Dowagaic Ward 1 Councilmember Tharan Suvarna resigns; Hyperscale provides update

During Monday’s August 24 Dowagiac City Council meeting, Ward 1 Councilmember Tharan Suvarna announced his resignation, effective immediately, leaving a vacancy for the council to fill. 

The city is accepting applications until 4 p.m. September 9. The council is expected to interview applicants and select a replacement during its September 14 meeting.

Suvarna said he accepted a job on the other side of the state and will no longer be able to serve in the position, which he was elected to in November 2025.

“I have accepted a job in another community by my parents, so this will be my last council meeting,” Suvarna said. “I wanna say thank you. It has been a pleasure serving on this council board.”

The appointee will serve until the next city election in 2027 and can then run for the seat. Applicants must live in Ward 1, be registered to vote and have lived in the city for at least one year.

Hyperscale representative gives update

During public comment, Hyperscale Data Inc. representative Jon Stewart provided an update on the company’s efforts to reduce noise and transition away from cryptocurrency mining. Stewart previously represented the company during its July 13 public presentation at Dowagiac Middle School.

Stewart said the company has begun shutting down its bitcoin miners, which he said will significantly reduce noise from the facility. The city previously issued Hyperscale notices for violating its noise ordinance, which the company challenged.

“We have significantly already reduced, a number of the miners are offline now, and we are confident that we are below the current ordinance both at nighttime and daytime,” Stewart said. 

He said the company remains on schedule to meet its commitment by September 13.

Stewart also provided an update on the future of robotics at the center after residents raised questions following new federal restrictions on foreign-produced advanced robotic devices. The FCC added foreign-produced advanced robotic devices to its Covered List on July 28, preventing covered devices from receiving new FCC equipment authorizations, while devices authorized before the change are treated differently under the agency’s rules.

Stewart said the models Hyperscale plans to use had already been approved before the change and were therefore “grandfathered in.”

“We are committed to continuing on with Omnipresent Robotics,” Stewart said. “The models that we have committed to bring in and program, and to deploy for commercial industrial businesses, were all grandfathered in under this new government ordinance.”

Stewart said he had not planned to speak at the meeting. During public comment, however, residents again pressed city officials about enforcement of the noise ordinance, Hyperscale’s potential sale of the facility, and what they described as a lack of transparency from the city.

Several residents also criticized what they described as a lack of discussion and dissent among council members, with one resident claiming the council has not recorded a “no” vote in years. All action items considered Monday passed unanimously.

Maxwell Knauer is a staff writer for Watershed Voice.