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The National Security Agency's Utah Data Center will be Bluffdale's newest corporate resident.
The city is preparing to annex the data center, which will be built at Camp Williams.
City Manager Mark Reid said the NSA requested annexation in order to ensure a steady water supply from this south Salt Lake County city.
"The decision to deliver water was brought to all the cities that surrounded that area," Reid said. "The deciding factor was Bluffdale wanted to do it."
Plus, the South Valley Sewer District has already run a line to the area, and it would make sense if the water provider was in that basin as well, Reid said.
The data center will house 1 million square feet of computers and employ 200 people to analyze information to prevent attacks on the nation's computer systems.
It won't increase the city's tax base, Reid said, because the federal land is already tax exempt. And he said it will not require much in the way of city services because Camp Williams provides fire and security protection.
But one thing the center will need is water, mainly for cooling the computer systems. No estimate was available Wednesday on the amount of water that will be required.
Brian Morris, general counsel for the state Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA), said being annexed by the city is the best way to ensure a reliable water supply. MIDA's job is to bring utility lines to the installation's property line.
If NSA just bought water from Bluffdale, it would be considered a surplus priority customer. Reid and Morris said that means if there were a water shortage, NSA would be one of the first customers cut off.
"The Utah Data Center desired not to be treated different, or as a lesser priority than other residents," Reid said.
The next step is working out how much land to annex. Morris said Utah law prohibits cities from annexing land in a way that creates islands or peninsulas. An annexation needs to be contiguous.
Morris said MIDA is working with Bluffdale, Lehi and Utah County on drawing up the annexation maps.
Utah County Commission Chairman Larry Ellertson said he was not aware of Bluffdale's intention to annex the land. —
Annexation hearing
Bluffdale will hold a public hearing on its plan to annex the land on which the proposed Utah Data Center will be built. The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, 6 p.m., at the city fire station, 14350 S. 2200 West.