[0:05] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[0:11] republic for which it stands. One nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:17] justice for all.
[0:28] Roll call, please.
>> Councelor Gisler here. Councelor Jelly
[0:32] » here. Council LBLA is absent. Councelor
Peterson
[0:35] » here.
>> Mayor Bucher
[0:36] » here. Uh announcements to council
members have announcements this evening.
[0:41] Um, one thing for me at the pre-aggenda,
we talked a little bit about the fact
[0:46] that uh originally it was thought that
the AUA
[0:50] uh would be on the agenda for tonight's
approval. Uh that's not the case for a
[0:55] couple of reasons. Um and the pre-agenda
that was discussed and uh we thought
[1:00] that that should be uh discussed once
again with the larger crowd and and
[1:05] being recorded. So if now is the time
>> Yeah. Go ahead, Mr. Ranchetti.
[1:13] » Uh, thank you, Mayor, Councelor Gistler,
Council, uh, to provide an update and
[1:18] some clarity around recent interactions
uh, with the city and the DNR regarding
[1:22] the AUR and letters that were submitted
to the city as a part of the AUR
[1:26] process. I got some comments. On April
30th, the DNR submitted a letter during
[1:32] the public comment period of the AUR.
That's a time in which state agencies
[1:37] and the public uh submit comments
related to the scoping of the project's
[1:41] environmental review. Uh that letter and
the city's responses to them uh were
[1:46] included in the final order for review.
This the scoping document, the final
[1:50] scoping document and those and that is
uh publicly available and can be found
[1:54] at any time on the uh at the EQ EQB's
website. Uh the DNR did not submit any
[2:01] comments uh during the draft AUR 30-day
comment period. So the 30-day comment
[2:07] period a available to respond to the
draft AUR. Uh however, the city did
[2:12] receive a letter from the DNR on August
25th. That letter was submitted during
[2:17] what is called the objection period. uh
that's a period by which the state
[2:21] agencies are given 10 days uh after the
publishing of the draft AUR or of the
[2:27] final AUR to object to the final AUR. Um
and
[2:33] this um and they have to object based on
very specific criteria outlining
[2:38] outlined in statute. However, the letter
submitted by the DNR and received by the
[2:43] city clearly states that that submitt
was not a formal objection to the AUR.
[2:49] As a result of that August letter, the
city, the project proposer, and uh the
[2:53] DNR had a series of meetings on
Wednesday, September 2nd. As a result of
[2:58] those meetings, several correspondents
have since subsequently been exchanged.
[3:03] uh of those uh the DNR provided us with
clarity on the agency's authority and
[3:08] their involvement in the AUAR and the
mitigation plan stating that the city of
[3:12] Hermantown is responsible for
determining the appropriate mitigation
[3:16] in the AUR but that the DNR is very
willing to be a technical adviser on
[3:21] topics for which they have expertise. So
the city of Hermantown is the regulatory
[3:25] authority. The DNR has expertise in
certain areas. They also clarified their
[3:30] use of the word connected in those
comments uh and that they were not
[3:34] asserting that any that there were any
connected actions uh by a nearby project
[3:39] but were requesting clarification from
the city on the cumulative effects
[3:44] analysis.
On September 4th, the city then provided
[3:47] a response letter to the DNR that
clarified the intent u that clarified
[3:53] the intent of the DNR uh and related the
following items. the DNR's scoping
[3:59] document comments uh and their desire to
include those in the draft AUR process.
[4:04] The comments that they submitted during
the scoping process, they wanted those
[4:08] included in the draft comment period. Uh
a more robust description of the city's
[4:13] alternatives analysis as it relates to
other potential sites for the project in
[4:17] the city of Hermantown.
