VIENNA, Wis. (WMTV) – Vienna’s Town Board voted 4–0 Wednesday night to oppose a proposed agreement between the town and QTS Data Centers, after a crowd packed in for a special meeting.
The agenda listed a closed session to discuss the proposed agreement, followed by an open-session item titled “action resulting from closed session.” The board’s vote does not determine whether the project moves forward, but it formally records the town’s position as DeForest continues its own review.
Around 20 residents spoke during public comment. Many concerns echoed issues previously raised, including uncertainty about water use, environmental impacts, and frustration over limited information after a planned informational meeting was canceled in October. Several residents said they feel caught between fast-moving development pressures and a lack of transparency.
DeForest resident Tricia Boehlke urged the board to oppose the proposal. She told supervisors she believes Vienna’s vote could influence neighboring DeForest, where the project would ultimately be reviewed.
“I was expecting a chance to be able to just say, don’t vote for this,” she said. “If Vienna says no to this, they’re sending a clear message to DeForest that no amount of money is worth having this come to our community… and we then become in a stronger position as DeForest residents to talk to our board and be heard.”
Not everyone in the room opposed the plan. One resident argued a large-scale investment from QTS could strengthen local institutions.
“I’m for the QTS data center. I believe it has a lot of upside for the community, both in cooperations with the schools, both in cooperations with the village, both in cooperations with local businesses,” said Jeff Hahn.
Hahn lives very close to the proposed site and said his family tried to weigh all possibilities.
“My parents live right there,” said Hahn.“My family lives right there. And we all came to peace with it saying, if we have to pick something, we’d rather have that to pick than maybe Dane County needs a new landfill or maybe Dane County needs an airport or maybe a whole bunch of residential homes.”
The meeting also drew younger residents who said the project’s long-term impact matters to their generation.
“I grew up on my family’s dairy farm not too far from here, and I just came to speak up for the youth,” said resident Sam Mell.
He warned that the effects of the project would reach far beyond the present debate.
“I know it’s older people that are making those decisions, but it is our generation that gets impacted. Even for the people that aren’t in agriculture, this is going to impact you every single day of your life. Every single day. We need to make sure that we have a stance, and we come up and say something because you never know what’s going to happen and what our voice can say.”
Vienna’s vote will now be forwarded to DeForest. Under Chapter 15 of the DeForest Municipal Code, the village board is responsible for reviewing zoning and land-use applications and must ensure that any proposed use complies with district requirements. DeForest has not yet scheduled a final vote on the data center, but additional discussions are expected.
QTS holds open house
While the meeting was underway, QTS hosted an open house nearby.
Attendees were able to view informational materials and displays about the proposal, including job estimates and economic projections the company says the project would bring to the region.
Cameras were not allowed inside, and company representatives declined to speak on the record, but the materials emphasized that the data center would create a significant number of construction and technical jobs.
Click here to download the WMTV15 News app or our WMTV15 First Alert weather app.
Copyright 2025 WMTV. All rights reserved.
