*November 10, 2026 Governing Body Meeting*
### Overview
The general public comment period at the end of the November 10, 2026 Topeka City Council meeting was dominated by concerns over hyperscale data centers, transparency failures, and recent unauthorized staff actions. Residents from the city, unincorporated Shawnee County, and surrounding areas addressed the governing body on these issues after the evening’s action items.
### Secret Meetings and Staff Accountability
Multiple speakers focused on a reported unauthorized meeting involving city staff (including references to the deputy city manager and utilities director) with Rural Water District 3 interests related to the Compass data center proposal.
- Carol Marple (Wakarusa) detailed the meeting uncovered via open records, noted ongoing work on a nearby water tower, and called for residency requirements for city employees plus immediate consequences for staff who act outside policy.
- Megan Ryan (Topeka, 3rd District / Protect Kansas) repeatedly cited the “secret meeting,” linked it to broader patterns of accountability failures (including past hotel deals), and demanded the city stop “sweeping things under the rug.”
- Colleen Campbell (Protect Kansas) noted that citizens and Protect Kansas uncovered the meeting, questioned the lack of named repercussions, and urged the council to address trust and transparency across topics.
### Hyperscale Data Center Impacts
Opposition to the Compass and related hyperscale proposals was the central theme.
- Mike Bradley outlined noise, air, water, property-value, and quality-of-life effects that cross city-county lines. He argued these facilities are 21st-century heavy industry that belong only in appropriate I-2 zoning and noted an ongoing FAA air-safety review of thermal plumes near Topeka Regional Airport.
- Rick Tyler (Wakarusa area) summarized Southwest Power Pool and Kansas Corporation Commission discussions. He highlighted projected transmission build-out—including three 765 kV lines through Kansas—driven by computational/data-center load, with potential Kansas ratepayer costs of $2.5–4.25 billion.
- Sharon Gillette (unincorporated Shawnee County) defended the Protect Kansas petition effort as legitimate democratic participation. She pushed back on descriptions of the effort as “disappointing” and noted that many who will be directly affected live just outside city limits.
- An unnamed speaker (half a mile outside city limits, self-identifying as a Topekan) defended the petitions as a way to lock in protections beyond any temporary moratorium and called one-on-one meetings requested by Compass inappropriate during the moratorium.
- Alexander Loe (Pauline / Montero Village area) spoke about community character and data center development, having previously addressed the county commission.
### Additional Public Comments
- Linda Day (Topeka) requested a four-way stop at a long-standing dangerous intersection near her home, citing decades of local knowledge and prior crashes.
- Courtney McFaden (Soldier Township) connected personal experiences with utility billing and financial hardship to broader concerns about resource demands and data centers.
### Key Takeaways
The consistent message from the public was straightforward:
- Public processes exist for a reason.
- Moratoriums are temporary; citizens are seeking longer-term protections through petitions.
- Staff cannot negotiate or advance major projects outside public view.
- Ratepayers, landowners, and neighbors will bear the long-term costs of power, water, and transmission decisions.
Citizens are organized, informed, and watching. The full meeting video is available on the City of Topeka YouTube channel. Official minutes will be posted on the city’s agenda site when available.
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### Verbatim Public Comments (End of Meeting)
**Linda Day (Topeka)**
Hi everybody. My name's Linda Day. I live at 2400 Southwest Central Park Avenue. That is two blocks down from Quinton Heights Hill. Um there's Filillmore and then there's Central Park. Okay. U on the hill on Filmore there's a stop sign at South and North. My corner nothing. It's it's always been nothing. The next street is uh south and north stop sign. I've been to the um MIAS and um I know Jack Alexander and his wife and um I I've been up there and uh the last time I was there, I asked for a four-way stop sign to be there. There had been wrecks there. Um, and I've lived there 70 years. I know the traffic better than anybody uptown. Um, and is it's the last thing I do. I want to save lives. It needs a four-way stop sign. They put a bump down the next street and the cars are already challenging that short little bump and that bump is not slowing nobody down. The bump needs We just got new cement roads about 3 or 4 years ago. I used to go out and have to undo the si uh the drainage pipe because it'd always get plugged up. But I I just that is a bad corner and if it's the last thing I do in my heart, I w I want to save lives. Um, I went to uh called to try to get to talk to the um newspaper and I told him I was going to come up here and I've heard so many negative stuff I didn't want to come. But when they didn't show up, I had to come cuz it's in my heart to save lives before I die. And I'm just asking you, please put a four-way stop sign in there. That's all I ask.
