Bryan Tanner

Democratic St. Joseph County Council President Bryan Tanner worries a data center ban could trigger lawsuits from developers that will increase the county's legal costs. But Republican Council Member Amy Drake says he's being too cautious on the issue.

Democratic St. Joseph County Council President Bryan Tanner says he sees how unpopular data centers are with his constituents but he says council members' first priority should be to follow Indiana laws.

Republicans on the St. Joseph County Council are calling for a two-year data center moratorium, while Democrats and the business community say that would jeopardize local control on major land use projects and close the door to future economic growth.

St. Joseph County Council Republicans are asking Amazon to give back some property tax breaks but a leading Democrat accuses them of political posturing.

St. Joseph County Council President Bryan Tanner says the Midwest Continental Divide Trail would have largely used rights-of-way that edges private property, like abandoned railways, but he understands people come to view that as their property since they maintain it.

The St. Joseph County Council Tuesday night unanimously passed a resolution requiring county commissioners to bring any sale of Portage Manor property before the council for approval. Commissioners President Carl Baxmeyer noted the commissioners must sign any council actions into law.

The new limits on low-frequency sounds that industrial operations can emit won't apply to Amazon's data center because its building permits have been issued but they will apply to the data center that Microsoft will soon start building in Granger.

St. Joseph County Council President Bryan Tanner says he sympathizes with people living north of the Toll Road who might want to complain about low-frequency sound but it will not be possible to accurately measure sound from the data center when the Toll Road makes so much noise itself.

St. Joseph County Council President Bryan Tanner says since the county is creating nearly half of the animal control work for the Humane Society of St. Joseph County, its funding to the nonprofit should increase accordingly.