Port Washington residents have launched a recall effort against Mayor Ted Neitzke, after he approved the construction of a $15 billion data center despite resident concerns. 

During a months-long campaign to halt the construction, residents advocated against the potential harm to the environment and the energy use the data center could impose, which the mayor allegedly ignored.  

The recall petition was filed by Port Washington resident Sebastian Elischer, who submitted the paperwork on behalf of Great Lakes Neighbors United. 

Beaster said his group is worried about how much water the $15 billion data center will use for cooling and how its expected 1.3 gigawatt electricity draw will affect local utility rates. He said his top concern, though, is the city’s tax increment district’s deal with the company behind the project.

“This thing has been going on for months, where people have been showing up to meetings and expressing their concerns about the project, and nothing ever gets through,” said Beaster. “And the common council is unanimous in almost every single vote. Every single member of the common council just votes lockstep with what the mayor wants.”

The Colorado-based data center company behind the construction agreed to pay the upfront costs of infrastructure improvements in return for reimbursement from the city’s new property tax revenue. (RELATED: Toney Rips Kaul Over Lagging State Crime Lab)

“We had to rely on the developer to pay those costs upfront,” Beaster said. “And then we are paying them back with interest over the next roughly two decades.”

To recall Neitzke, Great Lakes Neighbors United would need around 1,600 signatures from the city’s nearly 13,000 residents. Beaster said the group is confident it can get them.

Construction for the project began in mid-December, and 4,000 people are expected to work on it, many of them local union jobs, a representative from Vantage Data Centers said during the open comment portion of a city council meeting. 

When completed, the new data center would add to the 47 existing data centers in Wisconsin, which have created thousands of construction and permanent jobs and are expected to add billions to the state’s economy. (RELATED: Did Wisconsin Gov Hopeful Really Call Letting Prisoners Out “Sexy”?)