November 19th Lansing Town Board Meeting (Recap and Next Steps)

Moratorium Decision

The resolution to withdraw the proposed moratorium (Local Law #7 of 2025) was passed 4-0 by the board members present. Laurie Hemmings was the only board member not at the meeting, her absence was not mentioned or explained.

Privilege of the Floor

There was roughly 20 minutes of public comment. Of the 5 commenters pleased with the moratorium withdrawal, two of them are working for TeraWulf- Adam Millspaw, a representative of the company, and Jerry Goodenough, the VP of Project Management. There were 7 comments made from the public expressing disappointment with the withdrawal of the moratorium and opposition to TeraWulf’s plans.

Attendees reported a feeling of hostility in the room. Rules of decorum (such as yelling without being recognized) were broken by attendees. The unwarranted behavior was primarily directed towards comments concerned about TeraWulf’s plans. Disrespectful comments about/towards members of the Town Board were said out-of-turn as well.

Some attendees were also vocally outraged that non-Lansing Tompkins County residents were speaking. There were complaints of “outside noise” and outsiders “pushing agendas” by some commenters who gave pro-TeraWulf comments.

About “Outsiders”

It should be considered that TeraWulf, a Maryland-based corporation, is much more of an “outsider” than those who live on Cayuga Lake. TeraWulf is a company here for profit, while locals spend their days enriching this lovely community and enjoying what it has to offer. Either way, there are no rules against non-Lansing residents speaking, as this meeting is open to the public. That’s why an out-of-town TeraWulf representative was permitted to give public comment along with the Cayuga Lake locals living outside of Lansing’s town borders.

What’s Next?

Now that the moratorium has been withdrawn, the arguments of this situation being exclusively a Lansing issue, rather than a Cayuga Lake issue, hold even less water than before. While the moratorium was more of a Lansing-specific issue, as it would impact other construction exclusively in Lansing aside from TeraWulf’s plans, it still would have impacted surrounding communities. People living outside of Lansing still have local businesses in town, visit local establishments, etc.

The data center would impact all of Cayuga Lake and surrounding communities, not stopping at the Lansing Town border. The entirety of the Cayuga Lake community has a right to protest the construction of this data center.

Keep Showing Up

All of us should feel empowered now more than ever to take action to stop TeraWulf’s plans.

We’re still considering next steps and are very open to outreach and activism ideas from the community. Feel free to contact us for further collaboration.

To watch the livestream of the meeting, see here.