Among the regular observers at Nodaway County Commission meetings since the discovery of a proposed data center near Barnard has been South Nodaway R-V superintendent Dustin Skoglund.
At Thursday’s commission meeting (August 6), Skoglund said the school board hired a consultant to help protect the district from potential impacts of data centers.
“It is absolutely inaccurate to say that the school district has made any effort to attract something like this,” Skoglund said.
Skoglund also disputed claims that the district’s acceptance of a $25,000 check from Scale Microgrids indicated support for the proposed project.
“That was a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t situation,” Skoglund said. “We could either say, ‘No, we don’t want money for our children,’ or, ‘Hey, we’re going to take this money,’ and maybe people that are well-intended and maybe not are going to frame that as some sort of bribe.”
Skoglund’s comments came in response to statements from a landowner who opposes the proposed data center.
Click the LISTEN button to hear Dustin Skoglund's comments during the August 6, 2026 Nodaway County commission meeting, followed by Dustin Skoglund's visit with KXCV-KRNW News Director Bill Oliver.
