Ward 2 resident urges DeKalb council to explain Dana Center approval, questions TurboCell claims

Megan Willis, a Ward 2 resident, used the public-comment period at the DeKalb City Council’s March 9 meeting to demand clearer information about the council’s December approval of the Dana Center and the technology underpinning the project.

“My name is Megan Willis and I live in Ward 2,” Willis said, opening her three-minute public comment. She told the council the December agenda used “hyperbole and vague language” when describing visits by city officials to other sites and asked whether the council had seen TurboCell demonstrations or reviewed independent data. “Would you be willing to meet with your ward constituents or host another public hearing and share with us those details and specifics?” she asked. She also asked why the city had signed nondisclosure agreements and noted residents learned of the project only “8 days before approval.”

Willis said she had reviewed corporate materials and found what she called marketing language and forward-looking disclaimers — phrases such as “anticipates,” “projects” and “believes” — that she said suggested the claims about TurboCell required independent verification. “You work for us, and you need to be ready to explain and defend your decisions,” she told council members.

City Manager Bill Nicholas later placed the Dana Center topic in the broader context of local and regional work on data centers: he said the city participates in a Metropolitan Mayors data center task force that brings together municipal managers, water conservation experts and industry representatives. Nicholas also said task-force members toured a Meta data center and held a question-and-answer session with Meta’s water conservation staff, calling the visit informative.

The council did not take a formal vote or announce a follow-up meeting in response to Willis’s request during the meeting; business continued with the scheduled agenda. The public-comment exchange is the most recent recorded request in the meeting record for additional briefings about the Dana Center and the technologies cited in its background materials.

Next steps: Willis asked the council to host a ward-level briefing or public hearing and to share any nonconfidential documentation the city relied on when approving the Dana Center. The meeting record shows no immediate commitment to schedule that briefing at the March 9 session.