Overview:

  • Augusta Township residents will vote Aug. 4 on whether to overturn rezoning for a proposed $1-billion data center.
  • Residents are collecting signatures to recall all board members due to their data center rezoning vote.
  • Township supervisor makes comments online calling recall organizers "jackasses" and "low lives," which residents describe as unprofessional and threatening.

Augusta Township residents will vote on the rezoning of land for a proposed $1-billion hyperscale data center in the Aug. 4 primary — and a recall effort is underway against the elected officials who approved the project.  

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Why it matters

Augusta Township residents are concerned a data center could impact utility rates and reliability for local residents while bringing noise and air pollution.

Who's making public decisions

Augusta Township voters will decide Aug. 4 whether to reverse the rezoning approval needed for the data center, while residents are collecting recall petition signatures that could put all board members on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.

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Civic Actions: What You Can Do

What to watch for next

The Aug. 4 ballot vote on reversing the rezoning and the July 31 deadline for recall organizers to submit 934 signatures for each board member.

Are you taking action? Let us know.

Civic resources compiled by Planet Detroit

The Augusta Township board voted unanimously in favor of conditionally rezoning 522 acres for a data center proposed by New York City-based developer Thor Equities July 22, 2025. 

The board’s approval contradicted the planning commission’s earlier recommendation in May to deny rezoning for the data center project. 

Residents who circulated petitions for the data center ballot question raised concerns say the data center’s power and energy demands could impact utility rates and energy reliability, as well as bring noise and air pollution to the Washtenaw County community. 

The August ballot question will give township residents a chance to overturn the rezoning needed for the project, from agricultural residential to general industrial. 

Township residents are gathering signatures to put forth a recall of all members of the township board in November on the basis of their data center rezoning vote.

The board ignored residents’ opposition to the project when it approved the zoning, and the use of social media by officials and behavior at township meetings is unprofessional, according to residents who spoke with Planet Detroit.

Organizers have until July 31 to collect signatures equal to 25% of the number of township votes in the last governor’s race, or 934 signatures, for each of the recall petitions, according to Rena Basch, director of elections for Washtenaw County.

When asked for his thoughts on the recall effort, Supervisor Todd Waller told Planet Detroit: “People got a right to do their job.”

The township board members, elected in November 2024 to four-year terms, would be removed from office early if they are successfully recalled.

‘Low lives’: Resident says officials unprofessional on social media

The Augusta Township recall effort and ballot referendum are proceeding against a backdrop of online commentary from board members that some residents say they regard as disrespectful or threatening.

A screenshot shared with Planet Detroit shows Waller referred to those involved in the recall as “jackasses” and “low lives” in a Facebook comment on a June 20 post by Trustee Stephanie Prain on the private Augusta Township Community Page.

“But there’s plenty of rope out there for you to hang yourself with,” Waller wrote in another comment on the private Facebook page in response to a video post by Prain on June 11. Prain’s post showed a video of resident recall organizer Wendy Albers speaking about the petition.

Waller defended his social media comments.

“I stand by what I said,” he said

Augusta Township Supervisor Todd Waller and Clerk Kimberly Gonczy at a June meeting. Photo by Brian Allnutt/Planet Detroit.

On April 30, Trustee Michael Green wrote on his Facebook page: “Some of you township clowns better watch out.” 

This was in response to a TikTok video from a paralegal about bringing lawsuits against those engaged in “civil conspiracy.”

Green said by email that certain people are “making bad comments,” and that’s who he referred to as clowns.

Township resident Heather Burda said the board members’ comments are unprofessional and uncivil.

“They don’t seem to understand the definition of public service,” she said.

Albers said the board members’ comments are threatening.

The township should adopt a social media policy, Albers said at the June 23 meeting. Board members should make clear they aren’t speaking in an official capacity when they comment on township business or attack people, she said. 

“Or you should do what a lot of officials do and stay off of social media when it comes to township business,” she said.

Some residents have expressed fear they could experience retaliation from board members if they sign the recall petitions, Albers told Planet Detroit.

Board members appealed the Washtenaw County Election Commission’s decision to approve the recall petitions in March, alleging the petitions are “neither clear nor factually correct.” They argued the petition language is “presumptuous” in stating that board members had the intention of allowing for a data center with the rezoning vote, MLive reported.

Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge Carol Kuhnke denied the appeals.

“Whether the statements in the recall petition are true is immaterial to whether the petitions pass muster under the law,” Kuhnke said, according to MLive.

Burda supports the recall effort, and said board members failed to listen to residents’ overwhelming opposition to the data center. She referenced a May 2025 public hearing for the project where nearly all of the residents who spoke opposed the project. 

Only certain board members are antagonistic toward residents at public meetings, but other board members don’t speak out against their colleagues’ conduct, she said.

Clerk Kimberly Gonczy encouraged residents not to sign the recall petitions in a February statement to MLive.

“We have made a lot of progress in the past and continue to work toward keeping Augusta Charter Township moving forward in a thoughtful and responsible way that benefits the entire community,” she told the publication.

Gonczy told Planet Detroit last year the data center would generate millions in taxes annually, split between the township, county, and schools, and bring water and sewer lines to parts of the township that lack them.

Augusta Township considers moratorium measure for developments 

The Augusta Township board weighed a vote on a 6-to-12-month moratorium measure June 23. 

The resolution would not place a moratorium on data center developments, but rather empower the planning commission to recommend temporary moratoriums.

The measure would allow for “findings to protect the public health, safety, and welfare by establishing an amendment to the Township Zoning Ordinance to allow for temporary moratoriums generally.”

“This ordinance is to be able to place a moratorium. It’s not actually adopting a moratorium,” Gonczy said.

The board debated the appropriate length of a moratorium, with Waller saying six months to a year could be excessive.

“I don’t want the door to be open for people, another board, to come in and overstep,” he said.

The measure was changed to allow for a moratorium that expires after four to six months, or upon review of an ordinance, with the township board having the option to extend the moratorium.

The board approved the first reading of the ordinance for subsequent final adoption, and next meets July 28. 

Planning Commission Chair Robert Yurk said the purpose of the moratorium is to buy time to work on an ordinance.       

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Brian Allnutt is a senior reporter and contributing editor at Planet Detroit. He covers the climate crisis, environmental justice, politics and open space.