Louisa County Supervisors to approve partnership to build $88 million infrastructure project for two Amazon Data Centers

The Louisa County Board of Supervisors will meet at 5 p.m. for a routine closed session followed by an open session at 6 p.m. (meeting overview)

After the consent agenda and the public comment period, there will be a posthumous appreciation of Cy Weaver. There is no further information packet, but Weaver had been a member of the Planning Commission 

There will be a discussion of a potential update of the animal control ordinance. There is no further information in the packet. 

The first item under new business is a resolution to authorize an agreement and design build contract for infrastructure at one of the two planned Amazon data centers to be located in Louisa County. This consists of a raw water pumping station, raw water pipelines, two new wastewater pump stations and other equipment. 

“The New Infrastructure will provide water and wastewater services to the North Creek Technology Campus on Jefferson Highway and the Lake Anna Technology Campus on the east side of the intersection of Haley Drive and Kentucky Springs Road,” reads the resolution in the packet.

The contractor is  Louisa County Infrastructure, LLC, a company based in Albemarle County that was formed in May 2024. The company appears to be a subsidiary of Faulconer Construction as both share the same address at 2496 Old Ivy Road.  

This is a partnership under the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act. 

The contract includes language that the public must be notified of how the construction is going. 

“Contractor shall maintain a website that will post weekly the progress of the project on a weekly basis including the expected work to be completed in the next two-week period,” reads the contract. 

Jumping ahead to the end of the meeting, there is a public hearing on a budget allocation to cover the cost of building all of the above, which has a price tag of nearly $88 million. 

“As per the County of Louisa’s agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the County will construct water and sewer utilities needed for the North Creek Technology Center and the Lake Anna Technology Center,” reads the resolution at issue in the public hearing. “WHEREAS, AWS has agreed to pay the County for all costs associated with the construction of the aforementioned water and sewer infrastructure.” 

But for now, back to new business and action items. 

The second item under business is to hire a third-party engineering work to review the work that Louisa County Infrastructure will do. 

“The County has determined that in addition to in-house project management, the project inspections, materials testing, review of the project material submittals, monthly reports, and infrastructure commissioning should be performed in concurrence with a third-party engineering firm for a project of this size and complexity,” reads a resolution to pay JMT to do this work at a cost of $1,551,980.

The third item is to hire Theresa Born to be the county assessor. The county’s Commissioner of Revenue made the recommendation and County Code gives the Louisa Board of Supervisors the power to approve this hire. (read the resolution) 

The fourth item is the adoption of an official policy on the siting of utility-scale solar facilities. 

“Based on the increasing number of solar project proposals, establishing minimum standards within siting agreements will help protect county interests and ensure long-term benefits,” reads a section of the memo on the subject. 

Under the agreement, utility companies will pay 0.1 percent of the county’s operating budget per megawatt of power produced. A quarter of these proceeds are to go to affordable housing projects. Projects must be completed within three years of being approved. 

The agreement also requires the energy providers to pay $500 a year to each adjacent property owner.

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment is from the November 18, 2024 Week Ahead edition of the newsletter.