MONTICELLO — Before sunrise on a chilly morning last month, a group of Monticello city leaders loaded into two vehicles and headed south to Iowa to see firsthand what they had spent months discussing largely on paper: fully built, operating data centers.
The group left Monticello around 3:45 a.m. Jan. 8 and logged roughly nine hours of round-trip travel time, visiting multiple data center campuses in West Des Moines, Waukee and Altoona before returning late that night.
Those who participated in the trip included Mayor Lloyd Hilgart; City Administrator Rachel Leonard; Community Development Director Angela Schumann; Economic Development Manager Jim Thares; Public Works Director and City Engineer Matt Leonard; Planning Commissioner Rick Kothenbeutel; and Chief Building Official and Zoning Administrator Bob Ferguson…