Racine County Board moves 1 step closer to voting on Microsoft data center

RACINE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Racine County's one step closer to learning whether it could take on some characteristics of Silicon Valley. 

Tuesday night, talk of Microsoft Corporation moving in went before the Racine County Board. 

It was a first reading, and if you zoned out at the full County Board meeting for 30 seconds, you probably missed it -- but the executive committee got to hear a presentation earlier in the day. 

"A billion-dollar investment says something very strong about this county, and about this region and state as to the commitment Microsoft has to us," said Jim Paetsch, senior vice president of Milwaukee 7. 

Microsoft's been pressing for this for over a year now, wanting to build a data center in Mount Pleasant. The area in question is 315 acres of the tax increment district established originally for Foxconn. 

Mount Pleasant has approved the deal, but it must still get approval by the Racine County Board of Supervisors.

This was a first reading, after it came through the board's executive committee. Not every resident is on board.

"I don't want a data center anywhere near me. We don't know where that data's going. We don’t know who's holding it. We don't know how secure it is," said Aimee Fortner, Racine County resident. 

The board's back next week. It'll be the second reading of the Microsoft land deal and the board could vote on it at that time.