**Carol Marple (Wakarusa, Kansas)**
Um, my name is Carol Marple. I live in Wakarusa, Kansas. And I came here tonight not to talk very much about data centers. I came to talk about water and secret meetings. I'm guessing that probably at least 95% of the people in this room get their water from the city of Topeka. either directly or indirectly from a rural water district that buys their water from the city. We all have a vested interest in what is happening with city of Topeka water. We were all concerned when we heard about a secret meeting between Mr. Cop Copley and Sylvia Davis and Rwater District number three. The deputy city manager, this was in the Capitol Journal, Braxton Copley, initiated the conversation of the meeting and the director of utilities, Sylvia Davis, attended the October 30th meeting according to email exchanges provided by the city in a Kansas open records act request made by the Capitol Journal. However, Braxton told the governing body the conversation was not intend in inundated by him and did not mention Stavis participation. This is very dis disconcerting, you know, to have these secret meetings. I don't know if the council is aware the people that live in the southern part of the county. We have been watching work being done on a water tower down there. It was the water tower that blew down and was rebuilt and nothing ever seemed to happen with it. All of a sudden now it's been covered. There's a lot of work going on and quite frankly we're all wondering what's happening because it just so happens to be very close to the land that the Compass data center wants to build their data center on. The city council has assured us that the moratorum will continue but we have two people in very high positions in the city. one that was the deputy city manager going rogue and we're all deeply concerned. I believe that your intentions are good, but you and what I've read don't really have control of what happens in personnel matters and we just what's going on, you know, is this a backroom deal? How many of them have been happening in the past? Is is this part of the reason the city finances are in such poor shape? I you know we we want things to be transparent, but this has not been transparent. I think that changes have to be made. New requirements need to be put in place. The number one requirement that I see if you're going to apply for a job for the city, you got to live here. You got to have skin in the game. You need to pay some taxes. I also think that anybody that in their position, whatever it is, goes contrary to the policies of the city, they should be immediately fired. If they're not willing to adhere to the requirements of the job that they take, they obviously don't need it. So, I hope that you will take strong answer actions and send a message to people that maybe we can not have any more of these secret meetings. Thank you.
**Courtney McFaden (Soldier Township)**
So, I live in uh Soldier Township. My name is Courtney McFaten. Um, and I'm more of an advocate for uh domestic violence. um because I went through that for like the last uh five years, but I was on the financial abuse aspect. And this is corresponding with Everg's uh data centers kind of like cuz I've been fighting them since last year trying to cuz I couldn't get like the resources uh to help pay down bills that my ex racked up for. Um, so whenever I do call like every like they're very aware of the financial abuse. Um, I went to mostly the KCC, uh, the attorneys general, uh, BBB about what I was going through and they just didn't care. So, I don't think they should have these data centers. Um, I'm not the best speaker on all of this, but if I know I'm not the only one that's going through like bills that got racked up by a significant other and is fighting off uh a utility company. Um, I'm I apologize. I don't know what my point is, but um I'm trying to, you know, see if I can get some help because I've went to charity groups at any funding um domestic violence shelters and I can't get any help uh last year when um I first got it. I had my electric shut off for 3 months and it did put significant damage in my house. Um, my fridge got wiped out and I'm very low income. Um, so I couldn't get a new fridge and this fridge was a year old. And I've had rodents, like I've had huge rats come into my house from the months that it was shut off. Um, and it's not that my house has structural issues. It's just because I couldn't spend time at home because I was trying to get this, you know, help. But also, it's just like, why are we not kind of looking into this?
**Alexander Loe (unincorporated Pauline / Montero Village area)**
Hello. My name is Alexander Loe. I live in the unincorporated township of Pauline, right smack dab in the middle of Montter Village. Thank you for your willingness to speak or thank you for your willingness to listen and to extend your patience during this commemory meeting to this comment on the topic of data center development. This comment was presented yesterday to the county commission addressing the city council this evening as part of a two-pronged approach to boost awareness of this issue and encourage leadership from the city of Topeka. This July, my life partner and I recently moved here. It has been a treat to be among such kind people and to learn about this little community beyond the railroad tracks. Being in the community has taught me a few lessons about the things we learn to tolerate and the things we choose to stand up against. The children in the neighborhood ride dirt bikes and four-wheelers on the weekends. When they zoom by, they're screaming loud, but just as quickly as the sound intrudes, it fades. When you think they're gone, they come right back around, screaming even louder. But eventually, they settle down. And come nightfall, my partner and I, we can tolerate this. Kids playing as they should. On weekdays, bursts of laughter and joyous shouts fill the afternoon as kids come home from school. The other day, I I could hear a few of them shout singing the chorus from the song Zombies by the cranberries. A delightful disturbance, rockus, yet hardly a need to tap into wellspring of tolerance in our hearts. Kids playing as they should. There's been work getting done on the local water tower this last week or so. Awful roaring construction sounds. It makes it hard to focus when I work from home. Yet, by the end of the workday, I know the job is one day closer to being done, and the community will be better...
