Ballsville Tennis Center

THE BALLSVILLE DATA CENTER COMMUNITY BENEFIT PRINCIPLE

If Ballsville is going to become the next great data-center destination, I would like to suggest that we learn from the experience of Loudoun County, Virginia.

Loudoun discovered that data centers can produce extraordinary amounts of local tax revenue — enough to help pay for schools, roads, public safety, libraries, parks, recreation and community facilities.

Ballsville should therefore adopt a simple principle:

If you are going to bring Silicon Valley’s servers to Ballsville, you should also bring Ballsville’s recreational infrastructure into the 21st century.

Accordingly, any major data-center development should include a modest community-benefit requirement:

THE BALLSVILLE DATA CENTER COMMUNITY SPORTS & AQUATICS COMPLEX

The developer would provide funding for:

• A first-class indoor tennis center

• A substantial pickleball complex

• An indoor aquatic center with a competition/lap pool

• Outdoor tennis and pickleball courts

• A walking and fitness area

• Locker rooms, showers and sauna

• A community fitness center

• Space for tournaments and regional sporting events

This would not be a frivolous demand.

The computers will need electricity.

The electricity will require infrastructure.

The infrastructure will generate taxes.

And the taxes should generate something that human beings can actually use.

After all, if a data center can occupy hundreds of thousands of square feet while producing millions of dollars in taxable equipment, it seems only reasonable that Ballsville residents should receive something slightly more tangible than an exceptionally fast internet connection.

We are not asking for a handout.

We are proposing a new form of economic development:

Servers for the economy.

Courts for the people.

Pools for the community.

And if the data center becomes extraordinarily profitable, I would respectfully suggest that we add one final requirement:

A small statue of Roger Federer at the entrance.

He doesn’t need to serve as mayor.

He can simply remind everyone why we approved the project.