24-hour-a-day work to continue as anger grows

Frustration continues to mount over the noise, lights, dirt and traffic congestion caused by construction of the Vantage Data Centers Lighthouse Campus on Port Washington’s north side, but it will be months before the most disruptive aspects of the project  ramp down significantly and round-the-clock work ceases, Port Mayor Ted Neitzke said.

“The majority of what’s so disruptive  now, the earthwork, the traffic, the dust, is coming to an end soon — soon being the end of May,” Neitzke said, referring to the end of significant earthwork at the site, fewer trucks on the road.

At that point, he said, much of the work will likely be moved inside the buildings, minimizing the impact on residents.

However, he said, Vantage is committed to looking for ways to ensure the majority of the most disruptive work is done during daylight hours.

“They have been very responsive to everything we have brought up to them,” Neitzke said. “I’ve made it clear to them we are going to review this every quarter. There’s strong pressure on them to ensure the environmental conditions and needs of people living around there is met. We have a great amount of influence and authority here, and we will use it.”

Even as that occurs, residents are seeking to reduce the work hours at the site, circulating petitions that call for the city to eliminate the round-the-clock weekday construction hours and speaking out about the issue.

That petition is expected to be presented to both the Common Council and the Port Washington Town Board next week by Kirk Deheck, who lives at the corner of Lake Drive and Highway KW near the data center site.

“It’s time for the city and town to do what’s right,” he said.

Deheck’s petition calls for the city to return to the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. construction hours originally agreed on by the city and Vantage by March 15, arguing the work violates city codes and requires “abatement.”

“This nuisance constitutes an invasion of our land,” he wrote in the petition, adding the current hours have created a public nuisance “of continuous and excessive noise, light, debris and noxious emissions pollution that unreasonably disrupts the use and enjoyment of adjacent and proximate property owners.”

“It’s been 10 weeks of nobody in the township around that site having a sound night’s sleep. Town residents in particular have extended a substantial degree of grace,” Deheck said in an interview, but that ended when work proceeded late into the night on the weekend.

“There should be some enforcement action by the city, by the county,” Deheck said. “The ears of the Common Council are deaf to town residents, in my opinion.”

When the city extended the construction hours, Deheck said, officials said they could be altered if there are complaints and a need is shown.

“The experiment has run its course. It’s a failure,” Deheck said. “If you don’t want to do anything about it, we’ll collect the evidence and file the suit.”

Last week, Town of Port resident Kim Tydrick, who called police to complain about work being done outside the approved hours on a Sunday night, confronted the city’s Plan Commission, which approved the round-the-clock hours.

“Shame to every one of you. How dare you vote for 24-hour construction by us,” she said before being cut off by Neitzke, who limited comments to issues before the commission, adding the data center may be on the group’s March 19 agenda.

Vantage Vice President of Global Marketing Mark Freeman said the company expects to work around the clock on weekdays for the foreseeable future.

Right now, he said, there are about 700 workers each day, a number that will increase to a couple thousand by this summer.

Earthwork is continuing, and steel is arriving on site, he said, with installation beginning in the next couple of weeks.

Pilings are also being installed, with drills digging into the soil. A large rebar cage is then inserted into the hole, and a cement truck then pours slurry into the hole to create the foundation.

Much of the work right now is on the two southernmost data center buildings on the site, Freeman said, noting work is just beginning on the other two buildings.