WildcatRidgeDataCenter.com<\/a> \u2014 a website registered March 17, according to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The website\u2019s homepage depicts a rendering of a data center with the text, \u201cA New Era of Economic Growth for Archbald.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cThe Wildcat Ridge AI Data Center Campus is a major economic investment creating an estimated 1,280 permanent jobs and delivering a net of more than $45 million in local tax revenue each year,\u201d according to the website.<\/p>\n
![\"Wildcat](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775775967_178_STT-L-DATA-0111-01.jpg\")
Wildcat Road winds up the mountain looking north towards a section of power lines in the Eynon section of Archbald Friday, January 9, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n
Both the website and booklet use data from a community impact analysis from planning consultant Thomas Shepstone of Honesdale-based Shepstone Management Co.; Shepstone presented an overview of the analysis during the March public hearing, with the analysis also included in the conditional use application.<\/p>\n
The campus projects more than $46 million in annual tax revenue, with $7.15 million going to Archbald, $15.19 million to Lackawanna County and $23.81 million to the Valley View School District. Both the website and mailer also reference aesthetics, describing it as an ultra-modern facility with 200-foot wooded buffers.<\/p>\n
It also projects 1,280 permanent jobs \u2014 688 data center jobs and 592 commercial jobs \u2014 paying an average salary of $71,000.<\/p>\n
In one of its \u201cMyths vs. Facts\u201d breakdowns, the campus addresses its impact on power bills, contending energy prices in the state are regulated by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. It notes that Pennsylvania\u2019s electricity generation regularly exceeds its power consumption, and that the state sends more electricity outside its borders over the regional grid than any other state.<\/p>\n
Last month, Archbald council invited officials from utility companies to discuss the impacts of data centers. At that meeting, PPL Electric Utilities\u2019 manager of transmission siting, Doug Grossman, noted the same excess capacity at the meeting but said PPL is \u201ccognizant that there may be a shortage in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
The website and booklet both minimize the campus\u2019s water demands, labeling as a myth, \u201cThe Wildcat Ridge Data Center will require 3.3 million gallons of water daily to cool the equipment.\u201d Instead, the campus contends it would use a state-of-the-art system using considerably less water, with the 3.3-million-gallon figure being a \u201cworst-case scenario during the hottest days of summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe system is designed to use an average of 50,000 gallons a day during most months,\u201d according to both the website and booklet.<\/p>\n
However, in its conditional use application, Wildcat Ridge includes a will-serve letter from Pennsylvania American Water including a breakdown of its monthly water demands with an annual average of 598,519 gallons per day. While Wildcat Ridge\u2019s low flow rate from October through March is 53,553 gallons per day, those demands significantly increase during the summer, peaking in July before tapering off into September. Between May and September, the daily water demands average 1.36 million gallons per day, with a maximum of 3,310,149 million gallons per day in July, according to the will-serve letter.<\/p>\n
The campus contends typical data center designs aim for sound levels of around 55 decibels at the nearest property line during normal operations, with ambient noise from traffic helping to mask Wildcat Ridge\u2019s sound.<\/p>\n
It also defends Archbald\u2019s zoning standards for data centers, which council adopted in November. The booklet notes that the ordinance contains many more restrictions than the borough\u2019s original zoning. While the ordinance did apply a slew of additional restrictions to data centers, it applied an overlay district that allowed Cornell Realty Management to apply for data centers on the land. Without the zoning amendment, Wildcat Ridge couldn\u2019t be developed.<\/p>\n
The public relations campaign drew backlash on social media and prompted the firm that produced the campaign, Ryan Leckey Media, to issue a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy business is all about public relations. When we take on a client, our job is to act as a bridge for communication. It\u2019s a business transaction, not a sign of support. It is a lot like when a TV station, newspaper, or billboard company accepts advertising from a client that many of its viewers\/readers don\u2019t agree with,\u201d Leckey wrote in a statement on Facebook. \u201cTaking on a client does not mean that I, my employees, or my organization are taking a stance on the project; rather, our job is to act as a bridge between the client and the public. We were hired to provide the client\u2019s side of the story. It\u2019s up to the readers to decide on the value of that information.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wildcat Ridge attorney Edmund J. Campbell Jr. did not respond to emailed questions by press time Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u2018Points to ponder\u2019<\/p>\n
Although it is not included in the booklet mailed to residents, Wildcat Ridge\u2019s website directly targets its opposition. Under a \u201cQuestions Worth Asking\u201d section on a \u201cPoints to Ponder\u201d page, it lists five questions apparently directed at the Stop Archbald Data Centers movement and one of its founders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe concerns of many residents are understandable, but is it possible that a few of the more vocal data center opponents are being supported by interests from outside the area?\u201d the website asks. \u201cAre a certain few people making the most noise, trying to drown out the real feelings of the residents who really want what is best for the entire community?\u201d<\/p>\n
