By Brent Earl
This is the letter I sent to the Howell Township Board. I also plan on speaking during call to the public at the Monday, Dec. 8, meeting.
I want to lay out where I stand on the proposed data center.
Why would I want to?
I feel I need to speak up even though I know there will be several outspoken neighbors who feel differently. There is a silent group of people in our community who are not against this project; in fact, they are very much advocates, knowing what we know today. They are not speaking out publicly as they are not interested in an online shouting match or being involved in any kind of confrontation.
I will speak up for many of them and lay out my support for this project today. I’ll speak honestly and transparently; however, I will also reserve the right to change my mind if better information comes forward. I’m not being indecisive. When the stakes are this high, you need to stay open to better information.
I’m not an outside voice parachuting in with an opinion. I’m a seventh-generation Howell native, descended from the first Latson arriving in the 1830s. All 16 of my great-great-grandparents are buried in the Howell area. I graduated from Howell High School in 1985, and my four children graduated from Howell as well. My wife taught in Howell Public Schools for 15 years. I’ve served this community as a Howell Public Schools board member for 10 years, president of the Howell Opera House board for 5 years, and on the Howell Township Planning Commission for 3 years. My dad, William Earl, served as Howell Township supervisor for 8 years, and my grandfather was a township trustee. I’m rooted here. I live on my family farm. This place is in my DNA. I want this community to thrive for my kids and my grandkids.
Where I stand on the data center
Right now, I see it as a net positive. The scale of tax revenue is unlike anything Howell has ever seen, with unrestricted money that can actually move the needle for school debt, our library, emergency services, parks, Livingston County, and Howell Township. The estimated annual tax revenue from a $2 billion project is staggering (I used $2B as the project is projected to be between a $1B-$5B).
Direct estimated increased annual tax revenue to our community for a $2B project:
• Howell School debt: ~$2.7M
• LESA: ~$1.5M
• Livingston County: ~$1.6M
• Livingston Ambulance: ~$140K
• Metro Parks: ~$100K
• Veterans Relief: ~$45K
• Howell Township: ~$850K
• Howell Carnegie District Library: ~$500K
• Howell Fire: ~$1M
• Howell Parks & Rec: ~$250K
(Tax revenue reflects a PA 198 Industrial Facilities Tax Abatement of 50%)
These are increases to current tax revenues. Annual recurring dollars. Unrestricted. Every year. To put it plainly: the township, county, fire department, and library are basically being handed a duffel bag of cash annually.
Just think what good things the Howell Library could do with $500k every single year. These organizations can use the funds to directly improve residents’ lives, better services, lower costs, upgrade infrastructure, community amenities, and opportunities for youth. You don’t get chances like this, ever.
Here in Howell Township, the added revenue could pay for all residents’ garbage pickup, Wi-Fi, lower sewer water fees, build biking trails, etc. There are so many opportunities.
I do not believe we collectively appreciate the size and significance of the tax revenue that will hit our community. It is an infusion of massive funding each and every year.
On land use
If you’ve lived here long enough, you’ve watched the farmland disappear. I was on the planning commission during the boom years with new subdivisions Town Commons, Rolling Oaks and Amber Oaks, the Parker high school bond, Kroger complex, and the endless buildouts along M-59, Latson Road, D-19, and the Latson Road and Grand River Avenue interchange.
Most every substantial farm field from my childhood is gone. Even where Howell High School, Voyager and Challenger Elementary reside were corn fields.
Growth is inevitable when your community sits directly in the middle of Lansing, Metro Detroit, Flint, Ann Arbor, Jackson, and Pontiac, with the major transportation arteries of Grand River Avenue, I-96, and M-59, two major rail lines traveling north/south and east/west (Ann Arbor Railroad and the Pere Marquette Railroad crossing) that cross in Howell at the AnnPere crossing, as well as a regional airport, and major power corridors all converging in Howell.
Why would anyone think we would continue to be a rural farming community. All of this infrastructure that passes through Howell screams growth.
