The first opportunity for residents to engage publicly with city leaders about a possible data center project at the Mill Creek Corporate Center will be at the Salem City Council meeting on Monday, July 27.  That’s according to Salem City Manager Krishna Namburi who first announced the project proposal from Verrus, a California-based company, at a city council meeting on Monday, July 13.  Get involved  How to watch the Salem City Council meeting on Monday, July 27 When: 6 p.m. Monday, July 27 Where: In person at Loucks Auditorium, Salem Public Library (585 Liberty St. S.E.) Watch online: Livestreamed on YouTube in English and Spanish Public comment options In person: Members of the public can sign up to comment on any item on the council agenda. Remote comment: Sign up on the city’s website between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday Written comment: Email [email protected] before 5 p.m. Monday, or drop off a paper comment at the City Recorder’s Office, Civic Center (555 Liberty St. S.E., Room 225) The public announcement was made during councilor and city manager comments, and the data center project did not appear on the council’s agenda. Namburi said the reason for that was because there was not enough time to place an information report on the agenda between when the city was released from a non-disclosure agreement with Verrus about the project, which occurred on July 8, and the following city council meeting on July 13.  “There is absolutely no question about whether this was going to come in front of the council or not. It had to. Because that is an opportunity for the community to come and give their opinions and concerns. And we are accepting opinions 24/7 through email, and we are documenting,” Namburi said, “because that is an important part.” Verrus has not submitted its land use application for review, but if it does, and as long as its plans meet city criteria, the data center will likely be approved by city staff and moved forward. Granted that happens, the city will be able to determine next steps, Namburi said. When asked what mechanisms the city has to ensure the project would unfold in the public’s best interest, Namburi said she was not comfortable speaking about the city’s land use process and referred Salem Reporter to Community Planning Development Director Kristin Retherford.  Salem Reporter intends to speak with Retherford next week. Namburi said she has yet to personally meet with Verrus but said when it comes to the data center project, her values are in line with the community’s.  “The values that I want to carry as part of my conversations with this company as we move to the next step is water protection for today, and making sure we have enough capacity for the future,” Namburi said. “I don’t want to put the community at risk with the water when it comes to this project. It is important to me that we are looking at the environmental impacts, trees, energy, and noise.”  “We cannot make any decisions that negatively impact the community,” she said.   Verrus publicly pitched its Salem project as a more environmentally conscious data center that uses what is called a closed-loop cooling system, Jeff Bladen, head of energy for Verrus, told Salem Reporter on Monday.  He said the technology essentially recycles water used to cool the center’s system, using less water than other types of data centers.  The company also said its data center will be far quieter than conventional data centers. It will also have a backup system powered by batteries that allow it to go off the municipal power grid during times when it’s overwhelmed.  Verrus began preliminary talks and entered into the non-disclosure agreement with SEDCOR, a local economic development agency, in March 2025, as it scouted for a suitable spot in Salem.  As city manager, Namburi signed the non-disclosure agreement, she said.  As part of the early talks, city staff joined the discussions along with SEDCOR to discuss whether Mill Creek Corporate Center, an area in southeastern Salem specifically zoned for industrial development including data centers, would be the right fit.  City spokesman Rob Layne told Salem Reporter it is typical for non-disclosure agreements to be in place and for talks to stay at the technical staff level until the company indicates it wishes to move forward to the pre-application phase.  That happened on June 6, Namburi said, when she got a call from Retherford who said Verrus was ready to proceed. Namburi said when she heard the news, she wanted to go public with the project as soon as possible. Verrus wanted to meet with city leadership on July 20 at which point the city would discuss its release from its non-disclosure agreement, she said.  However, a SEDCOR report from June 2025 with details of the project began circulating on social media in early July, prompting widespread community concerns. The report was attached to a Marion County Board of Commissioners agenda and prompted the city to push for release from its non-disclosure agreement about two weeks earlier than originally planned.  “Because of social media and all the people already concerned about it, we wanted to be able to communicate with the public, and the only way to do that was to release us from the NDA,” Namburi said.  Marion County spokesman Jon Heynen told Salem Reporter that the county was never bound to a non-disclosure agreement with Verrus and is not involved with the data center project.  Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected].  “My go-to source every morning for accurate, local news.” Make Salem Reporter your trusted source for independent local reporting – every day. Stay informed and connected. Subscribe today. The post Salem residents can comment on data center at July 27 Salem City Council meeting appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less