Waterline Extension for Data Center on Piqua's Agenda
Vol. III, No. 350 - The City's Water and Wastewater Agreement with Developer Gets Rolling
When the Piqua City Commission meets Tuesday, May 19th, the first concrete, ground-breaking consequence of the city’s landmark water and wastewater agreement with data center developer J5 LLC — operating as Shaytura LLC — will come to a vote.
Commissioners will be asked to award a contract to M&T Excavating, LLC for the Washington Road Water Main Extension Project, a 6,300-foot stretch of 16-inch ductile iron water line running south along Washington Road toward Farrington Road. The project carries an expected cost of $2,059,098 — well under the engineer’s estimate of $2,644,400. And here’s the important part for Piqua residents: not a single dollar of it comes from city coffers.
The project is classified as Tier I work under the Water and Wastewater Agreement signed between the City of Piqua and J5 LLC, effective January 23, 2026. That agreement, which was authorized by the City Commission through Resolution No. R-114-25 on November 3, 2025, establishes the framework for how the city will provide water and sewer infrastructure to a proposed 607-acre data center campus on the city’s southern edge. The Washington Road water main is designed to supply construction water to the site during the project’s first phase — what the agreement calls startup and construction — with a target completion date of Q3 2026.
Who is Paying?
The financing mechanism is straightforward but worth understanding. Under the agreement, J5 LLC is required to fund 100% of all construction costs through a directed escrow account. The city goes out to bid, awards the contract, pays the invoices, and then draws down the escrow account for reimbursement. The developer must deposit the actual bid award amount into escrow within 60 days after bids are opened — before the city can award a contract. Any change orders above $100,000 or 10% of the original contract amount require the developer’s written approval. If the project comes in under budget, the remaining escrow funds are returned to the developer.
What it Costs the City
While the water and wastewater agreement has the developer bear infrastructure costs, the document places substantial performance obligations on the City of Piqua. The city must design, bid, and construct the infrastructure improvements on an agreed-upon construction schedule — Tier I work must be completed by the third quarter 2026. The city is required to provide biweekly progress updates to the developer, and if delays arise, the developer can direct the city to take “extraordinary measures” — including overtime, additional shifts, or additional staffing — to get back on schedule. Beyond construction, the city commits to maintaining the water and sewer systems in good working order, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, consistent with Ohio utility standards, given that data centers require uninterrupted service. The city must also notify the developer within five business days of any enforcement action or significant reduction in permitted water capacity.
What the Developer Must Deliver
J5 LLC’s obligations are primarily financial and procedural, but they are binding. In addition to funding all construction costs, the developer must provide at least 210 days’ advance written notice before activating each new service tier — notice for Tier I was already given at signing. The agreement reserves up to 500,000 gallons per day of water capacity for Tier I construction operations, scaling to 2 million gallons per day for full Tier II operations. The developer is responsible for installing and maintaining its own wastewater discharge meters, which must be compatible with the city’s remote reading technology. Critically, no wastewater discharge to the city’s system is permitted until those meters are fully operational.
The Bigger Picture
The Washington Road water main is only the beginning. Exhibit C of the agreement outlines a full suite of Tier I and Tier II infrastructure projects totaling over $44 million in construction costs alone — all developer-funded. That includes additional water mains along Stillwell Road, Farrington Road, and Drake Road, a new 1.5-million-gallon elevated water storage tank at Farrington and Stillwell Roads, a 4.0 MGD booster pump station, and gravity sewer lines running from Washington Road to Farrington Road. Tier II improvements carry a Q3 2028 completion target. You can find the entire signed agreement below:
Tuesday’s vote is a test of the agreement’s mechanics — and the first sign of whether this partnership performs as written. For Piqua residents, the most important thing to understand is that this infrastructure is being built not with local tax dollars, but with private capital put up by a developer that needs it to exist before it can operate. That’s a meaningful distinction, and it’s one commissioners should make clearly on the record when they cast their votes.
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