Hundreds to work around the clock on data center

Large construction equipment is massing on Port Washington’s north side and fencing is being installed on the site of Vantage Data Centers’ Lighthouse campus. Homes that were once filled with families are being razed, and Highway LL is closed north of the Holiday Inn Express.

And as preparations for the construction of the $15 billion complex take shape, the Port Washington Plan Commission last week agreed to allow construction to take place around the clock Mondays through Fridays and from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

The vote was unanimous, but commission member Eric Ryer sat in the audience during that portion of the meeting and did not cast a vote. He would not comment on why he did this.

Chris Welch, Vantage Data Center’s director of preconstruction for North America, said the extra hours are needed to “keep the project on track” and ensure the company can meet its deadline of completing the campus by the end of 2028.

“There have been some conditions averse to the project outside of our control,” Welch said. “We’ve gone later into winter, and in order to keep the dirt moving and keep it porous and malleable so we can actually work with it and be successful, we need to run shifts longer and not allow snow and frost to freeze that dirt.”

He said the extended hours will be most visible this winter, when dirt is being moved on the site and “we really need to make up this time.”

“Imagine 100 to 200 employees on site each day, up to 300, in those shifts and working around the clock,” Welch said.

This is the second time the commission has increased the hours Vantage can work on the project. In August, the commission was asked to allow Vantage to work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, but members decided to allow longer shifts, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“The faster you get it done, the faster the impacts are over,” City Engineer Roger Strohm, a member of the commission,  said.

Ald. Paul Neumyer, a member of the commission, asked if the extended hours were needed throughout the project or only initially.

“As we go through to more technical work inside the facility, we still would like to work during the off hours, but it will have less of an impact,” Welch said. “As we get into indoor construction, we would still like to extend those to allow for two shifts so we can still hit out target dates.”

Strohm asked if the company would establish berms around the perimeter during this time to minimize light and sound pollution, but Welch said the initial work will concentrate on moving earth to construct the building pads.

The company, he added, is aware of concerns about light pollution and plans to contain it within the site.

Strohm and Mayor Ted Neitzke questioned where they would get power for the construction.

“There’s not going to be diesel generators running out there 24 hours a day in the middle of the night?” Neitzke asked.

Welch said there will be some use of generators during the next six months but “not in a large format to support tens of megawatts of power.”

Neitzke noted that if there are issues with the extended hours of construction, the commission can trim the hours in the future.

He said after the meeting that he’s not overly concerned about the extended hours, noting that farmers often operate tractors and machinery late into the night.

“We’re going to watch it. If this does become a nuisance, we can bring it right back,” he said. “Let’s give them a shot.”

And, Neitzke noted, the faster the project is completed, the quicker the tax incremental financing district will close and the full impact of the campus will hit the tax rolls.

Neumyer concurred, saying people in the area live with the noise of the freeway and farmers with tractors and combines at all hours.

“We have a fail-safe if it’s a problem,” he said. “I’ll be the first one (to bring it back) if we start getting complaints.”