Clarification of the cumulative effects
[4:21] process. the installation of monitoring
wells to establish baseline data on
[4:26] surface and groundwater interactions and
how those data will be reviewed and the
[4:30] responsibilities of each party, the DNR
and the uh and the project proposer in
[4:34] the city of Hermantown and the MPCA.
uh the agreement to create an adaptive
[4:40] management plan that allows the city to
revisit and update data collection and
[4:45] monitoring along with its mitigation
measures and the ability of the city to
[4:48] call on the DNR experts during that
adaptive management plan process. And
[4:53] finally, uh, the letter makes clear the
regulatory roles of the DNR and of the
[4:58] city to be, uh, we as the city staff and
I think as a city as a whole are
[5:04] committed to a clear, transparent
environmental review process that
[5:07] follows the rules outlined by the state
in statute. In March of 2026, the city
[5:13] began the process of updating the
previous AUA to allow for an extended
[5:17] participation by the public and state
agencies. The city has followed the
[5:22] process that the state provided to us uh
to conduct this environmental review of
[5:26] the data center project and voluntarily
conducted the updated review following
[5:30] that same state provided process. We
have not yet fully resolved or addressed
[5:36] uh sorry we have not fully resolved the
comments provided by the DNR during the
[5:40] objection period. Uh and in the spirit
of partnership, we are committed to
[5:44] providing clarifications uh resulting
from those comments in the final AUR.
[5:49] And as such, given that it is unknown
when the city count uh it is as such it
[5:54] is unknown when the city council will
consider and staff will bring forth the
[5:57] AU uh as the timeline to resolving the
current comments from the DNR is yet
[6:02] unclear. Finally, I'll say uh the DNR
and the city and the project proposer
[6:08] are all working collaboratively toward a
resolution on this. And lastly, uh there
[6:13] will be no action uh by the planning and
zoning or the council related to the
[6:17] special use permit application until the
environmental review process is
[6:21] complete. And that includes no proposed
action or public hearing at the
[6:25] September planning and zoning meeting.
Uh we did take out an ad in the
[6:29] newspaper uh for a public hearing but
that public hearing will not be held uh
[6:33] due to the uncertain timeline from the
DNR and our interactions with them. Uh
[6:38] we have mailed an extension letter uh
lastly we have mailed an extension
[6:41] letter uh related to the 60-day rule uh
to the applicant's representative. So uh
[6:47] that that 60-day rule uh has been
extended by letter. So uh that's what I
[6:52] have.
>> Thank you.
[6:54] » Thanks
>> Mr. Gistler. Any
[6:57] » that's all. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Any other counselors? Uh some
[7:01] housekeeping items. Uh in council
chambers, everyone is to remain seated
[7:06] unless at the podium speaking to
councel.
[7:09] Signs are allowed. Uh maximum size 11 by
17 in.
[7:16] We are moving the public comment period
to the end of our agenda after all of
[7:24] our voting business items are completed.
This is done to make sure that everyone
[7:29] gets home at a reasonable time. If we
are still uh meeting and need to speak
[7:36] at 1000 PM, we will recess until 6:30
p.m. on Thursday when people can come
[7:42] back and give whatever uh input they'd
like. Uh we will try and make sure that
[7:49] everyone is accommodated.
Um
[7:55] the subject of an investigation
involving comments made at city
[7:59] meetings. We hope uh but are not 100%
sure that that will be completed by the
[8:06] 21st.
There are interviews that have to take
[8:09] place. Some have been done and uh the
contractor that has uh is doing that
[8:16] will let us know in the next two weeks
how things are going. We hope to have
[8:20] some more information on the 21st if we
don't have a completion and a report.
[8:27] Uh Mr. Moulder, anything else? No. Okay.
Next, we will move to the consent
[8:36] agenda.
Consent agenda involves the minutes.
[8:41] Approval or correction of the August
17th, 2026 city council continuation
[8:46] minutes, August 20th, 2026 work session
minutes and August 24th, 2026 work
[8:54] session minutes, as well as accounts
payable. Approve general city warrants
[8:59] from August 16th, 2026
through August 31st, 2026 in the amount
[9:07] of 1,445,477.76.
[9:14] Do we have a motion about the consent
agenda?
[9:19] » Move to approve.
