The borough assembly has unanimously voted down a proposed land lease for a privately run data center. The assembly on June 9 went with the manager’s recommendation to retain the waterfront property for future maritime industry expansion.
Borough Manager Mason Villarma recommended rejecting the lease application from Greensparc, which was looking to build a 10,000-square-foot facility on borough-owned land at the 6-Mile Mill deepwater port site.
The project would have been the company’s second venture in Alaska, following a smaller data center installed in Cordova last year.
Public opposition to the data center in Wrangell focused on concerns over power consumption and environmental issues, with residents airing their complaints on social media and at an assembly meeting.
Villarma told assembly members last week that the 6-Mile site is one of the borough’s most valuable industrial waterfront assets. Because of its deepwater access, upland acreage and proximity to marine operations, the site is uniquely suited for maritime uses that cannot be easily located elsewhere in the community.
