Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Residents who are believed to live near the site of the CyrusOne data center construction project outside Waverly are suing Sangamon County to try and stop the suit.

Capitol City Now has obtained a copy of the nearly 150 page suit, filed Monday in the county by a Plainfield attorney on behalf of four parties, filed against the Sangamon County Board, Sangamon County as a whole, and an LLC that the suit claims was started by CyrusOne.

In short, the suit claims the resolution approved by the board in April is misdated, the project is subject to judicial review under the law, and the impacts to nearby farmland and other properties near the project.

Sangamon County Administrator Brian McFadden says in an e-mailed statement he’s sure the county’s procedures were proper.

“The County is aware of the complaint filed regarding the Board’s approval of the CyrusOne data center conditional use permit,” said McFadden.  “We are confident the County followed the proper procedures before the Board took its vote. The State’s Attorney’s Office will represent the County in the case.  The County has no further comment on pending litigation.”

A separate statement from the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance (SSGA) says much the same.

“We are confident that the Sangamon County Board used a legally proper process for approval of the Cyrus One project,” said Ryan McCrady, CEO, in an e-mail.  “We look forward to our community realizing the significant economic benefits from this important project including local property tax revenues, increased employment, and financial support to many community organizations.”

SSGA has long been the public face of the project, continuing to promote what it says are the advantages to having such a project in the county, as stated above.

The plaintiffs listed in the lawsuit are:

  • Herschel Caruthers II and Linda M. Caruthers
  • Jill Caruthers Keeton
  • Linda Caruthers
  • Cathy Bettis, doing business as Joette Kennel

They are represented by Chloe A. Russell of the Law Office of Ronald D. Cummings.

Attempts to contact CyrusOne were unsuccessful.  There is not yet a court date scheduled in the matter.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  The lawsuit linked above is a compressed PDF, done that way so we could upload it to our website and make it available to you, as the suit is a publicly accessible document.