Committee Talks Cryptomining Noise but No Ordinance Passed Yet
The Courts & Public Safety Committee held its second meeting this month on June 13. On the agenda were discussions of the much-anticipated “data center” ordinance as well as a noise ordinance submitted by JP John Allison (R, Dist. 3), after the Committee honored JP Jerry Boyer (R, Dist. 12) who passed away. However, no Ordinance(s) were approved.
After a failed try at a Committee meeting last week, several residents attended again on June 13 to give their remarks about the cryptomining sites in the County. As she did last week, Chair JP Maree Coats (R, Dist. 2) again reported that the “data center ordinance” is still not ready for her Committee to review.
Unfortunately, despite efforts by Coats, the comments portion of the meeting livestream/video is muddy and largely inaudible — it’s that continuing problem with Quorum Court and committee meetings held upstairs in the old courtroom at the County Courthouse when neither some JPs nor audience members can be heard clearly.
Meanwhile, the Boone County (Harrison) Quorum Court held its first reading of this Association of Arkansas Counties’ draft “data center” ordinance at its meeting this past week. Boone County Justice of the Peace Fred Woehl says 30 or more other Arkansas counties have noise problems with cryptomining sites; he said AAC is prepared to defend the language in the ordinance.
We understand this is the draft “data center” ordinance being crafted to present to the Faulkner County JPs.
Back-Up Noise Ordinance
Allison presented his draft noise Ordinance at the June 13 Committee meeting, describing it as a “back-up” to the “data center” ordinance he would like to see passed if the AAC ordinance is not passed for whatever reason. Crafted after an earlier failed noise ordinance for the unincorporated areas of Faulkner County, Allison’s draft adds specific sound level measurements and penalties for non-compliance.
Allison’s back-up Ordinance did not pass the June 13 Committee, with only Allison voting in favor.
Later, Allison said he’d gladly pull his draft Ordinance to fully support the upcoming “data center” Ordinance while still emphasizing the need to ensure some regulation is in place before August 1.
A newly passed Arkansas law that prevents local jurisdictions from passing regulations on data centers/cryptomining sites takes effect on August 1, so any such regulation the Faulkner County Quorum Court may put in place must be approved at the June 20 or July 18 meetings. Typically ordinances are first approved at the committee level before advancing to a full Court vote.
Animal Shelter Update
Coats also gave a very brief update on the animal shelter project:
Even though the Quorum Court records meetings by law, there’s no audio recording of the June 13 meeting available at publication time. Here’s the video:
Videos edited from original video on Faulkner County’s YouTube channel.)
Visit Faulkner County Reports on YouTube for more videos and video excerpts from this and other County meetings and events.
