Here are WWALS videos of the first Irwin County Commission Public Hearing about a Data Center Ordinance, on March 17, 2026.
The next Public Hearing will be March 30, 2026 at 5:45p.m in the Irwin County Courthouse, located at 301 South Irwin Avenue, Ocilla, Georgia.
The third and last Public Hearing will be April 6, 2026, before the Irwin County Commission meeting, presumably also at 5:45 PM and at the Courthouse.
Videos: Public Hearing about Datacenter Ordinance –Irwin County BOCC, 2026-03-17
Among the many good points brought up by citizens at the March 17 Public Hearing were the need for much more due diligence, tuning the ordinance to prevent specific harms, enforcement of the ordinance, as well as specific concerns of cost of wells, water levels, water quality, vegetative buffers, waste disposal, air quality, noise levels, wildlife, electric power, property values, agriculture, the Alapaha River, and limits on the size of any datacenters.
Despite a persistent rumor, the Irwin County Commission definitely did not vote on the previous datacenter application, because the applicant withdrew the application, so there was nothing to vote on.
See also
- Irwinville Data Center Withdrawn by Applicant, Irwin County Commission 2026-03-02.
- Public Hearing about Datacenter Ordinance –Irwin County Board of Commissioners 2026-03-17.
- Suggested additional sections for Irwin County datacenter ordinance –WWALS 2026-03-17.
Here are the WWALS videos, followd by a WWALS video playlist:
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How this Public Hearing will operate
Video:
https://youtu.be/fkjN88P81zkIrwin County Datacenter Public Hearing 2026-03-17
Videos by John S. Quarterman for WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS)
https://wwals.net/2026/03/27/videos-public-hearing-about-datacenter-ordinance-irwin-county-board-of-commissioners-2026-03-17/ -
About the Draft Datacenter Ordinance –Chair Vince Thompson
Video:
https://youtu.be/xf8OyfnUifU
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About the County Commissioners
Video:
https://youtu.be/Wd9F9z9wqPE
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Commissioner Chris Paulk has arrived
Video:
https://youtu.be/bp6Jra_Fjgw
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Order, Invocation, Pledge
Video:
https://youtu.be/sKxTWgVOhlo
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The County Attorney is on the phone
Video:
https://youtu.be/gyRHFoTkyQU
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Marvin Peavy: water and better industry
Video:
https://youtu.be/nvogtaEAtlM
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Clarifying which version of the ordinance
Video:
https://youtu.be/xJRPhitu1h0
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?: About leaks
Video:
https://youtu.be/MjXYG8cOHVM
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Public Hearing: listening, not answering questions
Video:
https://youtu.be/CVbmwIlrOJk
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Attorney Johnny Spurlin: what specific harms sh. ordinance be against?
Video:
https://youtu.be/jtB-BYVWXtk
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Lydia Cook: noise
Video:
https://youtu.be/OqagKTXXbhY
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Jeannie Lake(?), Pinetta Rd: closed loop cooling
Video:
https://youtu.be/pLXM3_Nx8jc
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Kacee Chambless: cost of wells, water – quality, buffers, enforcement
Video:
https://youtu.be/_HuHIXahdy0
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Dan Henderson: more on what is allowed or not, e.g. sound
Video:
https://youtu.be/d7JhGra49Yw
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John Brownlee: more about water, waste, air, noise… Alapaha River…
Video:
https://youtu.be/ISUyBCf7P9Q
John Brownlee: own land both sides of proposed datacenter; lack of information about water, waste, air, noise, wildlife, power, property values, agriculture, Alapaha River, etc.
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Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman: can add to the ordinance
Video:
https://youtu.be/V0PST8rwpOI
Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman: suggested additions to the draft ordinance
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Datacenter application withdrawn, so no rezoning to vote on
Video:
https://youtu.be/CDX1EsSloOw
Datacenter application was withdrawn, so there was no rezoning to vote on
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Next public hearings are March 30 and April 6
Video:
https://youtu.be/U1ENyRvd4Z4
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Marvin Peavey: money or benefitting the people?
Video:
https://youtu.be/NWU1nzRLZ-k
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Suwannee Riverkeeper: talk to Lowndes County about their ordinance
Video:
https://youtu.be/RuKDq2SG73g
Suwannee Riverkeeper: Lowndes County is also working on a datacenter ordinance; maybe talk to them
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Jim ?: Commissioners rural datacenters; talk to locals
Video:
https://youtu.be/SUm1DZAeI68
Jim ?: Commissioners should go to rural areas with datacenters and talk to the locals
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Lydia Cook: Does datacenter size limit? Yes.
Video:
https://youtu.be/sLNcOO2rcSE
Lydia Cook: Does datacenter ordinance limit on size? Yes.
Here is the LAKE video playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKwQ5xfKf-QwlyagmWo5KnMBbnWe-QYNo&si=bNkP2o5w6VlwWiIP
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/
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