Guilford County officials officially pitch Project Haystack —-the proposed data center on the prison farm site —-to the Burlington City Council:
…the site, at 7315 Howerton Road has been touted as perfect for a data center. Monday, during a council workshop, Guilford County Manager Marty Lawing and Mike Solomon, project manager and site development consultant with the Timmons Group, explained why.
The 2,000-acre site is essentially surplus property, Solomon said. The prison farm consists of 760 acres, and a broker is currently meeting with property owners adjacent to the prison farm to see whether they’d be willing to sell their property in order for the proposed infrastructure to expand beyond the 760-acre footprint.
“It’s not just farmland,” Solomon said. “It’s a unique piece of dirt.”
Solomon added another attractive feature was the site’s “low risk for natural disasters.” No mention if council members had to fight back laughter, but there was some hemming and hawing from the Guilford contingent when Mayor Ronnie Wall asked exactly what Burlington would get out of the deal after they spend $14 million to run water to the site.