>> Motion by councelor Gisler to approve.
[9:22] Is there a second?
>> I'll second.
[9:24] » Second by councelor Jelly. Roll call,
please.
[9:28] » Councelor Gisler,
>> I.
[9:29] » Councelor Jelly,
>> I.
[9:30] » Councelor Peterson,
>> I.
[9:32] » Mayor Bucher,
>> I. Ordinances. We have the first reading
[9:36] this evening of ordinance 2026-02,
an ordinance amending the Hermantown
[9:42] zoning code by amending chapter 10 land
splits and platting. There will be no
[9:48] vote on this ordinance this evening as
it is the first reading. Mr. Moulder,
[9:54] should we have Mr. Johnson, explain
this.
[9:56] » Yes, please, Mr. Johnson.
>> Great. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members
[9:59] of the council. So, as you mentioned,
this is an amendment to chapter 10, land
[10:03] splits and platting. This has to do with
flag lots. Uh flag lots, uh were first
[10:08] brought back to the city back in 2018,
and during that time, uh we've had about
[10:12] 17 applications that have come forward.
So in 2020, uh there was the first
[10:17] amendment done where flag lots instead
of being heard by the planning and
[10:21] zoning with a public hearing, uh they
would also have a city council action
[10:25] for their ultimate either approval or
denial. Uh in 2020, that was amended
[10:29] that this planning and zoning commission
would actually take action on each flag
[10:34] lot. Uh so during that 2020 period, uh
once again, there's been multiple
[10:39] applications for flag lots with none of
those being denied. There's one instance
[10:43] that a flag lot was tabled so there
could be additional conversations
[10:47] between property owners, but ultimately
that one was approved. So, uh, per this
[10:53] amendment this evening, uh, this would
then allow, uh, city staff to
[10:58] administratively
approve,
[11:02] um, flag lot applications associated
with that. There would still be a
[11:06] notification of adjacent property owners
of the application. uh that'd be do done
[11:11] so by mail and there'd be 15-day time
for the adjacent property owners to
[11:16] respond. So after that 15-day period uh
uh assuming there was uh no comments
[11:22] that came in uh staff would then um
approve and administer the actual lot
[11:27] split
and that's similar to what we do right
[11:30] now but just standard lot splits as
well. It's done administratively.
[11:35] » Thank you. Are there any questions from
council?
[11:40] Okay. Um, that will more than likely be
voted on at our next city council
[11:46] meeting. Mr. Moulder.
>> Yes. Thank you.
[11:48] » That's the schedule. Uh, next is
resolution 2026-100,
[11:55] resolution approving change order number
one for the Hermantown City Hall HVAC
[12:02] upgrades to Gartner Refrigeration
Company in the amount of $4,953.
[12:08] Is there a motion?
>> I'll make a motion to approve.
[12:12] » Motion by Councelor Peterson to approve.
Is there a second?
[12:16] » Second.
>> Second by councelor Gisler. Mr. from
[12:18] older.
>> As you know, we're working on uh
[12:21] repairing the uh HVAC controls um in
this building. Um there was one change
[12:26] order here for materials and some labor.
Um so we're asking for your approval of
[12:30] that.
>> Thank you.
[12:35] Um anything else? Anything from councel?
Uh no one has signed up to speak on this
[12:42] resolution. Roll call, please.
>> Councelor Jelly,
[12:46] » I.
>> Councelor Peterson,
[12:47] » I. Councelor Gisler.
>> Hi,
[12:49] » Mayor Bucher.
>> I Next is 2026-101
[12:54] resolution approving pay request number
two for the Hermantown City Hall HVAC
[13:00] upgrades to Gartner Refrigeration
Company in the amount of $98,778.
[13:06] Is there a motion?
>> Move to approve.
[13:11] » Motion by Councelor Gisler to approve.
Is there a second?
[13:15] » I'll second. Second by councelor
Peterson. Mr. Moulder.
[13:19] » Again, this is for uh the work to date
um on the HVAC repairs for this
[13:23] building.