**Unnamed speaker (Protect Kansas / petition-related)**
And like a few other people have said, I wanted to address the fact of it being said publicly that it was disappointing that we put forth this petition. I don't understand how it's disappointing for us to participate directly in our democracy, to take one of the few measures we have to be able to have an active role in what's happening in our community. I don't know how that's disappointing. That was quite sad to hear. Uh, a very smart man said to me this weekend, 'Words build hope. Actions build trust.' So, here's how we start to repair some of that trust. And all of you can be a part of that process. One of the reasons we did the ballot petitions is not because we don't trust this governing body. Far from it. You have been more responsive to us than anyone and we appreciate that very much. What's happening though is that city employees don't necessarily seem to be on the same page and seem to in many cases be working in an actively opposite direction from what we're hearing when we come speak to you this evening. Also, we don't know who's going to come after all of you in the city council. So by getting these signatures, by doing this petition process, we have an ordinance that will stand that will stand through whatever city employees come, whatever new city councilors come, and that will be something that everyone in our community can agree on for something that's going to be this impactful. Once we get those signatures, it's going to come to all of you. And that's going to be the point where you can all choose to accept that ordinance. And that is one of those first moments where those actions can start building trust. Another moment that happened recently that we found out about was that the president of Compass Data Centers requested one-on-one meetings with all of you. I don't think a lot of us feel that this is appropriate in the midst either of an moratorum or just period. There's open processes to all of these meetings and we're all told to follow the directions and rules very specifically and we try to and we hope that everyone else involved is doing the same. And in fact, I would kind of like something more than that. I I would really appreciate if someone from our city could reach out to Compass and tell them that reaching out for a one-on-one meeting crosses the line. I'm not sure who should be the one to do that, but I believe it does cross a line. And on top of that, who here is willing to publicly declare that they will not take that one-on-one meeting? We'd like to know. We'd like to know your reasonings for doing so if you are going to do so. Some of that disappointment apparently came from the fact that some of us live outside of city limits. I live about a half mile outside of city limits and even though you might not be my mayor and you all may not be my city council, I am a Topekan. Thank you.
**Mike Bradley**
Good evening. Mike Bradley, Montana resident. Confusion. That appears to be the current word of the moment. Hypers scale data centers cause noise pollution, air pollution, the threat of watershed contamination, the lowering of property values, and degradation of quality of life across miles and miles of land due to the widecale effects they cause. Southern Shauny County is a hodgepodge of county land and cityc controlled islands. The compass and MT Aa hyperscale data centers, if built where currently intended, would detrimentally affect people and businesses in both the city and county, including grade schools, established residential and agricultural communities, area businesses, and even Topeka Regional Airport would all be affected. Yet, the city and county act as if this is not the case. We are told by the city and county this is only a county issue. So why does the city seem to be sticking fingers in this issue? Why would the city discuss city water issues about data centers in the county or have the MTAA discuss their possible data center at a city meeting instead of a county meeting? Why? Because the size and scale effects will impinge on both the cities and counties interests and concerns. It seems to me that in light of these shared widescale effects that there should be some combined city and county cooperation in organizing, planning, discussing, and handling these hypers scale data centers both known and yet to be announced. Is it really so surprising that in response, county and city residents have gathered together to file petitions to try to have a say and some control in handling these hypers scale data centers in light of city and county handling. Personally, I'm against both these hypers scale data centers where proposed as they are both incompatible with the already established residential agricultural and business community. Do not be fooled by the low number of employees or some 19th century outdated concept of heavy industry. A hypers scale data center due to its p the power it uses and the infrastructure required is a 21st century heavy industry and should only be built in Shauny County heavy industry I2 zoning areas. Neither of these are cited to be in I2 heavy zoning. Also as re as information, the FAA office of airports central region is currently reviewing air safety issues regarding hypers scale data center centers operating inside the airspace of Topeka regional airport due to their creation of thermal plumes and other airports airspace safety concerns and their final review results are pending. For these slew of reasons and more, these hypers scale data centers should not be built within the areas proposed. Thank you.
