GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — After three hours of public input and discussion on the possibility of a cryptocurrency farm being brought to Belvoir, the Pitt County Commissioners decided to continue the discussion at its Nov. 1 meeting.
Monday night, members of the public spoke for a couple of hours in a quasi judicial hearing to voice their concerns to commissioners about a proposed cryptocurrency plant that Compute North, a company out of Minnesota, wants to bring to Pitt County. One of the main concerns from residents is the noise the facility could create in the Belvoir area.
After that, the commissioners held lengthy discussions about those comments and concerns.
Just before 11 p.m. Monday, in a 7-1 vote, the commissioners ultimately decided to continue the discussion at its Nov. 1 meeting. The commissioners also voted 7-1 to allow two certified acoustic experts from the company to speak about the noise that could be created. The commissioners said at least one acoustic expert from another outlet — which could express opposing views from the company — would also be allowed to speak at the next meeting.
Monday’s meeting was held in part to allow community members the chance to voice their opinion to the commissioners. Last Thursday, Compute North held an open house for community members. Many of the Belvoir residents voiced their concerns about the proposed plant.
Monday night, they took their concerns to the commissioners.
“This facility will run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, for at least five years, and Compute North has plans for extensive expansion,” said Molly Holderman, a Belvoir resident. “This current plan calls for 89 containers, each contain 14 fans to cool the computers inside which equals 1,246 fans.”
Compute North CEO Dave Perrill offered an opposing view and said they are addressing the concerns about the noise level.
“There’s been some misnomer, miscommunications and certainly some leanings on our behalf that we need to do and improve going forward and we’re committed to that,” Perrill said. “We’ve heard some of the feedback, we’ve heard it loud and clear.”
Compute North Vice President of Site Development, Jeff Jackson, said at last Thursday’s open house the company is working on getting permits to build a crypto-farm. If approved, it will be located on Belvoir Road near the Greenville Utilities substation.
If approved, Compute North will have 89 modular data center containers which will be home to large computers. Each bin will need around 10 or more fans to keep it cool, which is where this noise would come from.