>> Thank you. Any questions or comments
[13:26] from councel?
Uh no one has signed up to speak on this
[13:32] resolution, so we need a roll call.
>> Councelor Peterson.
[13:35] » I.
>> Councelor Gisler.
[13:36] » I. Councelor Jelly.
>> I.
[13:38] » Mayor Buché.
>> I. Next is resolution 2026-102.
[13:44] Resolution authorizing and directing
mayor and city clerk to execute and
[13:48] deliver agreement for professional
services with Fryburgger, Buchanan,
[13:52] Smith, and Frederick, PA for city
attorney services. Is there a motion?
[13:59] » Make a motion to approve.
>> Motion by councelor Jelly to approve. Is
[14:02] there a second?
>> I'll second.
[14:04] » Second by councelor Peterson. Mr.
Moulder, could you explain this?
[14:08] » Sure. As you know, um Governor Johnson
has announced that his intention to uh
[14:13] resign at the end of um the summer. So,
we are starting um looking at October
[14:19] October 1st. Um we went out for RFP. We
had sent out proposals to a half a dozen
[14:26] firms primarily in um that had some kind
of connection to the uh Twin Ports area.
[14:32] Um we did receive one proposal back from
Fryburgger. Fryberger has worked for the
[14:37] city in the past both as the attorney
for the Hermantown Economic Development
[14:41] Authority. They've been our bond council
for at least 17 years and they've done
[14:45] other various projects for the city as
well. Um we met with them and um are
[14:50] confident that they can do the job for
the city.
[14:53] » Thank you. Any questions or comments
from council?
[14:57] » At the pre- agenda, we talked a little
bit about the transition plan and it'll
[15:01] be kind of that will be in process over
September, it sounds like.
[15:05] » Yeah. So in September, we're we'll
likely have, you know, attorney fees
[15:08] from two different firms, but that will
be part of the that whole transition
[15:11] process is just reviewing which um files
are open and what works being currently
[15:17] in the process. Um number of projects
going on.
[15:22] » Thank you. Anything else from council?
Uh no one has signed up to speak on this
[15:27] resolution, so we could have a roll
call, please.
[15:30] » Councelor Gisler.
>> Hi.
[15:31] » Councelor Jelly.
>> Hi.
[15:33] » Councelor Peterson.
>> Hi. Mayor Buché.
[15:35] » I Next is resolution 2026-103,
resolution to adopt the proposed
[15:42] property tax for taxes payable in 2027
and scheduling the truth and taxation
[15:48] hearing. Is there a motion?
>> Motion to approve.
[15:51] » Motion by councelor Gisler to approve.
Do we have a second?
[15:55] » I'll second.
>> Second by councelor Jelly. Mr. Moulder,
[15:58] could you explain this?
>> Sure. Um, back on October August 24th,
[16:03] we had a work session uh, regarding the
budget. We initially were shooting for a
[16:07] 0% increase in the tax rate. Um, as we
talked about that at the October 24th
[16:13] meeting, um, and what it would take to
get there, um, including, you know,
[16:17] eliminating a lot of our capital
improvements. Um, the city council gave
[16:21] us some direction and we, um, currently
have our tax rate going up at 2.7%
[16:27] increase. um that tonight you will set
that rate and set the public hearing for
[16:33] December 7th. Um the rate cannot go
higher, but it could go lower between
[16:37] now and December 7th.
Thank you. Any questions or comments
[16:43] from councel
and Mr. Moulder, we have until the last
[16:48] meeting in December to approve this. So
if something comes up, it could be
[16:53] moved. The vote could be moved. We
always scheduled a hearing for the first
[16:57] meeting in December in case um based
upon the public hearing we need to make
[17:01] any changes or any council direction to
make some changes. That would give us
[17:05] some time to make those changes, get
everything, you know, all the numbers
[17:08] lined up, but we would have to approve
it at the LA the second meeting in
[17:12] December.
>> Thank you. We have no one signed up to
[17:17] speak on this. So, we could use a roll
call, please.
