Office of the Mayor, Linn Valley, KS

08/27/2026

Official City & Mayor Communications Are Moving

As part of an ongoing effort to make City communications more consistent, accessible, and easy to find, **official updates from the City of Linn Valley and the Office of the Mayor will now be published through the City’s official website and YouTube channel.**

🌐 City Website: https://linnvalley.gov
▶️ City YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/

The City website will serve as the primary source for official notices, City news, project updates, meeting information, Mayor’s updates, and other public information. The website also provides ways to contact the City, ask questions, report concerns, and stay informed.

YouTube will continue to be used for City Council meetings, Mayor’s reports and other video updates.

As part of this transition, comments on this page will be turned off, and Facebook Messenger will no longer be used as a method of contacting the Mayor or the City as this page will no longer me monitored. This helps ensure that questions, concerns, and requests are received through official City channels where they can be properly tracked and addressed.

This page will remain available as an archive of previous posts, but residents should not rely on it for future official updates.

I strongly encourage everyone who follows this page to bookmark linnvalley.gov and subscribe to the City’s YouTube channel.

Thank you to everyone who has followed, commented, asked questions, and participated here. Transparency and communication with our residents remain important—the place where that communication happens is simply changing.

Lister Potter
Mayor, City of Linn Valley

08/14/2026

Hey, look! Another post about data centers. Yay! I know everyone was worried we might run out. 😄

In all seriousness, a citizen asked a fair and important question: Who is building and operating the data center in Minooka, Illinois, the community I visited to learn about its zoning overlay and approach to data center development.

I reached back out to Minooka officials to confirm. Their Community Development Officer stated that Equinix is building the facility and intends to operate it as well. Equinix’s typical business model is to develop and operate its facilities while maintaining landlord-tenant relationships with its customers.

Minooka officials also explained that data center projects generally fall into three categories:

- Companies such as Equinix that build and operate their own facilities
- Developers that build speculative facilities or obtain approvals before securing an operator or end user
- “Hyperscale” companies—such as Meta or Google—that build facilities for their own use

I also asked what would happen if the Minooka property were later sold. Their response was that the conditional-use permit, zoning requirements, and other entitlements run with the land. A new owner would still be required to comply with all conditions placed on the property.

Equinix appears to be an established and experienced data center developer and operator. That is useful context, but it should not be interpreted as either an endorsement of or opposition to data centers in Linn Valley. It simply demonstrates why the identity, experience, business model, and track record of any proposed developer or operator matter.

My responsibility is to ask questions, gather reliable information, and share the answers with our community—regardless of anyone’s position on the broader issue, including my own.

08/13/2026

To be clear, I have not changed my position. I do not support moving forward with a data center or BESS facility in Linn Valley.

I am not posting this to change anyone’s mind, reopen the debate, or persuade residents to support either type of facility. I respect the conclusions people have reached.

However, I will continue to clarify statements that could create a materially misleading impression about the City—particularly its finances, decisions, or actions. Residents should be able to oppose a proposal while still receiving an accurate account of what the City did and did not do.

A recent discussion about data-center tax incentives could leave a reader with the impression that Linn Valley was proposing to grant tax breaks to attract a data center. Although that may not have been the author’s intended meaning, the distinction should be clear:

The City of Linn Valley did not propose, offer, or approve a tax incentive for a data center.

Kansas Senate Bill 98 created a state-authorized, 20-year sales-and-use-tax exemption for qualifying data centers. The Kansas Legislature enacted that policy—not Linn Valley.

A data center that qualifies under SB 98 may receive the exemption whether it locates in Linn Valley or elsewhere in Kansas. Linn Valley did not create the exemption, cannot repeal it, and does not control whether qualifying projects elsewhere in the state receive it.

The exemption is also not an exemption from every tax, fee, or financial obligation. Electricity is expressly excluded. Under Linn Valley Ordinance No. 266, Evergy pays the City a franchise fee equal to 5% of gross receipts charged and collected for electricity sold within the City’s corporate boundaries. Preliminary estimates indicated that a large electricity user could have generated approximately $3 million annually in franchise-fee revenue under the assumptions examined. That was a projection, not a guarantee.

For context, Linn Valley currently receives approximately $880,000 annually in property-tax revenue. This helps explain why the potential franchise-fee revenue was examined as a tax-cutting opportunity for the community. Providing that context does not mean I am asking anyone to reconsider the issue, and it does not change my position.

I also want to be clear about the City Council. My position is my own. The Council has not reached a final decision and wants to continue gathering information and citizen feedback. That is its right and its duty.

Due diligence includes studying potential advantages and disadvantages, examining safeguards, asking questions, and listening to residents. I support each councilmember’s responsibility to conduct that work in the manner they believe is appropriate before reaching a decision. Their continued research should not be interpreted as approval, and my position should not be presented as the Council’s final decision.

People may support or oppose these facilities, and that is their right. I am not trying to change those opinions. I am simply committed to ensuring that discussions involving the City are based on a clear and accurate record. When I believe something creates a materially misleading impression that could harm public trust in the City, I will provide the relevant facts and sources.

Sources:

Kansas SB 98:
https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/documents/view-leg/?apn=b2025_26%2Fyear1%2Fready_for_publication%2Fsb_98%2Fsb98_enrolled.pdf

Kansas Legislative Research Department summary:
https://www.kslegislature.gov/b2025_26/documents/view-leg/?apn=b2025_26%2Fds_docs_li%2Fsummary_sb_98_2025.pdf

Linn Valley Ordinance No. 266, contained in the September 2024 City Council packet:
https://www.linnvalleyks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Full-Packet.pdf

Send a message to learn more

08/12/2026

I want to clear up one piece of misinformation that has been repeated regarding my position on data centers and BESS.