Borough residents Tamara Misewicz-Healey and her husband, Justin, founded the Stop Archbald Data Centers opposition group on Facebook, growing to more than 8,000 members since October, while also launching a GoFundMe campaign to pay for legal fees to oppose Archbald\u2019s data center zoning. As of Thursday afternoon, the campaign had raised $36,158 across 699 donations.<\/p>\n
The website also questions the source of funding for the \u201chigh priced law firms being used to oppose the data centers,\u201d who pays for the production costs of the No Data Center T-shirts and signs, and whether the \u201cchief opponents\u201d live near data centers. Wildcat Ridge\u2019s attorney objected to Misewicz-Healey being a party to its conditional use application because she lives more than 200 feet from the campus. The borough noted the objection but allowed Misewicz-Healey, who lives on Main Street about 2 miles from the campus, to proceed as a party, allowing her to cross-examine the developer during hearings.<\/p>\n
![\"Archbald](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775775967_847_STT-L-WILDCAT-0312-1.jpg\")
Archbald resident Tamara Misewicz-Healey cross-examines representatives from the Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus during a public hearing at the Valley View High School in Archbald on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (FRANK WILKES LESNEFSKY \/ STAFF PHOTO)<\/p>\n
Misewicz-Healey heard about the booklets on Facebook, and when she checked her mailbox Wednesday morning, she rolled her eyes and laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look at it, and all I see is propaganda,\u201d the mother of three young children said in a phone interview. \u201cEvery day it\u2019s something, and to see this coming in the mail is just like, \u2018Here\u2019s the next punch.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Characterizing residents\u2019 concerns as myths felt degrading, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like it was mocking us and mocking the community, mocking the community concerns, and just like kind of disrespect toward the community that they want to be a part of,\u201d Misewicz-Healey said.<\/p>\n
When she checked the website, she felt appalled seeing the \u201cQuestions Worth Asking\u201d section, calling it a personal attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cA personal attack on a vulnerable community already fighting with everything they have for their future, and then a personal attack at me, of course, as somebody who has been leading this community movement,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like they\u2019re pushing people to question my integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Misewicz-Healey said she has not received any financial support \u201cby interests outside the area\u201d \u2014 or from any organization, nonprofit or business, though an Eynon resident sent her husband a $100 check written from the resident\u2019s landscaping company. Their organization has spoken to outside groups like the national environmental nonprofit Sierra Club asking for advice, but they received no funding, she said.<\/p>\n
Residents have helped make signs and T-shirts, whether it\u2019s making it themselves or finding the cheapest places to produce them, she said. Members also donate their own money to pay for things like a billboard in Eynon, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo just tell people to question our integrity, when they\u2019re not being transparent and they\u2019re not answering our questions \u2026 it\u2019s just really exhausting and disheartening,\u201d Misewicz-Healey said.<\/p>\n
Stop Archbald Data Centers provided The Times-Tribune with a funding breakdown of all T-shirts and signs, producing the shirts at about $8.53 and selling them for $10 each. If they sell all 220 shirts, they will have a $323 profit that will go to the legal fund, according to the breakdown by group member and resident Megan Farrell. The signs cost $5.30 each to produce with sales tax, and they sell each sign for $5, distributing about 700 of the 1,100 ordered.<\/p>\n
Addressing the contention of a minority drowning out the real feelings of residents, Misewicz-Healey said she hopes for a large turnout at Monday\u2019s public hearing at 5 p.m. at the Valley View High School auditorium.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope that people show up, that this is the largest crowd that we have gotten yet at a conditional use hearing,\u201d she said. \u201cThis thing is growing, and it\u2019s one of the biggest community opposition groups that I have ever seen in Northeast PA.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Wildcat Ridge Data Center Campus launched a public relations campaign this week touting its economic benefits and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2117,201,182,139,28,178,180,179],"class_list":{"0":"post-161866","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-archbald","9":"tag-lackawanna-county","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-pennsylvania","13":"tag-scranton","14":"tag-scranton-headlines","15":"tag-scranton-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Archbald](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775775967_460_STT-L-WILDCAT-0312-3-rotated-1.jpg\")
Archbald resident David Polansky hands out \u201cNO DATA CENTER\u201d signs outside the Valley View High School in Archbald on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. Polansky said he was handing out his third batch of 500 signs.