This story was updated with comments from Related Digital.
SALINE TWP., MI — A local resident is not done fighting to stop construction of the “Stargate” hyperscale data center project that is already underway in Saline Township.
In February, a Washtenaw County judge denied Kathryn Haushalter’s request to intervene in the pending case. That lawsuit allowed the OpenAI- and Oracle-owned data center to move on from W. Michigan Avenue. Now, Haushalter is asking the judge to reconsider.
Data center developer Related Digital and property owners sued the city after officials refused to rezone the 575-acre site for a data center. After the case, township officials backed down and decided to settle the issue.
Haushalter filed a legal motion in December to protect the town board’s first September election that refuses to be rescheduled. The proposal came after the board changed course and agreed to complete it in October.
In her decision on Feb. 20, Washtenaw County Circuit Court Judge Julia Owdziej said Haushalter’s efforts to intervene were “futile” and “untimely.” The final order was issued on March 7.
Haushalter and his attorney now argue that the court erred in denying his motion to intervene.
On February 20, a judge found Haushalter’s claim that the city violated the Open Meetings Act by not properly voting to settle the case to be “null.”
Haushalter’s legal team argued that township meeting minutes showed that the vote to settle the case was made in closed session, which would have been a violation of the Open Meetings Act.
However, the minutes were not accurate. The town board was in open discussion when they voted.
Judge Owdziej said on February 20: “It means that it was done secretly or secretly.” It is very unfortunate that the minutes of the meeting were not correct,” said Judge Owdziej on 20 February.
Haushalter and his legal team are arguing that he was not required to prove that in order to enter as a defendant in the case. They say the court failed to consider Haushalter’s request to join as a separate defendant and his attempt to join the plaintiff and claims against the city.
They also argue that he has a ‘mooted’ claim that the township violated the Open Meetings Act. Specifically, they say the township’s Board of Supervisors never took a final, proper vote to give final approval to the permit decision. They argue that more work was done to finalize the consent decree after the town board voted on Oct. 1 to accept the consent judgment according to the terms specified by the township attorneys.
City Attorney Fred Lucas called the claim “false.”
Lucas said: “There was no more work to be done. “What was put in the consent decree is exactly what was discussed. We didn’t change anything.”
“There were no secret deals. This was as public and transparent as anything I’ve ever been involved in,” he said.
Haushalter “has every right to propose,” he said. I think that is a prelude to him appealing that decision.
Officials associated with Digital called Haushalter’s allegations “false,” and pointed out that a jury has already heard and rejected his claims, in a statement from spokeswoman Natalie Ravitz.
“It is disappointing that foreign lawyers continue to pursue this matter with him, especially when you consider that hundreds of local Michigan workers are there every day helping to build the project and we are working with the City and County to see it through,” they said in the statement.
Haushalter also said the court “erred in deciding (when) he could not intervene because the case was closed, a statute that, if correct, would invalidate the intervention as a matter of law whenever a judgment is entered,” according to a statement from the Rural Defense Fund, which is helping with Haushalter’s legal fees.
Haushalter also argued that his charges were untimely. He argues that the court erred by finding his claims untimely filed and that the law enforcement agency allowed him at least 60 days to file his motion for mediation, according to the defense fund.
On February 20, the judge again cited other factors before making his decision, including the possible harm to property owners who had already bought the farm property at auction and abandoned their homes and buildings.
The judge also considered that Related Digital has already done a lot of work, including entering into contracts and purchase orders, as well as a non-refundable deposit of $ 40 million for DTE Energy to provide power to the data center, among other obligations.
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