MADISON, Ga. — A judge gave her approval for the $42 billion bond deal that will bring a data center to Stanton Springs.

Judge Amanda S. Petty signed off on the project in a validation hearing Monday, March 15, in Morgan County Superior Court. No one spoke against the deal, nor had any objections been filed with the court or the Ocmulgee Circuit district attorney beforehand.

The Joint Development Authority of Jasper, Morgan, Newton and Walton Counties and Baymare LLC asked the court to validate the bond agreement, which was reached last month.

The agreement showed a data center is coming to the Stanton Springs development near the junction of I-20 and U.S. Highway 278, and will sit in unincorporated Social Circle in parts of Morgan, Newton and Walton counties.

According to the agreement prepared by JDA attorney Andrea Gray of Monroe and approved by Petty, the bonds will be used to finance the costs of acquiring, constructing, equipping and installing a “capital project, in one or more phases.”

The bond agreement shows the project will be a data center, similar to the one the JDA also issued $42 billion in bonds for in 2018 to Morning Hornet LLC. That was the key financing component in the deal that a couple of months later was announced as the Facebook Newton Data Center.

Gray said the JDA and its member counties will not be liable for the debt. The bonds will be issued at an annual interest rate of 6% and reach final maturity no later than Dec. 31, 2046.

Baymare will pay rent to the JDA and make payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOTs, to the four counties. Newton and Walton counties each receive 37.5%, Morgan County 15% and Jasper County 10%.