Saline Township resident alleges data center settlement was improper: Township attorney says ‘everybody saw them vote’

Don’t miss out!

Join more than 13,000 of your neighbors who already receive our informative, independent reporting on climate, health and the environment in their inbox each week.

Sign me up

A Saline Township resident is asking a court to unwind the legal settlement that allowed a $7 billion Oracle and Open AI data center to move forward.

Kathryn Haushalter filed a motion to intervene in the case Monday, alleging the township did not vote in public to settle a lawsuit filed by data center developer Related Digital, in violation of the Open Meetings Act.

Saline Township attorney Fred Lucas and Clerk Kelly Marion told Planet Detroit the vote to move forward with the settlement was held at a packed meeting Oct. 1, but a clerical error in the meeting minutes makes it appear as though it was done in a closed session.

Attorney Robby Dube, who is representing Haushalter, said in a statement the Saline Township resident looks to “throw out the consent judgement that was negotiated and signed in secret.” 

Haushalter lives 256 yards from the site of the planned data center, according to the court filing.

On Sept. 10, the township board voted 4-1 to deny rezoning of 575 acres needed for the project, with Treasurer Jennifer Zink saying at the time the data center was in conflict with the township’s master plan, and the fire department and emergency services were not adequately prepared.

Landowners and project developer Related Digital sued the township in Washtenaw County Circuit Court days later, alleging the township’s refusal constituted exclusionary zoning barred by the Michigan Constitution. This occurs when “a community unreasonably excludes a legitimate land use,” the lawsuit said.

The township voted to settle the lawsuit, following a meeting where attorneys warned residents and officials the lawsuit could be amended to include potentially significant monetary damages.

Related Digital did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

‘Everybody saw them vote’

The meeting minutes from Oct. 1 show the Saline Township board voted to enter a closed session and then voted 4-1 to move forward with a settlement, before a motion to reopen the meeting was made. 

Marion told Planet Detroit the motion to reopen the meeting occurred before the vote.

Lucas said the township did nothing improperly and voted on the issue in an open meeting.

“There was a million people there,” he said. “Everybody saw them vote.”

In a statement released Sunday, Haushalter and Dube said Saline Township residents have a right to say no to the project.

“Data centers cannot be permitted to use lawfare to override the democratic will of the people,” Dube said.

In comments to Planet Detroit, Dube said alleged Open Meetings Act violations are only part of the case. The township improperly used a consent judgement to rezone property, he said. 

“They need to actually rezone their land if they want to be in compliance with this consent judgment,” he said.

Lucas disputes this, saying case law shows consent judgements can be used in this fashion, and it’s been done in multiple communities.

The terms of the settlement between Related Digital and Saline Township include $4 million for a township farmland preservation trust fund; $2 million for a community investment fund; $8 million for area fire services; protections for area water resources; and a decommissioning fund for the facility.

Approximately 200 acres of wetlands, open space, and agricultural land on the data center site will be preserved for agricultural use, with the exception of 47.5 acres of wetlands that will be protected with a conservation easement.

Water at the site will not be used for cooling, and the facility will have its own well and waste treatment system. The settlement imposes a noise limit of 55 decibels on the data center development.