Proposal to Drop Crypto Mining Moratorium Discussed by Harrison City Council

The Harrison City Council holds a discussion to end a moratorium on a type of facility that has caused controversy in Arkansas.

Earlier this year, Harrison City Leaders passed the moratorium on Crypto Mining and Data Center Facilities because of a state law that had been passed during this year's session that appeared to give operators of those facilities some leverage as to placement of the centers. Many local governments raised concerns over their control on the facility locations which has high noise levels and require high energy usage. Even state lawmakers who passed the law said they did not understand the magnitude of the law.

In response, the City of Harrison passed a moratorium on such facilities until proper noise ordinances could be put into the City's Zoning Code. During a discussion of at last week's committee meetings, members of the council discussed ending the moratorium at the suggestion of City Attorney Nancy Cartwright, who says with the city having recently passed some new noise regulations may make the moratorium unnecessary and lifting it would help the city avoid liability issues. While council members understand Cartwright's opinion, they also are concerned that dropping the moratorium now would be too early with other revisions in city code and state law that may be coming soon. 

While the proposal to end the moratorium will be coming to a future council meeting, several members were not sure how they would vote on it.

The complete committee meeting including the discussion of this topic can be found on the Hometown Television Facebook Page.