Southbridge Council Defers Data Center Moratorium Vote

Select Board · Meeting of October 19, 2026

Southbridge's Town Council advanced a proposed data center moratorium through a third reading but pushed final adoption to November 2 after Chairman Adams admitted he had relied on an outdated version of the charter for the vote timeline. Councilors unanimously amended the bylaw to require a 14-day waiting period before it takes effect, as Charter Section 12-4-1 requires, and to fix a reference to the "Conservation Commission." The council also voted 8-0, after defeating a 2-6 postponement attempt, to authorize Worcester Polytechnic Institute to research data centers for the Planning Board. Resident Christine Masterjohn asked, "Why does it have to happen?

For taxes?" while resident Rick Stoddard said, "No data centers, not in Southbridge." Separately, councilors approved roughly $748,000 in grants and contracts, including a $500,000 MassDevelopment site-readiness award for 30 Mill Street and $23,000 for a downtown parking study.

In the full story:

• Data Center Zoning Amendments: Third Reading and Postponed Vote
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute Research Partnership
• Grants, Transfers and Contracts
• DPW Infrastructure Updates
• Board of Health Kratom Response
• Declaration of Independence Replica Presentation
• MCAS and School Receivership Update
• Procedural Steps and Outcome
• Implications and What Is Next
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,537 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of October 19, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.