Summary of Informational Meeting with the Pollard Team

Project and Property

• Pollard described himself primarily as the landowner seeking rezoning rather than the company that would ultimately construct or operate the data center.
• Pollard said a prospective purchaser is involved but could not be identified because of confidentiality agreements.
• The request involves rezoning approximately 1,000 acres to Service Industrial. The property is assembled from several parcels.
• Pollard said approximately 300 acres near the McCormick County Airport were removed from the original request at the County’s request and replaced with approximately 294 acres adjoining the remaining property.
• The conceptual plan showed a multi-building campus. Individual buildings were described as approximately 100,000 square feet, but the final number, location, size, and configuration have not been established publicly.
• Pollard said the concept was representative of the prospective purchaser’s current plans but was not a final engineered site plan. Streams, topography, buffers, and other limitations would reduce the developable acreage.

County Awareness and Project Timeline

• According to Pollard, the initial rezoning application was submitted around November 22, 2025, and he has been communicating with county officials since November 2025.
• He said county officials had previously seen the proposed concept and that parcel changes were made in response to County requests.
• McCormick First has not independently confirmed the complete timeline, which officials participated, or what plans and supporting materials were provided.
• Pollard acknowledged that broader public communication began later in the process and said that is one reason he is now meeting with residents and community groups.

Rezoning and Additional Approvals

• Pollard emphasized that the current request is for rezoning and that additional steps would still be required before construction.
• Later steps could include detailed site plans, engineering studies, environmental and land-disturbance permits, utility agreements, building permits, inspections, and compliance with county ordinances.
• Pollard said that, as landowner, he cannot provide every final technical detail because the prospective purchaser would design, permit, construct, and operate the facility.
• The team said rezoning would not be the final project approval. However, it would establish Service Industrial as the approved use of the property.

Natural Gas and Power Generation

• The team said the project would use natural gas to generate electricity on-site, sometimes described as “behind-the-meter” or “bring-your-own-power” generation, while retaining a grid connection.
• The team suggested excess electricity might sometimes be supplied to the grid, but no firm commitment, utility agreement, or supporting documentation was presented.
• The proposed natural-gas pipeline was estimated to cost approximately $280 million. A preliminary route was described as coming from Georgia, generally through the Lincolnton area, before entering McCormick County.
• No final route was provided, and the team could not confirm whether property acquisition, easements, or eminent domain would be required.
• The team said a September deadline for reserving firm natural-gas capacity is driving the timeline. Pollard said the purchaser was not imposing the immediate deadline.
• Gas consumption, generating capacity, the number and type of turbines, and anticipated air emissions were not provided.

Proposed Moratorium

• Pollard said he would not object to a moratorium on additional data centers if the current property is rezoned and permitted to continue.
• He said a nine-month delay affecting the current proposal would likely cause the project to end because the opportunity to reserve natural-gas capacity would no longer be available.
• The team acknowledged that its preferred outcome is for the current rezoning to proceed before—or be excluded from—the proposed moratorium.
• Pollard expressed support for the proposed Data Center Text Amendment and said the project would comply with it if adopted.

Water and Wastewater

• The anticipated cooling system was described as closed-loop, with replacement water primarily needed because of evaporation.
• Potential demand of up to one million gallons per day was discussed, but it was not established whether that means expected use, maximum demand, reserved capacity, or an early estimate.
• Questions were raised about whether CPW could reliably provide that amount while maintaining pressure and fire-protection reserves for existing customers.
• The team said the final design would have to be worked out with the County and CPW. Potential solutions included upgrades, storage tanks, a water tower, or connections between county and municipal systems.
• No final agreement, independent capacity study, engineering report, infrastructure design, or cost allocation was presented.
• The team said process water would not be discharged directly into streams. Final wastewater arrangements have not been publicly established.

Noise, Buffers, and Visibility

• Pollard said the larger property was selected partly to provide room for setbacks, stream buffers, and visual screening.
• The conceptual layout placed buildings around streams, topography, and protected areas rather than developing the entire property.
• The team discussed approximately 150-foot stream buffers, separation between mechanical equipment and nearby residences, and property-boundary noise limits.
• Detailed sound studies would follow selection of building locations and equipment. Potential controls included building placement, sound-dampening materials, walls, parapets, and equipment enclosures.
• These statements were based partly on the proposed Data Center Text Amendment, which was still moving through public approval.

