On the agenda: Pekin Minutes — data center (Oct 8)

DRAFT COPY - SUBJECT TO COMMITTEE APPROVAL
BOARD:

TAZEWELL COUNTY

COMMITTEE:

LAND USE

DATE/TIME:

Tuesday, August 18, 2026, immediately the Property, Finance, Human Resources
meetings which are scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.

PRESENT:

Chairman K. Russell Crawford, Eugene Glueck, Vice Chairman Jon Hopkins, Eric
Schmidgall, Greg Sinn, Eric Stahl and Joe Woodrow.

ABSENT:

Mark Goddard, Jay Hall and Greg Longfellow

STAFF PRESENT:

Jaclynn Workman, Community Development Administrator; Melissa Kreiter, Chief
Deputy Administrator; and Matt Drake, Assistant States Attorney

OTHERS PRESENT:

County Board Member Deene Milam, County Board Member Nancy Proehl,
Suzane Vanderham and other interested parties.

CALL TO ORDER:

Chairman Crawford called the meeting to Order at 4:22 p.m.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

Suzanne Vanderham, East Peoria, IL stated she would like to have a moratorium
placed on the data center topic. Ms. Vanderham said the Aurora and Sierra Club
both gave comments on the draft ordinance, and she could provide those
comments. Ms. Vanderham added that the county was not prepared to handle
large lithium battery fires and noted that construction times should be limited.
Robert Roe, Peoria IL stated he was the Chair of the Sierra Club and had great
respect for what the county is working on, however the county was not a proper
location for hyper-scale data centers.

DISCUSSION:
Fee Reimbursement

Barbara Hahn, Pekin, Illinois stated she was a sound engineer while in California.
Ms. Hahn said these companies are trying to blind us with “shiny and flashy things”
such as AI and instant gratification in order to achieve their own agenda. Ms.
Hahn asked the committee to slam on the brakes and think about what is really
happening with these data centers.
Administrator Workman stated an individual had requested a reimbursement of a
permit fee as they were no longing proceeding with the project. Ms. Workman
said although she does need a vote on the refund, she likes to keep the committee
informed that is refund is being made.

Proposed Data Center
Chairman Crawford asked Community Development Administrator Workman to
Ordinance, Second Reading read through the language of the draft ordinance.
Administrator Workman said that the A-1 District was removed from the draft and
only industrial zones would be allowed.
Member Eugene Glueck stated that the county was not prepared to make some of
the decisions that need to be made and that there needed to be an ad-hoc
committee assigned to address this topic. Mr. Glueck said subject matter experts
should be brought in and a moratorium needed to be placed on data centers in
Tazewell County.

Member Greg Sinn stated the petitioners should be liable for the cost of any
experts needed, and if the money is not used, it should be refunded, wherein
Administrator Workman said that there was language in the Zoning Code that
required a petitioner to provide financial assurance, as needed.
Chairman Crawford stated that the discussion was for creating an ordinance, not
for addressing a specific petition. Mr. Crawford said a moratorium was not
needed due to the language change made prior to the Zoning Code and no further
discussion on a moratorium would be entertained.
Chairman Crawford ruled Suzanne Vanderham out of order for a disruptive
applaud of the word moratorium.
Member Eric Stahl stated having a policy on the matter was good, but a moratorium
was needed.
Chairman Crawford ruled Member Stahl out of order.
Member Eric Stahl stated experts were needed to address these this policy and
the “M” word was needed.
Chairman Crawford stated that language needed to be drafted and it could be
changed many times before the committee sent it to a public hearing.
Assistant States Attorney Matt Drake stated that reasonable changes could be
made without sending an ordinance back for another public hearing.\
Member Jon Hopkins did additional research on the topic and suggested that the
committee start by working on the portions of the ordinance that they felt
comfortable with and then the county could bring in experts later if needed.
Chairman Crawford stated he did not want to rush this ordinance, and the staff
should benchmark what other counties are doing. Mr. Crawford said not to rush
but the county did need to be expeditious so as not to draw attention to the county
for causing an unnecessary delay. Mr. Crawford added that our risk management
agent did a great job assisting with the Renewable Energy Ordinance and should
be consulted as an expert on insurance language. Mr. Crawford questions
Suzanne Vanderham regarding various language and subject matter experts.
Member Glueck stated these companies were multi-billion-dollar companies and
there have been known insurance short falls that need to be looked at closer.
Members Sinn and Hopkins both questioned the mitigation of hazardous waste.
Administrator Workman stated that the Health Department could provide direction
on who to speak with on the hazardous waste.
Member Stahl stated there cannot be language for everything in the ordinance and
petitions would need to be scrutinized as they come in.
Suzanne Vanderham stated the McLean County and Aurora had good ordinances
but there were no national standards that apply to data centers.
Member Stahl stated there was too much commentary from non-committee

members and that was not good practice.
Member Sinn stated you can impose the “M word” by limiting a request to death
with an ordinance and used the United Citizens of Tazewell County as an example
with their proposed wind farm ordinance re-write. Mr. Sinn said the county cannot
make the ordinance so ridiculous that nothing could be built as that was intended
to do.
Member Glueck stated other cities that have experienced data centers should be
brought in to discuss their firsthand knowledge and guidance.
Member Stahl stated the States Attorney should review any ordinance to ensure
that it would be defendable if challenged.
Member Hopkins began reviewing items he researched such as supporting
facilities, operation and maintenance, insurance, decommissioning, etc. Mr.
Hopkins said the water usage needed additional research and how the grid
infrastructure upgrades are funded.
Member Eric Schmidgall stated that the county was not ready to write an ordinance
on data centers and should table the matter.
Member Joe Woodrow stated that noise was not an intermittent issue as with some
requests and would be constant. Mr. Woodrow said noise needed to be
addressed as it can be extremely bothersome to the area residents and animals
alike.
Assistant States Attorney Drake summarized the various experts that could be
consulted on water, insurance, noise and electricity.
Administrator Workman stated there would be a power procurement policy also
written into the ordinance.
Following further discussion, no action was taken as this was for discussion
purposes only.
NEXT MEETING:

The next meeting of the Land Use Committee will be held on Tuesday, September
9, 2026 at 5:00 p.m.

RECESS:

There being no further business, the meeting recessed at 6:33p.m.
Jaclynn Workman, Secretary
(Transcribed by Melissa Kreiter, Chief Deputy)