Council member says Manchester is not pursuing AI data center; officials warn against misinformation and violent threats

A council member told the Manchester City Council that a developer had inquired about siting an artificial-intelligence data center at the old bottling-plant property but the city is not pursuing the project.

"We are not interested in uh, building a an AI data center in the old uh, uh, bottling plant," the council member said, adding that the city had only heard the developer's proposal as it would any potential project. The speaker said the property is currently in the county and that the city has begun annexation of that parcel and a second, unrelated property in order to allow future development the community will support.

The city manager told the council that staff had engaged with the company and raised questions about potential impacts, including utility-rate changes, that had not been satisfactorily answered. The manager said there was no council support for the data center because it offered few local benefits: "very few jobs are created," no sales tax revenue would accrue to the city and property tax revenue would go to the county.

Council members also addressed a wave of misinformation circulating online about the proposal. One council member urged residents to verify claims before sharing them, noting that social-media posts had manipulated city information and implied secret meetings that did not occur. "It is your obligation as a citizen that before you spread something that can be damning... to call and just verify that information," the council member said.

Manchester Police Chief warned that some responses to the rumor had crossed into criminal threats. "They will not be tolerated. They are a crime and they are not protected by the First Amendment," the chief said, adding that the department was actively investigating threats and can trace anonymous profiles and blocked numbers.

City officials asked residents to channel the energy used to oppose an idea that was not active into constructive proposals the community might embrace in future development discussions. No formal proposal or agreement to build the data center was presented to or approved by the council during the meeting.

Officials said the inquiry originated as a contact by a developer and that annexation discussions are ongoing; the city has not approved or entered into any development agreement related to the bottling-plant property.