[17:20] » Councelor Jelly,
>> I.
[17:21] » Councelor Peterson,
>> I.
[17:23] » Councelor Giser. Hi,
>> Mayor Buchet.
[17:26] » I next resolution 2026-104,
resolution receiving bids and awarding
[17:33] contract to Northland Constructors of
Duth for improvement district number 553
[17:39] in the amount of 1,118,800.
[17:43] Do we have a motion?
>> I'll make a motion to approve.
[17:46] » Motion by councelor Peterson. Is there a
second?
[17:50] » I'll second.
>> Second by councelor Jelly. Mr. from
[17:53] Moulder.
>> Uh, I'd like David Bol, our city
[17:56] engineer, to explain this process.
>> Mr. Bol.
[17:59] » Yeah. Thank you, mayor and councel. So,
this resolution before you is for the
[18:04] construction of the utilities that will
serve the FedEx uh project, and we're
[18:11] referring it to the Hawk line. And this
includes the um sanitary sewer
[18:17] improvements, two lift stations, force
main and some gravity pipe, and then
[18:23] also some water main extension. And this
will go start at um Uggid Road, cross
[18:31] Highway 53 and then up to the entrance
of the new FedEx facility. And this will
[18:38] be
uh project one of two. The second one
[18:43] will come to you either late this year
or early next year and that will be for
[18:49] roadway improvements. We're constructing
two new roadways for the city. And then
[18:55] we are um construct reconstructing the
Vake bypass from Highway 53 north to
[19:02] Ugstead Road. And at the intersection of
Uggsid Road and um the Vike Bypass will
[19:08] be a new roundabout.
And the utility work will the bulk of it
[19:15] will happen this year before December
1st and then we have to commission the
[19:21] lift station by um
May 15th of 2027.
[19:29] » Thank you. Any questions or comments
from councel?
[19:35] Hearing? None. And no one has signed up
to speak on this issue. We could have a
[19:39] roll call, please.
>> Councelor Peterson,
[19:41] » I.
>> Councelor Gisler.
[19:43] » Hi.
>> Councelor Jelly.
[19:44] » I.
>> Mayor Bucher.
[19:45] » I. Next is resolution 2026-105,
resolution authorizing and directing the
[19:52] mayor and city clerk to execute and
deliver a cooperative agreement between
[19:56] St. Louis County and the city of
Hermantown for 2027 crack ceiling CP
[20:02] 0000-850163.
[20:06] Is there a motion?
>> I'll make a motion to approve.
[20:10] » Motion by councelor Peterson. Do we have
a second?
[20:13] » Second.
>> Second by councelor Gistler. Mr.
[20:16] Moulder, do you want to explain this?
>> Sure. um we regularly um enter into
[20:22] cooperative agreements with the county
for certain road maintenance issues
[20:26] where they'll buy um services for the
entire county and include them on on our
[20:31] city streets as well. So we are um
entering into cooperative agreement with
[20:35] St. Louis County to do crack sealing um
on Ugstead Road and a portion of
[20:40] Arrowhead Road which we reconstructed a
couple years ago.
[20:44] » Thank you. Any questions or comments
from councel?
[20:49] Uh, I've been told that this type of
sealing makes our roads last a little
[20:53] longer.
>> Yeah, the the idea is you want to seal
[20:56] those cracks to keep water from getting
into the roaded.
[20:59] » Thank you. Uh, with no comment from
councel and no one signed up to speak,
[21:05] could we have a roll call?
>> Councelor Gisler.
[21:07] » Hi.
>> Councelor Jelly.
[21:09] » Hi.
>> Councelor Peterson.
[21:10] » Hi.
>> Mayor Bucher.
[21:11] » I. Next is resolution 2026-106.
Resolution authorizing and directing
[21:18] mayor and city clerk to execute and
deliver the updated agreement for
[21:22] consulting services
with telecom engineering services or for
[21:29] for telecom engineering services with
VMC LLC. Do we have a motion?
