Irwin County is holding a Public Hearing about a Data Center Ordinance
tomorrow, March 17, 2026, at 6 PM,
in the Irwin County Administration Building, 225 East Fourth Street, Ocilla, Georgia.

Public Hearing about Datacenter Ordinance, Irwin County BOC, 6 PM, March 17, 2026

See also Irwinville Data Center Withdrawn by Applicant, Irwin County Commission 2026-03-02.

https://wwals.net/?p=69660

Here is the Public Notice and the draft ordinance.

Linked in a popup on https://irwincounty-ga.gov:

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

The Irwin County Board of Commissioners will hold a Public Hearing on March 17, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. in the Irwin County Administration Building, located at 225 East Fourth Street, Ocilla, Georgia and March 30, 2026 at 5:45p.m in the Irwin County Courthouse, located at 301 South Irwin Avenue, Ocilla, Georgia. The purpose of these hearings are to receive public comments regarding the following matter:

• Review Data Center Ordinance

All interested parties are invited to attend and be heard. The County will vote on the ordinance at their regularly scheduled meeting on April 6, 2026 at 6:00p.m.

Irwin County Board of Commissioners

Notice of Public Hearing Data Center Ordinance, 2026-03-17 Irwin County Board of Commissioners
PDF

Also linked into the popup is the draft ordinance itself:

https://irwincounty-ga.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Data-Center-Ordinance-JBBG-Draft.pdf?pid=2210

I’m not going to transcribe it, but images are below.

I will say it has some good features, such as on page 4:

(d) Water Usage Standards. Only closed-loop cooling systems are permitted in Irwin County.
There shall be no discharge of cooling water into public sewers or ground without treatment.

However, it may have come from the former data center applicant who withdraw on March 2; if so, that makes it suspect.

Please compare this draft datacenter ordinance to the others provided by Science for Georgia:

https://wwals.net/pictures/datacenters-2026-02-17

AN AMENDMENT TO THE ORDINANCES OF IRWIN COUNTY, GEORGIA PERTAINING TO THE REGULATION OF DATA CENTERS WITHIN THE COUNTY.
PDF

Definitions and Applicability
PDF

Standards
PDF

(d) Water Usage Standards. Only closed-loop cooling systems are permitted in Irwin County. There shall be no discharge of cooling water into public sewers or ground without treatment.
PDF

Violations
PDF

SECTION 5. The ordinance shall be effective immediately upon its adoption by the Irwin County Board of Commissioners.
PDF

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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