While thousands have signed a petition opposing a data center in Muscogee County and hundreds of others have voiced opposition during town hall and city council meetings or public groups formed against Project Ruby those in the minority are taking a stand in support of the project. Two of them appeared before city council Tuesday and they were heavily outnumbered.
Columbus resident Greg Foster told Now Georgia that his reasoning is simple. “I think that it would give a lot of people in our area the opportunity to make a lot of money and improve the quality of life for them and their families. I laugh at people who oppose the project saying that 195 jobs making $80,000 – $120,000 annually is not a big deal. Look, Columbus is the second largest city, in the 8th largest state (we just moved ahead of North Carolina), it’s a big deal. And Columbus could definitely use the money,” said Foster.
As president of the Chatham Woods Neighborhood Association, Foster successfully helped defeat a rezoning effort in his own neighborhood recently so why the change of heart when it comes to building a data center in the Upatoi area of Columbus? “I think those situations are very different,” Foster said.
“The reasons for objections to Project Ruby are utterly ridiculous. The opposition has been telling lies, half lies, and damn lies. When I was in the Army I used to DJ where I learned the 6 Decibel Rule concerning sound. It has been reported that the Ruby project will generate 96 decibels of sound. The nearest resident to the proposed data center is one mile away. I went online and used an automated Decibel Distance Calculator and determined that if you stand in front of that house the sound you will receive from the data center will be 41.55 decibels. If you go into the middle of the average forest in Georgia and just stand there, the sound level will be between 30 and 40 decibels. And the residents are complaining about noise pollution from Project Ruby are totally unfounded. That is one of those “damn lies” I mentioned earlier. And there are many more. Also, after reading the Columbus Regional Housing Study conducted by Georgia Tech, Troy University and CSU, I am pretty sure that I am now in favor of rezoning, as a private citizen. Columbus needs mid-level housing.”
Foster is one of only two citizens to date to appear in front of council to voice support for a data center. The retired combat veteran told Now Georgia his mission to appear before council Tuesday is clear. “I am going to debunk all of the ridiculous objections to Project Ruby. I am going to praise Missy Kendrick and any of the council members that had anything to do with bringing Project Ruby to Columbus. AI is the fastest growing industry in the world. We had better get out in front on AI or kids, and grandkids better learn to speak Chinese. China is investing trillions into developing AI. And they are not our friends. We only have a few more friends left anyway due to President Trump. I am sure the Chinese will weaponize AI in every form imaginable. This is the new “Space Race” and America we better be ready.”
Missy Kendrick of Choose Columbus who dubbed the data center proposal Project Ruby has said it is unclear at this stage whether or not the project would be an AI data center.
