Members Cite the Need for Economic Development
The McDonough County Board voted 13-7 at its August 19 meeting against a one-year moratorium on any data center and high-impact technology facilities in McDonough County. The resolution was first brought forward earlier this month to the Law & Legal Committee by board member Ken Durkin, where it passed 6-1 to move to the full board for consideration.
Voting against the moratorium resolution at Wednesday’s meeting were Eric Blakeley, Eric Chapman, Clayton Cook, Dave Cortelyou, Mike Cox, Craig Foster, Travis Hiel, Vicky Kipling, Ryan Litchfield, Jared Royer, Jerry Raby and Riley Smith. Voting in favor of the moratorium were Ken Durkin, Joe Erlandson, Allen Henderson, Mike Kirby, Terry Thompson, Dana Walker and Roger Ward.
“Illinois is experiencing a lot of growth in that area and the state government has yet to pass any regulations that would safeguard local communities from the potential of experiencing significant hardships to their local resources, including water, power grid, land, noise, etc. Concerns throughout the state were significant enough that Gov. Pritzker paused the state’s data center tax incentive program in June 2026,” Durkin told The Community News Brief earlier when he brought the resolution forward at Law & Legal. “I felt it was important for the Board to consider this issue and establish the position that McDonough County is not ready to entertain any data center facilities within McDonough County for at least the next two years so safeguards can be established so that McDonough County residents can be assured that the best decisions are being made on their behalf.”
Following the vote at Wednesday’s meeting, Durkin said he was not surprised by the outcome. He’s hopeful the state legislature will come through with proper guidelines and rules that counties can use to further develop their own set of guidelines to protect residents.
