Menomonie Reverses Vote on $1.6 Billion AI Data Center

Menomonie, Wisconsin, has effectively paused a proposed 320-acre AI data center campus. The city council unanimously passed a new zoning ordinance in January that requires developers to apply for a specific permit, reversing a prior definition that had cleared the way for the project. The move ends a year of intense local conflict over a development valued at $1.6 billion.

The project was pitched to the city in 2024 by Balloonist LLC, a Delaware shell company acting on behalf of an undisclosed tech giant. The developer promised the facility would be water positive by 2030 and would create up to 1,000 temporary construction jobs and 50 to 75 permanent positions. The site would draw an estimated 75,000 gallons of water per day, the largest development in the city’s nearly 150-year history.

The process began in February 2024 when city administrator Eric Atkinson and public works director David Schofield signed one-page nondisclosure agreements. These documents prohibited them from revealing the identity of the tech company behind the project. In April 2024, the council voted to redefine warehousing to include the transmission of digital data, paving the legal path for the campus. The council approved a pre-development agreement in closed session in March 2025, authorizing Balloonist to spend up to $200,000 on site and traffic reviews.

Councilwoman Sydney Brennan first learned of the project’s scale in spring 2025. She noted that only a few officials knew the parent company’s identity. Councilmember Chad Schlough admitted he used ChatGPT to prepare for his meeting with consultants, describing the session as a casual chat where developers sought to gauge voting intentions. Professor Barry Burden of the University of Wisconsin-Madison noted that small town boards often serve as the sole gatekeepers for such large-scale projects.

Public awareness surged in July 2025 when the city issued a press release. Residents like Tim Accola, whose 1899 home sits across from the site, attended an August council meeting where the chamber overflowed. During two and a half hours of public comment, residents cited noise and water supply concerns. Despite the outcry, the council voted to annex the land and rezone it for industrial use that night.

Opposition groups formed rapidly. Blaine Halverson, a mental health professional, organized a Facebook group that reached nearly 11,000 members. Halverson studied zoning codes and coordinated with other Wisconsin towns fighting similar projects. Residents flooded city officials with emails, citing a lack of transparency and the secrecy of the earlier NDAs.

Mayor Randy Knaack halted the project with a memo in response to the backlash. The subsequent zoning change in January established a new requirement for data center applications. The city did not cancel the project entirely, but the procedural pause forces Balloonist to start the approval process again. The company’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment regarding the next steps.