Bell Canada representatives took questions from Regina city councillors for more than an hour Wednesday, with council members left wondering what the impacts of the company’s data centre south of the city could be. It comes after Ward 5 Coun. Sarah Turnbull penned a motion asking for greater clarity on the city’s role in relation to the Bell AI data centre currently under construction in the RM of Sherwood. “When the biggest data centre is moving next door, it comes with a lot of buzz and hopes and fears,” she told fellow council members. “In the absence of information, people will fill in the gap with biases, hopes and fears.” In March, Bell Canada (BCE) and the province first announced construction of the data centre near Regina. Originally planned for 300 megawatts, the scope of the project quadrupled in size, to increase the size to 1.2 gigawatts. Last week, RM of Sherwood council approved the first reading of a rezoning bylaw, which will see the centre’ footprint expand to over 1,000 acres. Bell takes questions City councillors threw questions at Bell brass about a variety of concerns they received from residents, including impacts to water, power, the environment, wildlife, and noise and light pollution. Ward 7 Coun. Shobna Radons had one simple question for the developer. “Why Saskatchewan?” she asked. Bell AI Fabric President Dan Rink outlined several compelling factors in the province, including the work force, untapped industry and land availability. “Beyond that, the climate,” he added. “The climate here is cold, colder than most of Canada and the data centre technology has evolved immensely to the point where we’re now designing data centres with warm-water loops.” “Those warm water loops allow Saskatchewan to use ambient air, and not need to engage chillers, and not need to have evaporative cooling.” With construction of the original site already underway, Turnbull wondered how Bell was able to skirt requirements for some environmental assessments for on-site power generators, and begin development. “The emissions are below a threshold that would trigger approval,” Rink says. “The size of generation is below the threshold for generation that would trigger a more substantial process.” Other councillors focused their questions on the centre’s projected positive economic spinoffs, job creation and revenue drivers. “Can you comment specifically on what the economic opportunity this data centre is going to be bringing regionally for Regina,” said Ward 10 Coun. Clark Bezo. “[It’s] a new ecosystem for AI,” Rink said, while highlighting the expected 500 jobs at full buildout, and 100 front office positions the data centre could create. “My dream state would be that from here, those entities become capable of exporting their capabilities of modularization and truly having this be a province that has this as a whole new industry which exists.” Councillor Jason Mancinelli questioned what else Bell would provide. “The motion covers questions about water, sound, farmland use, expansion,” the Ward 9 Coun. stated. “Am I just going to get those same answers again after writing?” “[It] goes beyond what your average person in public is going to want – and I appreciate that – and we’re happy to provide things like air dispersion modeling,” added Rink. “But it doesn’t have to be a back door. Come directly to me with the questions you have beyond today and we’ll have our team provide the information.” Ultimately, BCE was on board with cooperating with the process to formulate a report to council down the road. “Once you’ve done your analysis of what options are available, and if you’re looking for direction from city council, can you provide all that background information to us?” asked Ward 8 Coun. Shanon Zachidniak. “Yes, we’ll provide a report,” Rink responded. Residents reiterate concerns Prior to hearing from Bell, council heard from some residents – both for and against the project. Those against raised similar objections related to the environment, water and power voiced since the project’s announcement. Julia Janicki, a Regina resident and mother, brought concerns about how Bell plans to mitigate environmental impacts. “I am concerned about the impact of the light, air and noise pollution will have on wildlife, including pollinators and migratory birds,” she told councillors. “Data centre water use is both consumptive and not recyclable, as the wastewater is often too polluted to return to the municipal water system.” Erwin Heuck spoke in support of the data centre. “Data centers will be built,” he said. “If we differ and if we pause or if we take too long, that capital will be deployed elsewhere in other jurisdictions and we may miss that opportunity.” Taya Triffo, representing the group ‘No Data Centres on Treaty Land’, has been vocal online against the Sherwood data centre, even planning protests at the RM of Sherwood office. Triffo said Bell has the ability to provide the information council was looking for, but has not done so without pressure. “If they’re constantly put in the hot seat of answering these questions with no environmental regulations or no environmental assessment to boot, that is concerning,” she said. “How do we limit water usage when we know that we are exposed to drought? How do we use our power resources respectfully and sustainably?” Rink says Bell has continued to follow through with the agreements its signed with the RM related to the centre’s construction, and will continue to do so once it’s operational. “We’ve been very open with all parties that have wanted to talk to us. We’re happy to be forthcoming and continue to be a good partner.” Admin prepared at meeting, Council requests written report After hearing from delegates and Bell, council turned their questions to city administration. “Bell is a willing partner and willing to help with these reports and everything,” Turnbull said. “Does that significantly decrease the amount of workload for a report?” “Well, there is going to be work involved one way or the other,” acting city manager Jim Nicol responded. Nicol also clarified what a report back to Regina city council would mean – and how the public could interpret its writing. “From our perspective, it’s important to put the parameters around this very carefully so everyone understands – both members of the council and members of the public – exactly what the city’s role and authority is, and what exactly the city’s role and authority is not,” he said. The acting city manager added an administration report could create the potential for delegates bringing up the same concerns at future meetings, and the possibility of the perception council is making a decision on the topic – even though it has no jurisdiction over the data centre. “There will be many people