An unnamed company has approached the city of Mount Shasta about building an artificial intelligence data center at the former Crystal Geyser bottling plant, but city officials say they oppose the proposal because of concerns about water use.
City Manager Todd Juhasz disclosed the proposal during Monday's City Council meeting and said he plans to tell the company the city is not interested.
“We'll hear them out,” Juhasz said. “But unless there's some magical thing they do that other data centers don't, I can't imagine this would be good for the community.”
After the city council meeting, the public outcry on social media was immediate, said Mayor Casey Glaubman.
“By the time we were done, somebody had made a Facebook post saying basically a data center is moving in,” he said. “It had blown up more than anything that I've seen.”
Glaubman said he has received more than 100 emails about the proposal, many based on inaccurate information.
Juhasz said the proposal is effectively "dead on arrival" because of widespread community opposition.
"I'm going to call them unilaterally this afternoon and let them know that it's a 'No,'" he said.
Juhasz declined to identify the company but said it likely targeted the former Crystal Geyser property because it includes valuable water rights and a high-producing well. Springs fed by volcanic aquifers around Mount Shasta form the headwaters of the Sacramento River.
AI data centers often require large amounts of water to cool computer servers.
"The idea that we're going to risk a precious commodity for very limited payoff — there's no ROI for the city," Juhasz said.
He estimated the facility would create about 15 long-term jobs, while generating little local tax revenue because it would not manufacture a product sold in the city.
Glaubman said he’s heard about companies approaching other properties in the region.
“We're all seeing this happen, basically anywhere with water rights,” he said.
The former Crystal Geyser facility is in unincorporated Siskiyou County. Juhasz said the city has already been exploring annexing the property, a move that would give Mt. Shasta more control over future development.
Until then, the company could present its proposal to the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors.
"I don't want to see that happen personally," Glaubman said.
