Sign up for the free Missoula This Week newsletter and stay in the loop on Missoula city government, public school meetings, business news and upcoming entertainment and events. Sign up 04/03/2026 “Missoula This Week” is reported and written By Katie Fairbanks. Send your Missoula news and tips to [email protected]. County review application submitted, early June hearing likely  When the news broke in mid-March of a proposal for a data center in Bonner, east of Missoula, concerns soon followed.  Neighbors of the Bonner Industrial Park, where the proposed data center would be located in the former UFP Edge facility, were worried it would bring similar problems to a cryptocurrency mine that operated at the park from 2017 to 2020, as well as those seen around the country.  The new proposal is the first to be considered under the county’s regulations on cryptocurrency mines and data centers, adopted in 2021 in response to problems with the former Hyperblock facility. That includes limiting the facilities to industrial zones, requiring a special exemption for facilities adjacent to residential areas, requiring verification that electronic waste will be recycled and requiring the site to use new renewable energy that would not have otherwise been brought onto the electrical grid.  “We will be working to determine how they meet that requirement,” said Jennie Dixon, a Missoula County planner, during a community meeting on the project March 20. “This is the first time we’ve really had to kinda delve deep into that, but that’s an important piece the commissioners wanted to see implemented on these types of potentially high-energy users.”  The UFP Edge building pictured in July 2025, before the facility closed in September 2025. Credit: Katie Fairbanks/MTFP Krambu, an Idaho-based data center company, recently submitted a formal application to the county for review of its proposed project, Dixon told Montana Free Press this week. The property owner had previously submitted a preliminary application for a proposal to lease the former UFP Edge building to a data center.  Dixon said after reviewing the application next week, she plans to schedule a Missoula County Land Use Board hearing June 3. The board will consider the special exemption required because the project is within 500 feet of a residential property boundary. However, that variance will only look at certain impacts to nearby residential areas and will not consider all the elements of the project that people have questions and concerns about, Dixon said.  About 150 community members attended the at-times heated QA meeting March 20 with company officials. Many questions focused on energy and water usage, noise and potential pollution. Krambu officials answered questions for about two hours, but some project details remain vague.  Steve Wood, CEO of Krambu, said at the meeting that the company is evaluating multiple sites for “AI factories,” including the Bonner property. Wood said the data center would use new technology and be more efficient than past facilities. Excess energy could be captured and reused for something to serve the community, like a hydroponics farm, he said.  “My vision of all the sites we look at is this whole holistic concept of … industrial symbiosis,” Wood said. “It creates an economy within the data center environment that serves the community.”  Wood said the company would look to hire locally for permanent jobs, starting with around 15 positions and increasing if the site grows. Potential clients of the data center have not been identified and may be confidential under their contracts, he said.  The company requested up to 3 megawatts of power to start, which would be sourced externally and not affect local ratepayers, said Amber Orr, Krambu’s electrical engineer, during the meeting. On average in the northwest, 1 megawatt is enough to power nearly 800 homes for a year. The former Hyperblock facility used up to 20 megawatts, Dixon said. The company would pay NorthWestern Energy to transport the power to the site using existing transmission lines that may be upgraded if necessary, Orr said. It’s currently unknown who Krambu will purchase energy from for the facility, she said.  Matt Afana, a project manager with Polar Construction, an Idaho company working with Krambu, said initially filling the project’s “closed loop” cooling system would require about 500 gallons of water per megawatt, which would be pulled from on-site wells. The treated water would be periodically flushed to remove “dust and bugs” in the coolers and would comply with state regulations, Afana said. It was unclear how often water would be flushed or replaced, or what the annual water usage would be.  The center would be much quieter than facilities that use cooling fans, with a noise level around 50 to 55 decibels, Afana said. When questioned about low-frequency sound below the human hearing threshold, Afana said the cooling towers would be set on vibration dampeners. Dixon said at the meeting that the county review includes noise and vibration levels, and that the data center would have to stay below a certain threshold.  Enforcement of county regulations would be complaint-based, and the county staff will investigate concerns, Dixon said.  As part of its special exception review, the Missoula County Land Use Board will consider access, traffic and parking demand, development of streets and sidewalks, impacts on or of public and private utilities, natural resource protections, landscaping, signs, noise, vibration, outdoor lighting, frequency of use and hours of operation and fit in the neighborhood.  The board has final decision-making authority, and the review does not go to the county commissioners. If approved, the project will need several county permits to be reviewed and approved by county staff, Dixon said. That includes a zoning compliance permit that will require the company to prove that its power is coming from a new renewable energy source and that it will recycle all electronic waste.   It’s unclear exactly what state permits the project might need, but Afana said the water would be tested and sent to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.  DEQ spokesperson Madison McGeffers told MTFP the department can’t comment on the Bonner project specifically but shared an outline of potential air and water quality regulations for data centers.  Data center equipment does not directly result in air emissions, but backup diesel and natural gas generators may require an air quality permit, according to the DEQ.  Water supply for a cooling system, unless served by an existing system with its own water rights, requires approval from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. Different cooling systems have varying water requirements. The DEQ regulates wastewater disposal, and the type of regulation depends on the type of wastewater and how it is discharged. DEQ reviews the temperature and contaminant content of discharged water.  