To City Council:

"Good evening, Mayor Richards, Councilmen and Councilwomen. Thank you for allowing me to

speak this evening. My name is Rick Belleville and I live in Tanglewood Estates in Festus.

Festus wants to be open for business, but at what cost?

Why is there a rush to approve Data Centers without any open community discussions?

Wed July 23rd, 2025, the US Govt. released a document called America's AI action plan. Find US

locations for new massive data centers. 2 days later, Chris McKee President of CRG had reached

out to many cities located near the 345 Kilovolts electric lines running through Jefferson County

and other counties.

In August, city leaders and elected officials were discussing this opportunity. In all due respect

to the Council Members, why was there not a Facebook posting, a news release or radio

interview to get feedback from the public about this proposal? Festus 2030 Comprehensive

Plan states both Festus residents and non-residents have engaged in the city planning process.

Who did you, our city leaders engage with in August and September?

Nov 12, 2025 Leader Paper article, McKee says a data center would provide a windfall of tax

revenue for the local community. QUOTE: “This project is expected to generate an estimated

$30-40 million in local tax revenue a year.”

Yes, billion-dollar projects can create millions of dollars of tax revenue through property, sales

and use taxes and create over 1,000 temporary jobs in construction. However, Federal, State,

and some local tax incentives now in place for data centers add up, resulting in significant

reductions in local revenue. Tax Exemption Programs include no sales tax on machinery and

server equipment, no tax on construction material, possible no property tax and no tax on

electric or water usage.

This new Data Center Infrastructure called a digital fortress, so unique and powerful it cannot

be moved to other AI systems. The biggest problem is its thirst for electric power and water. A

January 2026 Forbes study reported US is facing an imminent grid crisis due to the AI boom.

Department Of Energy has approved tapping data centers onsite backup diesel generators

during brownouts and blackouts to boost the grid, allowing them to skirt all pollution rules.

Q: How much pollution will be added to our air when running diesel generators 24/7 during grid

shortages?

Billions in grants just went out to develop small modular reactors, SMRs. America made 300

Maga Watt nuclear reactors designed as plugandplay, and will be commercially available

starting at $30 million dollars by 2030 to solve grid problems caused by data centers. These

SMRs use billions of gallons of water annually. After 2030, most data centers will be powered

by onsite dedicated SMR nuclear reactors averting future grid failures?

Q: Will Festus allow small nuclear reactors to operate inside the city limits?

Ameren rates just went up 12% and they are expected to implement 15% rate increases by

2028, due to projected demand from large data centers.

Q: Are city leaders concerned about these increasing electric bills?

Missouri groundwater is a natural resource with a dozen major aquifers. Estimated holding 500

trillion gallons of clean groundwater, but this is not considered an endless supply of water.

Currently, total groundwater use in Missouri exceeds 350 billion gallons of water per year,

resulting in a slow water-level declined and is worse during extended droughts. Aquifer

depletion of our groundwater is leading to environmental issues. Adding unsustainable water

extraction caused by data centers, will add significant continual drops in our aquafer water

levels and continue to harm Missouri ecosystems.

Q: Does Festus know the current levels of our MO aquifer? Public posting Festus water use –

found at MoDNR Missouri Major Water Use program.

Sadly, 17% of Festus residents live at poverty level. 12% have income less than half the poverty

level, needing community support to survive. Local poverty rate increases ½% each year. A 15%

electric rate increase will put more people into poverty and extreme poverty levels.

Data centers are polluting our environment, taking our resources, and leaving our community

less pleasant. Money Festus might receive is negatable due to all the tax exemption and tax

abatement programs. - - - Thank You for your time."

The above is a transcript of a speech Rick gave to Festus City Council.