ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Construction giant Clayco's development company CRG pulled out of their proposal Monday for a 440-acre data center in St. Charles. 

The project faced controversy from residents in the area who did not want the project in town. A petition was signed over 6,000 times against the development.

Mayor Dan Borgmeyer sat down with FOX 2 following the plans being pulled.

Borgmeyer said residents were not getting answers to their questions and felt they needed more transparency. Developers hosted an open house last week that Borgmeyer said left residents even more "confused."

Borgmeyer said due to an NDA signed by both the city and the developers, they were limited on information they could share with the public.

“We knew we were having a transparency problem and one of the things I said I wanted to do is I want to defend the city with staff and sign a non-disclosure agreement,” Borgmeyer said. “In this particular case, the developer kept the NDA in process and we were not allowed to see a lot of things that started building public angst.” 

Borgmeyer explained generators powering the data center would run on gasoline, which caused concern for him.

“This was strictly about 125 generators using diesel fuel,” Borgmeyer said. “The danger of a million-gallon spill is not there. But I don't want an eight-gallon spill. So we kept getting reassurances of that, but we were not allowed to pass a lot of that long.”

Borgmeyer addressed the allegations that his family had something to do with the sale of the land as "a cheap political shot."

“A gentleman who ran against me for mayor came up and said, ‘Well, you're doing this because your family owns the ground,’” Borgmeyer said. “I had the genealogy checked today, and I guess the people that own the property are second, third, fourth cousins or something like that. Never met him. I have no idea who they are.”

Borgmeyer said he appreciated the public being so outspoken on how they felt about this project, alerting him of their concerns.

“This is not the first time they filled city hall with things they didn't like, and it always proves out for them,” Borgmeyer said. 

Borgmeyer said he is not sure if the company will return with a new plan or take their plans elsewhere, but he said he knows they don't work for the city of St. Charles or its residents.