Updated information about the project will be posted on missoulacountyvoice.com.  5 Things to Know in Missoula  The Missoula City Council Wednesday moved to adopt the West Broadway River Corridor Master Plan, with a final vote set for April 13. The plan includes river restoration, improved river access, debris removal, irrigation ditch removal and improvements to trails and recreation opportunities along the Clark Fork River between the Montana Rail Link railroad bridge and the California Street pedestrian bridge. Morgan Valliant, associate director of the city’s ecosystem services division, told the council the preliminary construction estimate is $7.2 million and that the project will be carried out in multiple phases, beginning with river work. In February, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency board approved $400,000 in tax increment financing for the initial project design. The project also received $100,000 from the Resource Legacy Fund. Once 30% of the design is completed, the project team can begin fundraising and discussions with local, state and federal permitting agencies, Valliant said.  The Missoula County commissioners Thursday adopted a policy governing the use of tax increment financing for workforce housing projects. The policy aims to promote construction of affordable and attainable housing in the county’s Targeted Economic Development Districts, said John Wilke, a county housing specialist. Three developers are considering building housing in three different districts, he said. The policy creates two “tracks” for workforce housing projects: affordable and attainable. Affordable projects would typically be built by nonprofits using established programs to limit rents or sale prices and would have income requirements, Wilke said. Attainable projects would typically be built by for-profit developers and would rely on “market-based guardrails” to keep costs down, he said. That includes requiring a minimum density of 11 units per acre, smaller house sizes and modest finishes and amenities. Under the policy, affordable housing projects will be eligible for more tax increment financing for infrastructure and construction costs, while attainable projects will be eligible for reimbursement of infrastructure costs, Wilke said.  On Wednesday, the Missoula City Council approved $323,135 to construct an addition at Fire Station 4 to temporarily house the sixth engine company and, in the long term, expand maintenance workspace. The sixth engine company is operating out of Station 4, located on Latimer Street off West Broadway, until the new fire station is built in the next couple of years. The temporary dorm is taking up most of Station 4’s training room, reducing space for daily and regional training, Fire Chief Lonnie Rash told the council. The addition on the back of the station would include three dorm rooms, a shower and a bathroom for the sixth engine company. It would prevent both engine companies from being woken up when one is dispatched, Rash said. Once the sixth company moves to the new station, the area will be used to expand the maintenance division’s workspace, he said. The fire department’s portion of impact fees collected on new development will pay for the project, Rash said.  The Missoula County commissioners last week approved an amendment to zoning regulations that bans new billboards in industrial areas and prohibits converting existing billboards to digital signs. Industrial zones include the Wye area, areas in Bonner and near the Missoula Montana Airport. From 1974 to 2022, billboards were allowed in commercial and industrial zoned areas of the county, said Jennie Dixon, a county planner. Changes in 2022 prohibited billboards from commercial areas and limited them to one per parcel in industrial areas, she said. Billboards are allowed in unzoned areas but are subject to certain size, spacing and setback restrictions. Under the new rules, normal maintenance and upkeep are allowed, but structural alterations are not. Damaged billboards cannot be fixed if the reconstruction cost exceeds 50% of the replacement cost. Dixon cited several studies that found billboards increase the risk of driver distraction and crashes. Three people with Lamar Advertising Company opposed the change, calling it a “witch hunt” against the billboard industry.  Voters can hear from the Democratic candidates for Montana’s Western U.S. House District at a free forum Thursday hosted by the Missoula County Democrats and the University of Montana College Democrats. Candidates Ryan Busse, Russell Cleveland, Sam Forstag and Matt Rains will discuss key issues facing western Montana voters in a forum moderated by UM Journalism School Director Lee Banville. The event begins at 6 p.m. at the University Center Theater. Republican primary candidates for the seat are Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen, radio host Aaron Flint and former legislator Al Olszewski. The candidates are running to replace Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, who announced in early March he won’t seek reelection, citing health problems. The primary election is June 2.  Snapshot   Credit: John Stember Credit: John Stember Last Saturday, thousands of protestors walked down Higgins Avenue to Caras Park for the “No Kings” rally in Missoula. The protest, like hundreds held nationwide, was a rebuke of the current Trump administration. Missoula speakers touched on the U.S. Constitution, broken promises for Indigenous people, ICE and the history of immigrants in the United States. The question of exactly how many people joined the protests in Missoula and other locations throughout Montana was on many minds this week. So MTFP reporter Zeke Lloyd, who attended the Great Falls protest, reached out to expert crowd counters.  Might be Fun  Missoula Parks and Recreation is holding an Underwater Egg Hunt Saturday at the Currents Aquatics Center. All ages are welcome. Kids 6 and younger must be accompanied in the water by an adult. Ages 4 and under hunt at 10:15 a.m., followed by ages 5-7, then 8 and up. Participants must pay regular pool admission plus a $1 registration fee.  Two dozen downtown Missoula businesses are participating in a Downtown Pop Up Crawl Saturday to celebrate National Handmade Day. Participating businesses will host a variety of artists and craftspeople. The full list of businesses and makers is available online, and shoppers can pick up a map at Missoula Makers Collective Saturday. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The post What’s next for the proposed Bonner data center? appeared first on Montana Free Press. ...read more read less