In My Opinion - by Bob Ruth
May 22, 2026 — Bob Ruth
Grove City Council President Ted Berry has always displayed a deep concern for our community. You have a problem, call Ted. He’ll do his best to fix it.
On May 20, Berry again demonstrated he puts his constituents first and foremost. Berry publicly endorsed a 12-month moratorium on a massive data center being proposed by a Texas developer. Fellow Council member Mohamed Omar, another fighter for his constituents, is expected to introduce the temporary moratorium at Council’s next meeting on June 1.
So, where do Mayor Ike Stage and the other five members of Council stand? Voters don’t know yet.
Stage told a TV news crew recently that he hasn’t made up his mind. He will be guided by the facts – “not rumors,” Stage snarled to the TV crew.
But if past actions are any indication – and they usually are – Stage will endorse the proposed 300-acre data center west of Harrisburg Pike. Remember, Stage was one of the loudest cheerleaders for a smaller version of a data center that was rejected unanimously by Council three years ago.
Stage’s claims of neutrality sound similar to those expressed by Grove City Law Director Stephen J. Smith, data center skeptics say. They note that Smith is a Stage appointee. Also, Smith’s remarks to City Council, to In My Opinion and to other residents are worrying, skeptics say.
(In My Opinion posted a commentary earlier on the Protect Grove City blog detailing concerns about Smith’s claims of neutrality. The post is headlined, City Attorney Under Microscope.)
The landscape of the battle over the hyper-scale data center seems to change every other day. The latest information indicates Headwaters Site Development, the Dallas-based developer of the proposed project, is expected to submit to the city on May 27 some sort of a re-zoning application. And a companion application to annex Pleasant Township land to Grove City is expected to be filed soon with the Franklin County commissioners.
Headwaters Development lobbyists and several City Hall officials have assured voters the re-zoning application will be slow-walked toward a final vote by City Council. But news surfaced recently that a final vote could come as earlier as the first week in August – little more than two months after Headwaters Development is expected to file its official application with City Hall.
Such a fast-track timeframe – during a period when most Grove City residents are out of town on summer vacation – has greatly increased concerns among data center skeptics. What’s the rush? they ask. A 12-month moratorium is the obvious answer, they argue.
