Data center helps fuel Common Council election

The Vantage Data Centers Lighthouse Campus is shaping the Tuesday, April 7, election for the Port Washington Common Council.

The race for the city’s 4th and 8th District aldermanic seat has newcomer Dakota Brace, 1049 S. Spring St., challenging incumbent Ald. Dan Benning, 1012 Jade St., who has been on the Common Council since 2017 and is serving his third term as council president.

Michael Beaster, 41, of 305 S. Garfield Ave., is running unopposed for the city’s 6th District seat. Ald. Pat Tearney, who has held the seat for four terms, is not seeking re-election.

Both Beaster, an electrical engineer, and Brace are affiliated with Great Lakes Neighbors United, a grassroots organization formed in opposition to the Vantage Data Centers Lighthouse Campus being built on the city’s far north side.

Brace did not respond to calls seeking comment on the election.

Benning, 64, is in fireworks services for J&M Displays Inc. and works for Eernisse Funeral Home. He previously spent 30 years in information technology with Johnson Controls, including time managing data centers, before retiring in 2019.

Benning said he is comfortable with data centers and supports the Vantage plan for the city’s far north side.

The city, he said, has set stringent rules for the company as it develops the data center and now needs to ensure it follows them.

Benning said the council took into account concerns of opponents in setting conditions for the data center to meet, bringing in experts “to put together really restrictive zoning.”

Many of the concerns expressed by opponents are focused on issues created by dissimilar facilities, he said, noting the Vantage campus won’t draw groundwater or pull water directly from the lake and won’t use millions of gallons of water daily.  

Benning said he was surprised by the public outcry that occurred over the data center, noting the city announced the project in January, held town hall meetings on it that few people attended and was deep in the process when public interest exploded after American Transmission Co. announced potential routes to extend power to the data center.

“The power line thing is not something we were involved with,” Benning said. “I feel for the people who are being affected by it. What we did, putting in our recommendation (that ATC follow existing lines), is what we can do.”

The data center will not only employ an estimated 1,000 people when completed, it will also bring in needed tax revenue, Benning said, allowing the city to continue services it may otherwise have to restrict or end given state levy limits.

Benning noted that officials worked with Vantage to ensure the data center property went on the tax rolls this year — adding $120 million — so residents will see a dip in city taxes due to the development, even through they won’t see most of the impact until the tax incremental financing district created for it ends in 18 years.

The data center will also provide the city with a significant amount of impact fees to help pay for the new public safety building and potentially the city garage, he said. 

“Once it’s done, the trees are plants and the berm is up, you’re not going to see it,” Benning said. “I don’t believe you’re going to hear a lot more noise than you do today.”

While the data center debate has taken center stage in the city for much of the last year, there are other issues facing the city, Benning said.

The city is grappling with deferred maintenance of its facilities and needs to do a significant amount of work on them while dealing with levy limits and rising inflation that makes budgeting difficult.

“We need to decide in 2026 and beyond what’s right for City Hall, for the senior center, recreation center, swimming pool, the public works garage — all those facilities need significant investment,” he said. “That’s our challenge.”

Beaster said he is primarily opposed to the data center campus due to the TIF financing, and he’s promoting approval of an April 7 ballot measure that, if approved, would require that the city put large TIF districts to a referendum vote.

His concerns led him to seek office, he said, adding he’s talked to Tearney about city issues in preparation for the election.

Port, he said, “is the best place I’ve ever lived. I’m happy to be a voice for the people.”