Hubbard Township trustee introduces resolution for NDAs on data centers

HUBBARD TOWNSHIP - Hubbard Township Trustee Eric Lamb introduced a resolution prohibiting township officials from signing nondisclosure agreements regarding data centers and cryptocurrency.

Township Trustee Eric Lamb spent the last portion of Tuesday’s trustee meeting reading the resolution in full to a packed audience inside the Hubbard Township Building.

Resolution introduced banning data center NDAs According to Lamb, the resolution would prohibit township officials and employees from entering into nondisclosure agreements involving data centers, cryptocurrency mining facilities, or artificial intelligence facilities over five megawatts in size.

Lamb said the resolution is also meant to prevent public confusion over what’s in place for the city and township separately.

“I think it’s important because a lot of the residents of the township get the city and the township confused,” Lamb said. “People were still thinking that we were acting the same as the City of Hubbard did in the past, so I thought it would be easier to squash this.”

The crowd erupted in applause after the resolution was read.

The atmosphere at a previous meeting was not as approving. On Oct. 13, residents were vocal about their opposition to a data center in the township after talk of proposed regulations from the Trumbull County Zoning Commission, which would have threatened the township's active moratorium on data centers.

"It's gonna ruin this community! You have to stand up and fight because when you open up that Pandora's Box like I said, you're not gonna be able to undo it," Tom Jacobs, a Hubbard resident, previously said.

Two weeks later, a meeting called for more room, as trustees met with the public in the Hubbard High School auditorium to continue the conversation. Residents again voiced their concerns.

Trustees then voted to reject proposed regulations from the zoning commission, keeping the moratorium in place and having the zoning commission rework some of the language.

Dozens of residents gathered in the Hubbard High School auditorium, a space that was needed because the Hubbard trustee meeting room was packed out and they allowed anyone to come up and express how they felt about the zoning commission's proposed regulations for data centers. “We put this resolution in place so they know that we’re about transparency and we’re not hiding anything from the residents in the township,” Lamb said Tuesday.

Voters in the City of Hubbard passed an ordinance on Nov. 3 that was placed on the ballot approving a data center ban.

The community effort to put the ordinance on the ballot began after residents discovered that Hubbard Mayor Ben Kyle signed a non-disclosure agreement in 2024 and had more than a year of conversations with a data center company.

Before the petition, city council meetings were packed for weeks and, eventually, the council put a 12-month moratorium on data centers in place in June.

Hubbard Township trustee introduces resolution for NDAs on data centers

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