[21:36] » I'll make a motion to approve.
>> Motion motion by councelor Peterson. Do
[21:40] we have a second?
>> I'll second.
[21:42] » Second by councelor Jelly. Mr. Moulder.
So we have a half a dozen um leases on
[21:48] for sale towers for sale antennas on our
water towers. Um we have contracted with
[21:54] previously with SC and now with VMC for
a number of years to um help us and
[22:00] assist us in uh reviewing those leases,
reviewing plans for when um the firms
[22:08] want to renew those or make changes. And
so um this provides to make sure that we
[22:12] are protecting our investment on the
water towers.
[22:16] » Thank you. Any questions or comments
from council?
[22:19] » Just a question about the
how do we pay for that through the
[22:24] through the fees that the antenna
companies pay.
[22:27] » Yeah. So when um a antenna company wants
to come
[22:30] » networkings,
>> when an antenna company wants to come
[22:34] and um either amend or start a new
contract, they have to put down an
[22:39] escrow or earn amount to cover those
cost and they pay all those costs as
[22:45] part of that project.
>> Thank you.
[22:49] » Any other questions from councel?
>> No one has signed up to address this
[22:54] item. Uh could we have a roll call?
Councelor Jelly.
[22:57] » Hi.
>> Councelor Peterson.
[22:59] » Hi.
>> Councelor Gisler.
[23:00] » Hi.
>> Mayor Bucher.
[23:01] » Hi. Uh we have quite a few in a row for
uh Mr. Johnson.
[23:08] Uh resolution 2026-107
resolution approving special use permit
[23:14] for the construction of an accessory
structure in excess of 24,000 square ft
[23:21] in the S1 zoning district at 5801 West
Arrowhead Road and imposing conditions
[23:27] thereon. Do we have a motion?
>> I'll motion to approve, but I think you
[23:32] said 24,000 is 2400.
>> 2400. I'm sorry.
[23:35] » Motion to approve. We don't need
buildings that.
[23:39] » Um, do we have a second?
>> I'll second.
[23:43] » Second by councelor Jelly.
[23:48] » Mr. Johnson.
>> Great. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members
[23:51] of the council. So, uh, as you'd
mentioned, the next three are special
[23:54] use permits for accessory structures,
i.e. garages. So, uh, in this case, this
[24:00] is a 35 acre site located at 5801 West
Arrowhead Road. It's in the S1
[24:05] residential zoning. So, the the
threshold for uh these accessory
[24:09] structures is 2400 square ft. If you
fall under that, you just work with the
[24:14] building official on a building permit.
If you're greater than 2400, uh you're
[24:18] required to have a uh public hearing and
a special use permit with C uh city
[24:22] council ultimately taking action on
this. Uh as I mentioned, this is a 35
[24:27] acre site with the S1 zoning. The
applicant is looking to construct a 2688
[24:33] square f foot structure which is 42x 64.
Uh what we do when we get these
[24:37] accessory structures is we look at two
different things. We look at are there
[24:42] other accessory structures of this size
within the area and then we also look at
[24:46] lot coverage. So in this portion of the
city yes there are other accessory
[24:50] structures essentially 2400 square ft or
greater. And in the case of actual lot
[24:55] coverage in that S1 zoning, you can go
up to 30% of building lot coverage on
[25:00] the property. In this case, with this
additional 2688, the proposed lot
[25:04] coverage is only 33% for it. Um, the
structure is proposed metal sidewalls
[25:11] and a roof with it. And the nearest
structure is approximately 28, excuse
[25:15] me, 280 ft away. Uh, lastly, no business
activity would be part of this approval.
[25:20] it's written in the special use permit
that the uh structure cannot be used for
[25:24] business purposes only for personal
storage that way in the case the
[25:28] applicant is looking to uh put some
vehicles RV boat etc.
[25:32] » Thank you. Any questions or comments
from councel?
[25:37] Uh no one has signed up to speak to this
issue. Could we have a roll call?
[25:41] » Councelor Peterson
>> I.