**Colleen Campbell (Protect Kansas)**
Um today I would like to talk about a couple things. Um first I would like to talk about um the secret meeting that happened last Friday. Um and um how Protect Kansas was the ones that found that out and alerted um city officials about that meeting. um and that there was a response from the city council and the mayor that was put into the paper or first um on social media and then out out to the paper. Um there are concerns that names were not named um and that there are repercussions that were were stated in that statement. While we do appreciate the rest of the transparency that was given in that statement, um there didn't seem to be um enough information about what would happen if secret meetings did continue or to those secret people who have participated previously in those secret meetings. Um those names have already been named tonight um in in public comments, so I don't need to go into that more. Um and then as we're talking Um this has happened more than once um with the city. Uh Megan has said you know every time we pull a string something else falls out. We have seen that multiple times and that is concerning for us. Um you know we when I first started looking at data centers I just was here to say I don't want a data center. I didn't mean to find other things. Um I didn't mean to to do all of those things. But I am seeing that that is inter interconnected. I'm seeing that the reason people are concerned about um trust and transparency is because they're not finding it. Um even tonight when we were talking about the housing um there was still concerns about trust and transparency and I think that that you're finding that on a lot of topics. Um, and so I urge you to address the secret meetings again. I urge you to talk about what repercussions are going to happen. Um, because people need to know that there is something that has followed through with that. Um second I would like to talk that I was at Kate all day today um for a uh AI symposium and I thought that that symposium it was done uh by the computer science department and all these groups I thought it was going to be AI is the best thing since sliced bread. I thought that's exactly how that meeting was going to go and I was just there to to see and once um I was there that is the opposite of what was happening at that uh meeting. There was discussion about what was happening uh with AI. There was discussion about how people were concerned. There was discussion about the ethics. There was discussion about the building of data centers, the size of data centers, how it's affecting um uh students. There was a lot of discussion about military usage and surveillance. There was continued concern from the community. And when people found out that I was in a grassroots movement fighting data centers, they gave me their card. They stopped me. We talked for 20 minutes to one uh computer science professor whose students are studying AI and he is concerned about that impact. So, I want you to know that it's not just the people in the crowd here, that it's the people who are professionals in this arena who are nervous. They are scared about what's happening. And I urge you to reach...
**Megan Ryan (Topeka, 3rd District / Protect Kansas)**
Good evening. Good evening, everyone. I am Megan Ryan. I live in Topeka City Limits in the third district. I am so excited because Protect Kansas is going to be talking to students at Washburn tomorrow. in particular the intro to public administration. I myself as a graduate of Washburn Polysai and we're really going to dive in uh to the data center issue and I know with it comes to these kiddos and these young scholars going into polyai they all come into it thinking they can do better and boy am I banking on it. I am disappointed. I am angry. I am upset. Secret meeting. Secret meeting. Secret meeting. And who's finding that out? It's your constituents, right? The ones that you are here representing. We are calling for transparency. We are calling for accountability. And what I am seeing over and over in all these meetings and all these groups and all these positions of leadership that accountability is a little bit foreign, right? There hasn't been much public eye watching. There sure is now, right? I know that's a bit of a hot seat. And that's why we are asking for you all to stop sweeping things under the rug because I'm concerned that things are going to be tried to be pinned on a previously resigned staffer when we see problem children that are unnamed on the staff in issue after issue after issue. Laurens Bay, the hotel that cost us $15 million in our taxpayer dollars, our folks meeting secretly at the World Rural Water District. Number three, what are the consequences going to be? Because if you continue to sweep this under the rug and you refuse to clean house, we're cleaning it for you. There's only so many levers we have to pull and we are disappointed, right? When we are talking about what we want, we want safer communities. Is it making it safer? Is it going to be making it healthier? Is this going to be making a more just and equitable community that is accessible for all? I know we're talking about the ADA uh and housing tonight, but boy can we get there when I am seeing and I don't know why because you know when I talk to these students tomorrow I'm going to say hey man it's tough because when we pull each of these strings and all this information and all these strings and attachments is it incompetence or is this corruption? We are calling for transparency. We are counting for accountability. We are calling for a more just and representative democracy. And that is why it is crucial to put the data center conversation to a vote by the public. You've heard the outcry. We're sick of you all playing with our lives trying to sell the souls to sacrifice those poor kids in Monontra so that you guys can get some money. Is that going to be equitably dispersed to those kids that are inhaling nitrogen dioxide and small particulate matter from 840 megawatts of diesel generators. They call that backup, but in Lowden County, Virginia, they ran that for 24 hours. Their eyes and throats are burning. Please step up. We're all watching. Thank you for your time.
