Tyler Vincent told the crowd of protesters at last week’s contentious Box Elder County Commission meeting that despite their turnout, the plan to develop a massive data center campus west of Tremonton had local support.

“The proposed project does have support from many people who live and work here,” the Box Elder County commissioner asserted over the crowd’s boos. “I’m talking about your friends and neighbors.”

The Salt Lake Tribune made a public records request of the comments Vincent and his fellow commissioners received in the week leading up to their May 4 vote to allow the project to move forward. The Tribune analyzed the comments from Box Elder County residents, and found overwhelming local opposition.

“The world does not need more A.I. data centers,” one Brigham City resident, Alexis Forsgren, wrote, “it needs more of us coming together and using our actual brains to solve issues.”

Forsgren was one of 310 Box Elder County residents who filled out the county’s online comment form between between April 27 and May 5, copies of which The Tribune received through a public records request.

Some filled out the form more than once, amounting to 355 local comments total on the proposed data center campus backed by celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary and spearheaded by Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority, or MIDA.

That’s despite O’Leary’s claims, without proof, that the protesters who packed into the County Commission’s May 4 meeting were paid and “bused in.”

Among those local comments, The Tribune found that 242 — or 68% — opposed the plan. Just seven, or 2%, shared approval. And the remaining 106, or 30%, did not state an opinion but did demonstrate concern, posing questions about water, power and how county residents might benefit.

Christopher Danvers, of Tremonton, was one of the few locals to share his support. He called it “a great opportunity for our county and the people who live there,” adding that a data center is “the kind of growth that our county needs.”

Among the many who expressed opposition, water was a major concern. “We are in a major drought,” Elianna Mitchell, of Brigham City, told commissioners, adding that “I will vote against ANYONE who approves this data center.”

Adie Sleeman, who identified herself as a 21-year-old lifelong Box Elder County resident, told commissioners she was concerned about what data centers might do to bird habitats around the county, particularly at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge Center west of Brigham City.

“The streets of Box Elder County are lined with trees and banners of birds because of the unique habitat we provide at the bird refuge,” Sleeman wrote. “We are able to house so many migratory birds and keep native flora and fauna safe because of the natural environment that we do not tamper with.”

Sleeman also criticized commissioners for directing comments to the online form and not allowing public comment at the May 4 meeting, which ended with commissioners retreating to a back room to vote virtually over livestream.

“You are not doing anyone a ‘favor’ by ‘allowing’ public comment on your ruling on this resolution by way of submission form,” Sleeman wrote, “and it is cowardly to address concerns virtually rather than to face your constituency and our voice live and in person.”

Miryelle Woods, of Tremonton, submitted a comment form 11 times, questioning assertions the project will create thousands of promised jobs, its potential environmental impacts and more. Woods told The Tribune that she has joined a local effort to try and overturn the commission’s decision.

The comments from Box Elder County residents represented nearly 15% of the 2,443 comments submitted in total. Almost all were from Utahns; only 35 were identified as coming from out of state.

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— Tribune staff writer Samantha Moilanen contributed to this report.