[25:43] » Councelor Gisler.
>> Hi.
[25:44] » Councelor Jelly.
>> Hi.
[25:45] » Mayor Bucher.
>> I. Next. Uh resolution 2026-108
[25:52] resolution approving special use permit
for construction of an accessory
[25:57] structure in excess of 2400 square ft in
the S1 zoning district at 4041 Sangstrom
[26:04] Road and imposing conditions thereon. Do
we have a motion?
[26:09] » A motion to approve.
>> Motion motion by councelor Jelly. Is
[26:13] there a second?
>> Second.
[26:14] » Second by councelor Gisler. Mr. Johnson.
>> Great. Thank you again, Mr. Mayor and
[26:18] members of the council. So, as you
mentioned, 4041 Sangstrom Road, which is
[26:22] an S1 residential zoning. Uh, this is a
20 acre lot uh located in the western
[26:28] part of the city. Uh, the applicants
looking at a 3200 ft building, which is
[26:32] 40 by 80 ft. Uh, once again, as I spoke
about, we look at lot coverage as well
[26:37] as accessory structures in the area.
Once again, yes, there are accessory
[26:42] structures of this size in the close
proximity. And with this new structure,
[26:46] it would bring the lock coverage up to
0.57%. So once again, very small uh
[26:50] usage of the building coverage for this.
Uh like the previous application, uh the
[26:54] building is metal sidewalls and roof and
the nearest structures approximately 435
[26:59] ft away from the proposed structure. And
lastly, just like before, as in all of
[27:04] our special use permits for accessory
structures, no business activity uh is
[27:08] allowed for that accessory use and it's
written into that special use permit.
[27:13] » Thank you. Any questions or comments
from councel?
[27:18] Uh, no one has signed up to speak to
this issue. Roll call, please.
[27:22] » Councelor Gisler.
>> I.
[27:23] » Councelor Jelly.
>> I.
[27:25] » Councelor Peterson.
>> I.
[27:26] » Mayor Bucher.
>> I. Next is resolution 2026-109.
[27:32] Resolution approving special use permit
for construction of an accessory
[27:37] structure in excess of 1,200 square feet
in the R3 zoning district at 3879 Kenry
[27:44] Road and imposing conditions thereon. Is
there a motion?
[27:48] » Motion to approve.
>> Motion by councelor Gisler. Is there a
[27:51] second?
>> I'll second.
[27:53] » Second by councelor Peterson.
Mr. Johnson.
[27:57] » Thank you again. So in this case, uh the
proposed accessory structure is in the
[28:01] R3 zoning. So in that case 1,200 square
f feet is at threshold between building
[28:06] permit and the special use permit. Now
in this case this is a 1 acre lot
[28:10] located at 3879 Kenroy Road. Applicants
looking at a 2400 square foot structure
[28:16] which is 40x60. Uh in this case uh no
there are not similarly sized accessory
[28:21] structures in that. So we look back to
the proposed lot coverage. So in the
[28:26] case of adding a 2400t building it would
bring the lot coverage up to 9.4% 4%
[28:31] which is still under the 35% uh that's
allowed in this zoning district. Uh
[28:36] likewise like the other two uh buildings
constructed of metal sidewalls and roof.
[28:41] Uh the property to the south of this
proposed structure which is the nearest
[28:46] uh basically property to this is
actually a tax forfeoot property owned
[28:50] by the state of Minnesota. So it's
vacant property located just to the
[28:53] south of this. And then lastly, once
again, uh, no business activity is
[28:58] written into the special use permit
requirements.
[29:02] » Thank you. Uh, any questions or comments
from councel?
[29:08] » No one has signed up to speak to this.
Roll call, please.
[29:11] » Councelor Jelly,
>> I.
[29:13] » Councelor Peterson,
>> I.
[29:14] » Councelor Giser,
>> I.
[29:15] » Mayor Buché,
>> I. Next is resolution 2026-110,
[29:22] resolution approving an agreement for
consulting services with Brown Intertech
[29:26] Corporation in the amount not to exceed
$20,000. Is there a motion?
