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West Jordan • A secretive economic-development project that is seeking to lure a Facebook data-storage center with the promise of $240 million in tax incentives is drawing skepticism and hard questions in some quarters, but residents of West Jordan appear to be on board with the project — or just choosing not to weigh in on it.
Only four residents spoke at a Redevelopment Agency public hearing Wednesday on "Project Discus" — none in opposition.
Steve Jones wanted assurances that "as an individual, I will not have to pay one dime." If the answer is no, he added, "then put it in."
Jamie Bevilhymer had similar concerns. Identifying herself as a widow on a fixed income, she said, "I cannot afford an extra fee on my water, an extra property tax."
The project won full endorsement of Dennis Randall, former West Jordan mayor, while community activist Alexandra Eframo was angry about tough questioning Salt Lake County officials meted out to city leaders Tuesday night. Eframo called the confrontation by Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and County Council members "deplorable," full of misrepresentations and disrespectful of West Jordan.
"I was ashamed of our [County] Council, she said.
The five City Council members present during the hearing Wednesday were unanimous and vocal in favor of the Facebook deal, portraying it as an economic bonanza for West Jordan and the region.
"It is good for the city, for the county and for the state of Utah," said Councilman Chad Nichols. "This project is a step toward securing Utah as the new Silicon Valley. … It's our time."
Nichols said one of his major concerns is the water-use of the massive server farm, which has been criticized for requiring the reservation of 5.3 million gallons of water per day.
The public information officer for the company being wooed, he said, authorized the city to describe the water needs as "significantly less than 1 million gallons per day. In this case, they've asked us specifically not to say more than that."
Mayor Kim Rolfe criticized "misinformation that has flooded the media," and he said most reports miss the "hundreds of millions of dollars in economic benefit" the project will bring the area. The project developers are ready to invest $1.5 billion in the area over the next 20 years, according to the city. And the location of Facebook's data center would have a "halo effect, where similar companies follow their lead," Rolfe said.
Best of all, the mayor insisted, is that "there is no risk to local entities."
The discussion's tone was starkly different than the one with Salt Lake County leaders the previous night.
County Councilman Steve DeBry, whose district includes West Jordan, said the project "doesn't sit right. It doesn't smell right. … The way it's laid out, it's just not good government."
But, even should the county's skepticism turn to opposition, there's likely not much it can do to stop the project, which purportedly has buy-in from the Governor's Office of Economic Development, the West Jordan School District and the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District.
A panel with representatives from all the taxing entities affected will vote on the project later this month.