Residents blast data center work compromise

It will be another month before crews working on the Vantage Data Centers Lighthouse Campus will have to end round-the-clock construction, the Port Washington Plan Commission agreed last week, despite pleas from people living around the site to stop the 24-hour work immediately.

“It’s really not acceptable. It hasn’t been acceptable since it started,” Dean Wiegert of the Town of Port said. “I want to urge you all to do what you can to end the 24-hour work and do it as soon as possible.

“I don’t think another month is acceptable, and I don’t think anybody else here thinks that either.”

With no debate or comment, commission members on March 19 approved a motion by Mayor Ted Neitzke to end 24-hour construction on April 18 and limit outdoor construction to between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.

During that time, Neitzke said, crews will only work 12 hours a day due to union rules.

“They (Vantage) had asked to be able to run this (24-hour work) through the end of May,” Neitzke said. “We are not going to allow that to happen.”

Once the buildings are enclosed, interior work will be allowed around the clock Mondays through Fridays and until 11:59 p.m. Saturdays, the commission agreed.

Sunday work will only be allowed if the city administrator agrees it is needed to make up for lost time due to site closures during the permitted hours — such as the recent blizzard — commission members said. 

However, that work must take place between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. and is limited to one Sunday a month, the motion states.

The commission also agreed that deliveries can only be made to the site between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. and lighting must be reduced to security levels after 8:30 p.m. daily.

The reduced lighting, Neitzke said after the meeting, will not only reduce the impact on neighbors, it will also limit the impact on migratory birds traveling through the area, something that will increase beginning in mid-April. 

Neitzke said the April deadline gives Vantage and its contractors time to modify work schedules while still being responsive to neighbors’ complaints.

“I have great empathy for the neighbors,” he said after the meeting. “We’re hearing the voices of the neighbors and addressing things we haven’t before. I feel this is a really nice compromise.”

In November, the commission agreed to allow construction on the data center campus to take place around the clock Mondays through Fridays and from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Vantage had requested the additional hours to keep the project on track and ensure the company can meet its deadline of completing the campus by the end of 2028.

However, officials said they would pull back the hours if problems occurred.

Since construction began in late December, residents have complained about traffic issues as well as noise and dust coming from the construction site.

But the commission’s action last week did not please people living near the site who attended the meeting.

“You should all go to jail,” one woman said as she left the room.

Kirk Deheck, who lives on Highway KW near the construction site, said Tuesday that he was disappointed by the action.

“I think it was a function of what Vantage was willing to tolerate,” he said.

Deheck said he believes the decision was made before the meeting and questioned the impact of residents’ comments on the commission’s action.

But, he said, he has noticed that there is considerably less traffic now that Highway LL is open, jake-breaking is less of an issue and there’s recently been less noise from the site.

Whether that’s because of the state of the project or a conscious effort by Vantage he doesn’t know, Deheck said.

Deheck was one of five people at the commission meeting asking that around-the-clock construction end.

Kim Tydrick of Weiler’s Way in the Town of Port told commission members that the 24-hour work is something none of them would find acceptable in their neighborhoods.

“Not one of you would want this in your neighborhood,” she said. “Now your plan is another four weeks. 

“You’ve basically once again given them (Vantage) whatever the hell they want. They were not elected to run this city. You were. You should literally all be ashamed. You’re affecting people’s mental and physical health. I expected more.”

Tracy Finch of Portview Drive in the City of Port told the commission that the around-the-clock work isn’t a small inconvenience for residents who can’t get a good night’s sleep or relax in their homes.

“Twenty-four-hour construction is not simply a nuisance, it is a public health hazard,” she said. “Allowing it to continue even for one more month sends a message that Vantage’s timeline matters more than the health and safety of the people who live here.

“Reasonable limits on construction hours are not obstacles to progress. They are basic protections for the community. Tonight I am asking you to end this 24-hour construction and restrict work to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. immediately.”