This is not the same rural town it once was when I was a kid. It hasn’t been for decades. Howell Township had less than 1,000 people in 1950 and now we have close to 8,000. Do I wish our community didn’t grow like it has? Absolutely, but that is not reality. I welcome all of you who have moved here. Welcome. Love and help your new and old neighbor, volunteer, worship as you wish, enjoy a Cleary’s spicy chicken wrap, and root for the Highlanders. Be proud of our community, but know it won’t always look the exact same.
On water
Yes, data centers use a lot of water to cool servers. I understand the concern. I also did my homework. Our current MHOG utility department who manages our water and sewer system has significant water volume capacity. I’ve also personally visited a data center in Denver, Colo., where water regulations are extremely strict, yet they operate successfully. If Denver can manage it, Howell can, too.
And if this center isn’t built here, it will move down the road and be built in another southeastern Michigan town drawing from the same Marshall aquifer. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) regulates the aquifer, and if there are any issues this is the state enforcing body responsible for its protection. I have confidence in MHOG and EGLE in protecting and managing our water and I have confidence in our approval processes by township and county officials that review project site plans and all sewer and water usage levels.
On electricity
The data center will require significant power. Michigan law now requires companies to pay for their own grid upgrades, so residents aren’t subsidizing their costs. If this center is to be built here, then financially it needs to be a net positive for our residents. Tax revenues going to our local organizations is great; however, this project should not cause individual financial burden for township residents for their electricity. DTE needs to clarify how the laws work and its impact on electricity cost for our residents. This needs to be made clear and you need to communicate to us how this will work.
On directly affected neighbors
I urge you to negotiate for these handful of township residents who will be directly affected by the construction noise, dust, lights, and traffic disruptions. These folks should be compensated for their hardship during this time. Please consider providing financial compensation for those within x feet of the project. They will have to endure the first few years of this project, and they should be taken care of. You could also go as far as helping negotiate a purchase of their property x% above the market.
On leadership (lack of)
I am disappointed in leadership from DTE, MHOG, Livingston County, and Howell Township. DTE and the buyer of land pushed this project with haste and caused distrust as residents sensed a ramming of this project through the process with an avoidance of educating the public and being transparent.
Once this mistake was realized, both township and county leadership should have stepped up and educated the public on the process and what was known at the time. I believe not doing so contributed to the level of negativity about this project.
When you did not step up, social media posts and disingenuous narratives filled the void. You need to reclaim your leadership duty, even if it is now to a very upset public. Lay out the facts as you understand them, explain the process of projects like these, and how decisions are made.
You have to step up and lead.
Also, don’t be mad at the public for their harsh feelings as they are logically based on the void you allowed.
On AI and the future
We’re entering uncharted territory. The rise of AI is unlike anything we’ve seen. It’s unsettling and it should be. Deepfakes, generated videos, synthetic music, personalized algorithmic manipulation … it’s all accelerating fast. A data center is part of that ecosystem. Supporting it means contributing to a future we don’t fully understand. With thousands of data centers already operating in our country, I don’t fear the structure itself.
The uncertainty of how AI will affect our lives is the question that gives everyone pause. This whole area is hard to comprehend; however, it is evident that AI is here to stay and data centers are needed for their expansion.
We’re going to have to navigate this era together: skeptical, informed, and willing to adjust our views when facts shift. Trust but verify. Ask hard questions. Protect the community. But also recognize that refusing to engage with the future doesn’t make it go away.
Bottom line
Right now, the benefits outweigh the risks. Howell stands to gain financial resources that could dramatically strengthen our emergency services, library, long-term financial stability for our county, township and schools, and immediately reduce our school debt taxes from 5.5 mils to much less than 5.
Especially as the AI tidal wave hits, we’ll need every advantage we can get, and the added tax revenue can allow our community the opportunity to bridge this gap. This opportunity is only available to select communities.
Let’s not pass this up. A warehouse building in the middle of a well landscaped field with no added traffic is a small price to pay for the immense financial returns to our community. Pass the change in zoning and let the planning process begin.
If new information proves this isn’t right for Howell — specifically related to the environment — I won’t hesitate to say so. My loyalty isn’t to a project; it’s to the town that raised me and the people who will inherit it.
Brent Earl is a Howell Township resident.