**Sharon Gillette (unincorporated Shawnee County)**
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen that comprise this council. My name is Sharon Gillette and I live in unincorporated Johnny County. I understand and have read that members of the governing body were disappointed that some constituents who are opposed to the building of Compass's hypers scale data center went to such lengths as to have legal petitions drawn up to help their cause. I say you should have expected it. You surely know their thoughts, their feelings, their fears about the impact of a hypers scale data center. What that will do as it gulps up our land, swallows our water, spits out pollution, and on top of all of that gets a huge tax break. Concerned citizens stand up at this podium week after week relaying factbased research to help educate others. Their conviction, their passion, their sheer determination not to give up should be respected, not criticized. to say and put in print that Topeka city residents should be wary of those who live just outside of civ city limits. Yeah, those outsiders for trying to give every Topekan registered voter a chance to work. That right there, that is what is disappointing. Some of us folks asking for your signatures on these petitions can't even sign them themselves. Yet, some of us live much closer and will be heavily impacted if that AI center does get built. Our intentions are in the right place for all Topeka residents. I'm asking, do any of you have children that are as goaloriented, as deeply committed and driven as I do? Suddenly, the words disappointed and wary of become highly offensive. Compasses raise so many red flags that are waving in our faces. They want approval, not community input. They don't want to listen to our concerns. They want our land. They want our resources. The eventual owner or tenant is undisclosed and completely uninvolved. Compass is who we should be wary of. Thank you.
**Rick Tyler (Wakarusa area, Kansas)**
Good evening. I'm Rick Tyler, Walkerooa, Kansas. On September 8th, representatives from the Southwest Powerpool and the Kansas Corporation Commission met to discuss the 2026 SP integrated transmission plan. It was a two-hour meeting and I'm going to summarize it in four minutes. The ITP is responsible for identifying the transmission infrastructure needed throughout the region. The region uh encompasses all or portions of 14 states stretch stretching from North Texas uh to the Dakotas and has had Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authority since 2008 to determine which transmission lines will be constructed within its service territory. Kansas accounts for approximately 17% of the SP footprint. While the meeting covered many aspects of the regional electric supply, one topic dominated the discussion. The dramatic growth in electric demand from what SP refers to as computational load. That sounds a lot better than hyperscale data center. According to the information presented at the meeting, the current peak electric demand throughout the region is 58 gawatt. SP projects the demand to increase to 79 gigawatts in five years and in 10 years it will be 110 to 114 gawatt that's doubling in 10 years. To accommodate this unprecedented growth SP is recommending the construction of three 765 KV transmission lines. All of which are hundreds of miles long and all of which are going to run right through the state of Kansas. Currently, there are no 765 lines in the state of Kansas. The closest one to here is Oklahoma City. Beyond that, you got to go to Dallas. To quote one of the commissioners of the KCC, this is going to have a humongous effect on the rateayers of Kansas and the land owners of Kansas. Why are all these transmission lines running through the state of Kansas? These are projected. They've not been built yet. I think we all know the answer to that. It's data centers. And where exactly will these lines be? One is in western Kansas, running from Amarillo, Texas up to Nebraska. The other two hit closer to home. One is projected to run through um uh run from near Tulsa up to the southern Paradise substation near St. Joe. Our friends in Ottawa, Lewisburg, and tha are going to be directly in the path of these lines. The third is even closer. It is projected to run from wind generation in western Oklahoma right to northeast Kansas to a yet unsighted substation near Lawrence. While we don't know the exact routes until the KCC sites them, we do know that the last one will run through Witchah through the Witchah area to near Lawrence, right through the heart of Kansas, right through the Flint Hills. Why? for data centers. Will other load besides data centers be served from these loads? Probably. So, would they be built if it wasn't for data centers? Probably not. And what's the cost of these lines? SP estimates that the cost of these three lines is going to be between 15 billion and $25 billion. With Kansas being 17% of the total, that means that Kansas rate payers are going to pay somewhere between 2.5 billion to $4.25 billion for these lines. I don't remember ever mentioning that when they made their presentation to you all. Please remember that decisions that you make today will shape our community for generations to come. Thank you.
*(Note: Transcripts are from the City of Topeka YouTube auto-generated transcript and may contain minor errors. Full video: https://youtu.be/A3Oyv-d4g90)*
