Three days after granting the Oracle data center a tax break on an investment of about $4.8 billion, the township board met for a special meeting Friday evening and granted the 12-year, 50-percent abatement on $43.1 billion – the latest investment estimated by the developers. It was the latest twist in a saga that has gripped the township for about a year.
The move was criticized by the mostly anti-data-center audience members at Saline Township Hall on Braun Road.
The board’s decision came after ominous meeting-opening comments from attorney David Landry, who came on to help the township address the data center issue after it was sued by Related Digital and property owners when it decided not to grant the rezoning request it needed to build the development on the west end of the township. Landry helped negotiate the consent judgment that stipulates the the tax abatement, among other things…