Bethel and Woodstock officials are considering proposed ordinances placing moratoriums on data center developments in those towns.

While Woodstock has not yet set a date for a town vote, Bethel has scheduled a special town meeting for Oct. 15 for residents to vote on the proposed ordinance that would place a six-month moratorium on any data center development.

The ordinance would allow the town time to create “an amendment to the Bethel Ordinance and other Town codes and regulations to establish appropriate standards for the siting, permitting, construction and operation of data centers within the Town of Bethel,” according to the moratorium draft.

A data center is defined by the proposal as a facility that primarily contains electronic systems and equipment used to process, store or transmit digital information.

Town Manager Sharon Jackson said at the Sept. 16 selectmen’s meeting, at which the proposal was approved to go to town meeting, that the idea had originated in the town’s Ordinance Review Committee. It was not the result of a citizen request or of concerns about any possible actual project in the works, she said, but rather general concern about the prospect of a data center.

The ordinance proposal listed a number of reasons for the move, noting that: there has been a recent increase in the development of data centers in Maine; centers consume disproportionate amounts of water and electrical energy, often equivalent to tens of thousands of homes; they are known to strain local energy grids and result in an increase in residential utility costs; they can create noise pollution, heat islands and significant environmental impact; without regulatory stands, they are likely to overburden town resources; current town codes are inadequate to prevent serious public harm; and the town requires at least 180 days to gather information regarding the potential effect of centers, and to develop ordinances to regulate them.

The Oct. 15 town meeting will also include an article on approving funding from Undesignated Funds for the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at Crescent Park Elementary School at 19 Crescent St.

Woodstock also plans to hold a town vote on a data center moratorium, with the wording of the proposal likely to be similar to Bethel’s. At the Sept. 15 Woodstock selectmen’s meeting, the board directed Town Manager Tonya Lewis to get information from Jackson on Bethel’s proposal. Jackson said Sept. 16 she had sent a copy of the moratorium wording to Lewis.

In discussion on the issue at the Woodstock board meeting, Chairman Ron Deegan expressed concern about the theoretical possibility of an application for a data center being brought to the town. He said a center “would not line up” with the wishes expressed by some townspeople on a town survey to “keep the character of the town.”  The survey was done in conjunction with the preparation of a proposed new Comprehensive Plan to guide development in Woodstock in coming decades.

Deegan urged “high speed” in preparing a moratorium for a future town meeting vote.

Selectman Bob McQueeney said that one way to prevent data centers, if that was the wish of the town, would be to prohibit buildings larger than a certain size, such as 10,000 square feet.