The borough assembly unanimously voted down a proposed land lease for a privately run data center at their meeting on June 9. The assembly went with the manager’s recommendation to retain the waterfront property for future maritime industry expansion.

The decision came after Borough Manager Mason Villarma recommended rejecting the lease agreement with Greensparc, a company looking to build a 10,000-square-foot facility. Under the proposal, the data center would have occupied no more than two acres of the 42 borough-owned acres at the 6-Mile Mill deepwater port site.

The project would have been the company’s second venture in Alaska, following a smaller data center installed in Cordova last year.

Public opposition to the data center in Wrangell focused on concerns regarding power consumption and environmental issues, with residents airing their complaints on social media and at a previous assembly meeting.

Greensparc founder and chief executive officer Sam Enoka stated in an earlier interview that the facility would have drawn one to two megawatts of power. According to Enoka, that represents less than one-tenth of a percent of the electricity demand used by the world’s largest data centers.

The Sentinel was unable to contact Enoka for comment on the assembly's rejection of the land lease.

Borough priorities for the 6-Mile site have shifted since the economic development board and the planning and zoning commission both voted in January to recommend assembly approval of the lease. The company applied for the lease last year.

Villarma noted that strategic goals for the deepwater port have sharpened around relocating the community’s freight barge operations, possible shipyard development, maritime industrial use and potential homeport opportunities.

He also emphasized that the 6-Mile site is one of the borough’s most valuable industrial waterfront assets. Because of its deepwater access, upland acreage and proximity to marine operations, the site is uniquely suited for maritime uses that cannot be easily located elsewhere in the community.

“I just don’t think it’s worth the sacrifice to other prospects like the shipyard,” he said of the borough’s cooperative effort with JAG Marine Group to obtain federal grant funds to prepare the property for a shipyard that JAG would own and operate on land leased from the borough.

He went on to say the assembly must remain cautious about committing limited waterfront industrial property to a business that does not require direct marine access, especially while shipyard and homeporting opportunities are actively moving forward.

“These projects align with the borough’s maritime economy, regional vessel maintenance needs, national security positioning, workforce development goals and the long-term vision for the port,” he said. “Preserving land-use flexibility for these specific opportunities is in the borough’s best interest.”

Greensparc also has been looking at building a data center in Petersburg and Ketchikan. Villarma said he is interested in seeing whether the company’s business model can be successfully demonstrated in one of those neighboring communities.

If it demonstrates reliable operations, manageable utility impacts and a clear community benefit, Villarma noted the assembly would be open to future discussions. However, any future agreement with Greensparc would involve a location better suited to the data center’s needs, he said.