The Superior Express -

Provided the City of Superior grants the required permits, Superior will soon have a new electronics business known as a data center.

Lannin Zoltenko has contracted with a Canadian firm to construct and install a data center at 416 Conn Street on what was once Missouri Pacific Railroad right-of-way. The center is now being constructed. Instead of trains moving freight and people through Superior, the data center will be moving information, specifically data related to the growing use of cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a form of electronic currency that is not backed by a government.

The data center will be located in a modified shipping container some 8 feet wide and 15 feet long. It will be operated remotely with the occasional need of a technician to check on its operation.

Zoltenko said the availability of reliable and low cost electricity and fiber optics contributed to the selection of the Superior location.

While the center will not add to the local payroll, electrical consumption is expected to cost $10,000 to $11,000 each month.

It is expected the center will serve multiple area customers.

It will be surrounded by a privacy screen and chainlink fence.

Opening of the center moved a step closer to reality when the Superior City Council approved on Monday evening a change in the city ordinances to permit the location of such centers in areas zoned for industrial development. Prior to Monday night, such centers were not allowed within a Superior zoning district. Now that such centers are permitted in the industrial districts, planning commission and city council permission is required before the operational permit may be issued.

Several people with homes located near the proposed site were present at the council meeting and spoke in opposition to allowing a data center in an area zoned for light industry which also includes residences.

Most of the speakers were fearful the center would add to the area’s noise pollution.

As the center equipment will produce heat, climate control fans will run around the clock. Fresh air will be drawn into the center through a filter and warm air will be expelled. Zoltenko compared the fans to the ventilation fans used by the Superior Public Schools.

He said the fans will produce 66 decibels of sound at the edge of the property. Normal conversation is 60 decibels. The sound will decrease as it moves from the fan.

The noise level is expected to be much lower than the grain aeration fans already operating in the district.

If the permits are issued, Zoltenko hopes to have the center operating by late October.