Effingham County hires firm to oversee Project Camellia data center

EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Effingham County commissioners voted to hire an outside firm to represent the county’s interests and oversee Project Camellia, the plan allowing OpenAI to build a 1,400-acre data center campus in the county.

Residents say they want their voices heard as county leaders move forward with the project.

County hires Charles Abbott Associates

Effingham County voted to hire Charles Abbott Associates. The firm previously helped with the Hyundai site in Bryan County and the children’s hospital in Atlanta.

County leaders said the firm will be their point of contact to address issues at the site, such as truck traffic or construction noise.

The firm said it plans to have 12 people providing oversight, inspections and reviews of phase one of the project.

“We currently provide building inspection and plan review services across the nation to over 100 communities. We’ve dealt with roughly two dozen data centers across the country as well, large distribution centers,” said Will Hart.

Firm’s experience and meeting format

The firm said it only works with local governments and has 40 years of experience with large industrial projects.

Firm representatives only took questions from county leaders. There was no public comment for this portion of the meeting.