Mayor issues statement on Clinton project
By Randy Bell
This file photo was taken in 2021 and shows a portion of what was originally built to be the former General Motors/Packard Electric/Dephi facility in Clinton’s Industrial Park. Milwaukee Tool renovated and moved into the space, but vacated in 2023. The campus is believed to be currently undergoing renovations to house a data center.
The details of a project which Mayor Will Purdie calls “a massive economic development victory” for Clinton still haven’t been officially revealed, but Purdie took some time at the beginning of the March 3 Board of Aldermen meeting to address public concerns over the facility being constructed in the Clinton Industrial Park. WLBT has identified the project as a $750 million Amazon Web Services data center.
The mayor said, “The project developer is in ongoing negotiations about some aspects of the project, which is why no public announcement has been made.” Even though Purdie said it’ll be “the largest economic development project in the history of the City and Hinds County,” some Clintonians have taken to social media to raise questions about it. And a crowd of people showed up for the Board meeting.
One of them, Anna Hite, said she’s not opposed to bringing industry into Clinton.
“I just want to make sure it doesn’t have a negative impact on the people living here,” said Hite.
There have been complaints about noise and air pollution from Southaven residents living near the xAi generator facility which powers nearby data centers.
“I want to know what they’re going to do to make sure we don’t have that,” Hite said.
During his statement at the meeting, the mayor said the Southaven facility uses dozens of gas-fired turbines to generate electricity, accounting for the noise and pollution complaints. He said the Clinton project “will use power supplied by Entergy through the existing power grid.”
Regarding noise, Purdie noted, “The proposed location is deep within an established industrial area, well removed from residential neighborhoods.”
Another citizen at the meeting, Greg Dreaper, said his chief concern is that the project has been cloaked in secrecy.
“I don’t have any information to make any kind of decision on what’s happening or what’s going to happen,” said Dreaper. “They’re doing negotiations with public dollars. Those negotiations should be out in public.”
But, according to the mayor, confidentiality is necessary when economic development projects are being discussed.
“That’s just the nature of how these things work,” Purdie said.
Purdie is convinced that most people will recognize the project’s benefits, which, he said, “will inject millions of dollars per year directly into not only the City of Clinton’s budget, but also additional millions yearly into the budget of the Clinton Public School District, as well as that of the county.”
The mayor continued: “It cannot be overstated the effect these revenues will have on the City and school district’s ability to enhance our quality of life and education, and to strengthen the services we provide to our citizens.”
Since there was nothing on the Board’s agenda dealing with the project, citizens were not given an opportunity to make comments at the meeting. However, Purdie said public input is welcome at the Board’s work sessions, held at 5:30 p.m. on the first and third Mondays of the month in the same courtroom where the meetings are held at 6 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays.
