘trust us.' That time has passed," Hollist said.
For his part, Adams said Utah has already stepped up in a big way to try and save the Great Salt Lake.
“One billion dollars in appropriation and another billion dollars with the federal government. We’re trying to do some really important things; never has a lake like this been saved. We do the impossible all the time in Utah. This will be one of the impossible things we’re gonna do," he said.
Braden Hess is the other primary candidate vying for Adams' job.
Hess said he’s not a fan of referendums but also not a fan of what MIDA has become.
“It’s bloated to the point where it’s not quite recognizable to its original intent.”
Primary election day in Utah is next Tuesday.
This article is published through the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a solutions journalism initiative that partners news, education and media organizations to help inform people about the plight of the Great Salt Lake—and what can be done to make a difference before it is too late.