Traffic and Access

• Pollard estimated approximately 150 to 200 vehicle trips per day after the campus becomes operational and acknowledged substantially higher construction traffic.
• The conceptual access point was described as near the former Georgia-Pacific sawmill entrance and railroad crossing rather than directly from Whitetown Road.
• No formal traffic-impact study, construction-traffic estimate, road-improvement plan, or designated truck route was presented.

Jobs and Investment

• The development team estimated approximately 60 to 70 permanent data-center jobs, plus additional employment associated with on-site generation.
• Positions were described as technical and skilled blue-collar jobs. Additional generation jobs and temporary construction jobs were not specified.
• The project was described as a multibillion-dollar investment, but no exact figure was disclosed.
• No written employment study, wage information, construction schedule, or local-hiring commitment was provided.

Taxes and Public Revenue

• Pollard and his team projected a significant increase in the County’s tax base and annual revenue, but exact projections were not provided.
• The team acknowledged that incentives, sales-tax arrangements, fee-in-lieu-of-tax agreements, or other terms would have to be negotiated with government officials.
• No proposed incentive or FILOT agreement or independent fiscal-impact analysis was presented.
• Pollard suggested that revenue could help water infrastructure, roads, emergency services, teacher compensation, and other public needs.
• He also suggested the County could explore reducing or eliminating certain residential property taxes. This was presented as a possibility—not an approved proposal or binding commitment.
• The primary natural-gas pipeline was described as project-funded. Extending gas service elsewhere would require additional infrastructure, planning, funding, and government decisions.

Environmental and Emergency-Response Questions

• The team said stormwater and erosion controls would be addressed through normal state and local permitting and that process water would not be discharged directly into streams.
• Questions about fire suppression, lithium-ion batteries, specialized equipment, and a possible on-site fire facility were not fully answered.
• The team could not provide definitive answers about final battery technology or emergency-response requirements.
• Turbine technology, generation capacity, projected emissions, fuel consumption, and required air-quality permits were not provided.
• No completed environmental-impact study, emergency-response plan, geotechnical study, or air-emissions analysis was presented.

Public Outreach

• Pollard acknowledged that public communication began later than it should have and said he is willing to meet with community groups throughout McCormick County.
• He said the August 11 presentation would include a more complete and updated proposal and encouraged residents to hear the information directly and make their own decisions.
• Pollard said he would meet with civic, school, public-safety, neighborhood, and other groups before or after the public presentation.

What This Means—and What Still Needs to Be Confirmed

• The schedule is being driven partly by a private natural-gas contracting window. The team said firm capacity must be reserved by September or the project would likely no longer be viable. No documentation of that deadline or pipeline commitment was presented.
• The County has reportedly known about the proposal for several months. The County has not publicly provided a detailed chronology showing what officials received, when they received it, or what discussions occurred.
• Rezoning, the text amendment, and the moratorium are separate but closely connected decisions. Pollard supports the amendment but said the proposal would likely end if delayed by the moratorium.
• The water requirement has not been clearly established. No independent study or written CPW confirmation was presented showing available capacity, upgrades, costs, or effects on service and fire protection.
• Projected financial benefits remain estimates rather than guarantees. No written investment figure, tax-revenue projection, incentive agreement, or FILOT proposal was provided.
• Property-tax reductions were presented as a possibility, not a commitment. Any reduction would depend on government decisions and legal and school-funding requirements.
• Important technical details remain unresolved. These include the purchaser, buildings, generation, gas consumption, emissions, pipeline route, water and wastewater, emergency response, traffic, employment, and economic-development agreement.

Moving Forward

This meeting provided significantly more information than had previously been available to the public. However, much of what was discussed remains conceptual, estimated, or dependent on future engineering, negotiations, permitting, and government action.

McCormick First will continue working to distinguish among statements and projections, commitments supported by written agreements, requirements established by adopted ordinances and permits, and questions that remain unresolved or require independent verification.

Our goal is to help residents hear the proposal, examine the supporting information, ask informed questions, and participate respectfully in the public process.