out there in the community who will conclude council has a direct say in decision making,” Nicol warned. “I respectfully say in this regard, you do not. This is a decision completely within the parameters of the RM of Sherwood.” Councillors wished for administration to return to council with information defining the city’s role and relationship to the centre and assess its potential impacts. “Shutting down the report doesn’t shut down the people or the hunger for this information,” Turnbull responded. “Shutting down this report isn’t respectful to the people we represent, and to everyone who came today who was willing to participant of this report.” “There’s no firm because we don’t take a hard stand on this. We are here to do whatever you want, and to provide the information as best as we can in its entirety.” Nicol said. Nicol said administration had many of the answers council was looking for in the report at the ready during the meeting. “My team is ready to answer questions. We have prepared diligently for this, and we appreciate this is a very significant matter,” he told councillors. “I also want to caution that we can answer your questions for four hours more, but ultimately, the decision will not rest with you.” Many of the answers sought after in the report went un-asked by council members during the meeting - yet those that were asked were answered. “The city does not have jurisdiction or authority to make planning or development decisions on land within the RM,” said Deborah Bryden, city manager of planning. “In the same way, the RM does not have jurisdiction or authority to tell us what the city can or cannot build on city land.” Bryden confirmed the RM of Sherwood presented city administration with Bell’s development plan earlier this year. “And within administration’s delegated authority, it was determined the application did not require a concept plan, since the proposal as presented consisted of a development on a single site, did not contemplate internal subdivision, multiple land uses, or other coordination matters that would typically be addressed through a concept plan,” she explained. Manager of city operations Kurtis Doney also described the impact to the city’s water supply. “Bell has requested water service for their domestic usage. Their offices, for example,” he outlined. “The quantity they have requested is equivalent to a 175 people, so not very much flow compared to what we provide. And they’ll be charged the water rate, times 75 per cent – so they pay more [than Regina residents] because they’re outside of the city.” Doney reminded council the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant, which services Regina and Moose Jaw, told members last week it has the capacity to service the data centre’s water needs at that flow. He also said Bell requested connection into the city’s wastewater system, but administration declined the request. “The city cannot provide piped wastewater service because we’ve got downstream capacity concerns and issues,” Doney added. “We expect Bell will manage the wastewater onsite through a septic tank and if they choose, they can bring that to the city through our wastewater station.” That said, councillors still desired a report. “To me, a report on the record from a governance perspective, as someone looks through the decisions that a city has made, has weight and impact,” Ward 6 Coun. Victoria Flores said. “It is reasonable the City of Regina and its residents have a clear understanding of what this project could mean for municipal water supplies, wastewater, stormwater infrastructure, air quality, noise levels and the surrounding environment and the project,” Radons said. Others on council disagreed. “To ask for admin to write a report for the public to be informed is a misnomer. The public is being informed,” said Mancinelli. “But to use our administration to try to write and disperse educational material on something that’s beyond our borders, I don’t think that’s a wise use of administration.” “The Cities Act keeps us inside our own boundaries,” added Ward 2 Coun. George Tsiklis. “I worry we’re going to be asking administration for options we can’t actually use. I don’t want to raise expectations we can’t meet.” Ultimately, council narrowly passed Turnbull’s motion, with five votes in favour and four against. Coun. Froh, Turnbull, Flores, Radons and Zachidniak were in favour, with Rashovich, Tsiklis, Mancinelli and Bezo against. “It’s been really hard for people to get accountability and transparency, or even know where to answer those questions,” Turnbull told reporters after the approval. “People just want to know what’s going on, and they want accountability and transparency. That is what we did today, we established a way for people to get that accountability and transparency.” Mayor recuses himself from vote Prior to the several hours of discussion Wednesday, Mayor Chad Bachynksi made an announcement. “I am declaring a conflict of interest,” the mayor said. “I sought independent legal advice after receiving feedback there are concerns I may have a perceived conflict. Out of an abundance of caution, I’m going to recuse myself from this item and I’ll be doing some more work to make sure I have a fulsome picture as to what that relationship looks like.” Bachynski worked for SaskEnergy prior to becoming mayor. “It was brought to my attention late last week there are some concerns online given my leave of absence from SaskEnergy,” Bachynski told reporters after Wednesday’s meeting. “I went to, as quickly as possible, reach out to the integrity commissioner and to independent legal counsel, but given the timing, between the advice I was given was just out of an abundance of caution, I could recuse myself from the discussion.” Coun. Froh handled the chair duties for the meeting. The mayor says he will continue to evaluate any implications and assess further discussions related to the Sherwood data centre after receiving more guidance. “This is a pretty remote connection, but I just want to make sure I’m doing my due diligence and making sure I get proper guidance. So that way, for future discussions, I have the right approach.” In addition to Bachynski’s recusal, Ward 4 Coun. Mark Burton also declared a conflict of interest. Burton works in the data centre field for a competitor. “Since I’m employed in the telecommunications sector, and directly in the data centre industry, there could be a perceived conflict of interest,” he told his fellow council members. “Out of an abundance of caution, I’m going to recuse myself from the discussions on this item.” The meeting carried on without them until after the vote was carried out, at which point the pair rejoined the meeting. 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