Chillicothe — After the last Chillicothe Council session continued the focus on the proposed data center at former Chilpaco, Kathy Dunn, chairwoman of the ‘data center committee,’ gives insights into the lawyer’s briefing, the possibility of a revised moratorium versus updating the UDC, and her thoughts about the public interaction.
Council met at the Library Main Annex on September 28th, 2026. Videos of the three committee meetings and the main council session are available online, and I have links to all videos and key points in them in my previous story on the meeting.
Kathy Dunn continued chairing the Engineering Committee, and its current task of collecting information about data centers – which included hearing from a lawyer specializing in them.
The city had hired the law firm of Bricker Graydon Wyatt Attorneys of Columbus to give legal advice on data centers. One of their attorneys who specializes in that subject, Brodi J. Conover, briefed the committee for about 35 minutes, but was unavailable for questions from the public.
The data center topic was again brought up in the council session. During both, some audience members spoke up in opposition to the “data hall” – sometimes out of turn and loudly.
Afterward, I interviewed Kathy Dunn. Hear our 12-minute conversation in her own words below.
Dunn mentioned that she had attended a “Your Community, Your Decision” conference on data centers in Newark, Ohio, set up for communities that want to understanding what comes with data centers.
She said one point is that they involve a lot of construction for a long time, causing much heavy traffic that can damage roads and streets. Dun pointed out that it’s been a long time since Chillicothe experienced a big construction.
Other concerns are about being near one, including noise. Their power usage can cause rate increases, and they often require massive water usage and wastewater processing.
Their builders look for existing infrastructure like at Chilpaco, but it was said that data centers should pay for any infrastructure needs.
Dunn said municipalities can make rules to control them, especially with zoning. She said that the data center consultant would help guide Chillicothe in that regard – as well as the city’s consultant on the UDC that recently replaced the zoning code.
I asked Dunn about the “revised moratorium” mentioned after council overturned it – to exclude the Chilpaco site, but still pause them elsewhere.
Dunn said that council has done their job to collect information, and a proposed new moratorium was forwarded to the Law Director for review – but what is needed is zoning, a longer process. She said that council can’t legislate controls, it must be through zoning – and not spot zoning for only one location.
I asked her about her thoughts about the public interaction during the meetings. Dunn said it was not comfortable to sit through, sometimes – some speakers were angry, some passionate – but council must balance the need for jobs and safety.
She said the only way to make good legislation is for the people to be involved. It’s not about what she thinks, but what’s good for the city.
