A series of emails obtained by Seneca Lake Guardian through a Freedom of Information Law request is raising new questions about whether a prospective buyer of the former Camp Monterey property in Schuyler County has explored using the site for a potential data center project.
Screenshots of the emails were shared publicly this week by Seneca Lake Guardian and appear to show conversations between FLX Gateway Executive Director Judy McKinney Cherry and Greg Hering, who is identified online as co-founder and director of development at ClearPath Energy. The discussions center on the former Camp Monterey property in Beaver Dams and references to “data barns,” fiber infrastructure, industrial power access and water capacity at the site.
In one email dated Jan. 23, 2026, Hering asked Cherry whether she had time to discuss “data barns at Beaver Dams and other places in the Southern Tier.” The same email chain referenced attendance at data center conferences and discussions with a fiber company about bringing internet infrastructure into the former camp property.
Another email from November 2025 shows Hering asking questions about infrastructure and redevelopment possibilities at the site, including whether industrial electrical service was available, what the property’s water storage capacity was and whether the wastewater treatment plant could support future uses.
“I only need 4 acres, lots of power and gas,” one email states while discussing possible redevelopment concepts.
In a separate exchange, Cherry described the former camp property as having “three productive wells and a wastewater treatment facility,” adding that the wells produce roughly 140,000 gallons of water daily and that the site sits near a 115-kilovolt electrical line. Another email states that natural gas infrastructure was located roughly half a mile away and that grant funding could potentially help extend service to the property.
The emails also discuss possible redevelopment concepts beyond data infrastructure, including food processing, agriculture, manufacturing and cannabis cultivation. But critics of the project argue the repeated references to data center conferences, fiber access and power availability point to possible interest in developing a data-processing facility at the site.
The online post sharing the emails claimed the prospective buyer was exploring a “data center while inquiring about ‘data barns,’” while also highlighting concerns about energy demand, heat generation and water use tied to large-scale computing facilities.
No formal proposal for a data center at the Camp Monterey site appears to have been publicly submitted at this point, and the emails alone do not confirm that a project will move forward. However, the communications provide one of the clearest public indications yet that discussions around high-energy industrial or digital infrastructure uses may have occurred behind the scenes.
The former Camp Monterey property has drawn growing public attention in recent months amid debate over future land use, environmental impacts and broader concerns about industrial-scale development in the Finger Lakes region.
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