I have seen claims that I did not follow through on what I said in my video about no longer supporting or pursuing these projects. That simply is not accurate.

At Monday night's City Council meeting, I specifically recommended that the City not move forward with plans for a data center overlay and not move forward with the proposed BESS project.

For anyone who wants to verify that for themselves, my statements are part of the public meeting record and can be heard directly in the City's YouTube recording. I have also provided the exact timestamps in response to comments questioning my position.

The *Linn County News* independently reported the same thing this week:

"Potter gave his report stating that, after much consideration, he recommends that the city not move forward with plans for a data center overlay or with approval of Silverton Power's proposal to develop a BESS facility..."

I'm not posting this to restart the debate over data centers or BESS, and I am not walking back or changing my position.

People are absolutely entitled to disagree with me, criticize my decisions, or believe I made the wrong choice. That's part of public service.

But disagreement and misinformation are two different things.

When something is said about my actions as Mayor that is demonstrably incorrect, particularly when the City Council meeting itself provides a public record of what actually happened, I believe it is important to correct the record.

My recommendation and my position do not prevent individual council members from continuing to research these issues, asking questions, or bringing matters before the Council. They were elected to exercise their own judgment, and I respect their right to reach their own conclusions, even if those conclusions differ from mine.

I support my Council; I support the process. We do not have to agree on every issue to work together for Linn Valley. If members of the Council want to continue researching these issues, I will support their ability to do that and make informed decisions.

Likewise, if a majority of the Council ultimately chooses a direction different from the one I have recommended, that does not mean I changed my position. It means our elected governing body worked through the issue and made its decision.

My position remains exactly what I said it was.

https://www.youtube.com/live/wpOyl2Hlzg0?t=150s
https://www.youtube.com/live/wpOyl2Hlzg0?t=1697s

08/11/2026

08/03/2026

I want to improve how the City shares information about data centers, battery storage and the regulations currently being researched.

Important questions and answers are presently scattered across multiple Facebook posts, groups and comment threads. Residents should not have to search social media—or happen to see the right comment—to find complete and accurate information.

Going forward, the TAI website will serve as the central location for information on these subjects. It will include frequently asked questions, potential benefits and risks, proposed safeguards, unanswered questions and clarification of claims circulating in the community. Whenever possible, I will include links to the original sources so residents can review the evidence themselves.

I will continue reading residents’ questions and concerns, whether they are on Facebook, emailed to another city official or me, or if you stop in to talk to me. Rather than trying to answer every individual post or comment, I will use those questions to update the website and will post periodic Facebook notices when significant information is added. This will help ensure that everyone receives the same answer, with the same context and sources.

This is not intended to discourage questions or disagreement. It is an effort to make public information easier to find, verify and revisit without requiring anyone to scan social media.

No data-center or BESS project has been approved. The City is researching the potential benefits, risks and safeguards so that any future decisions can be made through an informed and transparent public process.

Information and updates:
https://tai.linnvalley.gov (https://tai.linnvalley.gov/)

Official information about the Proposed Technology and Advanced Industry Overlay District in Linn Valley, KS.

07/31/2026

The City of Linn Valley is exploring a moderated public forum on data centers and battery energy storage systems (BESS). Dates have not yet been selected.

We are seeking qualified experts from relevant technical, safety, environmental, financial, legal, and community-planning fields. Our goal is to provide residents with factual, understandable information about both potential benefits and risks.

We are particularly interested in academics, researchers, retired regulators, public-sector professionals, and others without a financial interest in a Linn Valley project. Industry professionals may also provide valuable operational knowledge when their affiliations are fully disclosed.

Participation may be in person or by video conference. If you have relevant expertise—or know someone who does—please contact me at [email protected].

Additional details will be announced if we are able to assemble the appropriate panel.

Please share this post with anyone who may be qualified and interested.

07/30/2026

DATA CENTER HEAT, WATER AND ELECTRICITY: WHAT DOES THE EVIDENCE ACTUALLY SAY?

Data centers can produce substantial waste heat and consume significant amounts of electricity and, depending on their cooling technology, water. Those are legitimate concerns that Linn Valley should investigate before adopting regulations or considering an application.

Recent claims, however, have confused the temperature of air discharged directly from cooling equipment with the temperature experienced throughout a surrounding community.

A 2026 peer-reviewed Arizona State University study examined four data-center sites in the Phoenix area. Cooling equipment discharged air approximately 14–25°F above the surrounding temperature. But researchers did not find that nearby communities became 14–25°F hotter.

The study found:

• Average downwind warming of approximately 1.3–1.6°F
• A maximum measured difference of approximately 4°F
• Detectable effects as far as roughly 1,640 feet from facility boundaries

Those findings are important and should not be dismissed. They support evaluating heat dispersion, setbacks, cooling technology, landscaping and buffers as part of any site-specific review. But they do not support predictions that an entire community will become 15–25°F hotter.

Likewise, data centers can place substantial demands on electrical and water systems. Whether a particular project would affect local reliability or water availability cannot be determined from generic claims. It requires knowing the facility’s size, cooling system, water source, electrical-service provider, infrastructure requirements and proposed operating conditions.

Kansas has also established a special Evergy rate plan for new loads of at least 75 megawatts. The Kansas Corporation Commission says the plan is designed so those customers cover the incremental cost of serving them. It includes long-term contracts, minimum monthly bills, collateral, exit fees and direct assignment of upgrades needed solely for the new customer. Whether that tariff would apply to a particular Linn Valley proposal would depend on the project and its electrical provider.

Legitimate concerns deserve serious research. Unsupported predictions that residents will lose all drinking water, have their air conditioning disconnected and die do not help the community evaluate the real issues.

We have added a more detailed, fully sourced explanation to the TAI FAQ:

https://tai.linnvalley.gov/faq/