[29:32] » I'll make a motion to approve.
>> Motion by councelor Peterson. Is there a
[29:35] second?
>> I'll second.
[29:37] » Second by councelor Jelly. Mr. Moulder,
do you want to start this one?
[29:41] » Uh, I'm going to turn that over to uh
Eric and or Chad.
[29:46] » Great. Thank you again, Mr. Mayor,
members of the council. So, uh, the city
[29:50] has been working with Braraw Interch,
uh, for review surfaces associated with
[29:54] the Hermantown Industrial AUR. So, the
city is the RGU, which is the regulatory
[29:59] governmental unit received a request
from tribal governments as a project
[30:03] areas within a portion of seated land
uh, within the county here regarding
[30:07] cultural resources. So uh as I mentioned
uh the tribal government is looking to
[30:13] engage in government-togovernment
consultation which is a formal process
[30:17] that's designed by Minnesota statute. So
typically formal consultation is done at
[30:22] the federal and state levels of
government not requirement of the
[30:26] municipalities
and um consultation also from the city
[30:31] standpoint is not a binding agreement or
processes excuse me or process as it
[30:36] relates to the city government is
Minnesota statute uh applies uh this
[30:40] only to state agencies where it becomes
a binding agreement that way. So this
[30:45] contract with Brun is for services uh
for this government-to-government
[30:49] consultation. It is not part of the AU
AUA process but something that came out
[30:55] of uh basically the comment period
associated with the AU. And so this
[30:59] evening we do have a couple members of
Brun Intertech here this evening that
[31:03] could uh potentially ask or provide any
more additional information to council.
[31:08] » Thank you. Mr. Anetti, do you have
anything?
[31:13] Uh, no, mayor, but I do think it's worth
uh some time to have uh the consultant
[31:17] come up and say a few things.
>> Could you step step up to the podium,
[31:21] please?
[31:38] Could you move as close to that as
possible?
[31:41] It's okay.
[32:11] Are there any specific questions?
[32:18] Uh counselors,
>> could you go over the process?
[32:25] » There is typically no sort of one
sizefits all for the process. You know,
[32:30] it's kind of different for any kind of
development or any kind of scenario
[32:36] where um that process is being called
for. Uh in this case, I could say I
[32:43] would imagine that it would look Um
essentially what we have in our proposal
[32:48] is that we will identify and reach out
to um interested federal governments on
[32:54] behalf of the city um to uh engage in
story
[33:02] listening session um with those private
governments representatives um in terms
[33:08] of workflow resources including
traditional and eological resources um
[33:14] and how they relate to new proposed
development and who they are. Um that
[33:19] will be a starter session to identify um
areas where we can uh come to a common
[33:26] understanding uh and continue future
sessions um between the city and those
[33:33] governments to come to a resolution on
those identified
[33:39] areas or issues that happen. Um this
first proposal is for sort of a you know
[33:47] sit down group um meeting uh subsequent
meetings while
[33:57] could or um could look similar to that
first section. Um as I said before
[34:03] consultation looks different um
for multiple scenarios. Uh and future
[34:10] sessions could be something as simple as
you know regular communication between
[34:16] the city and authorized private
government representatives or similar
[34:22] factors.
[34:25] Apologies.
[34:29] » I can uh do my best to succinctly repeat
that if you if you'd like.
[34:34] » If you could abbreviate it a little bit.
>> Consultation looks different um in any
[34:40] given scenario. What we have proposed um
currently is that we uh reach out to
[34:47] interested tribal governments or
identify uh tribal governments that may
[34:51] be affected by uh the development
particularly those uh signatory to the
[34:56] 1854 treaty. Um we propose to
essentially hold a listening or a
[35:03] question and answer session to identify
um issues related to cultural resources
[35:09] and traditional ecological resources. Um
that session will be geared around uh as
[35:17] I said sort of a question and answer
identifying issues and um areas where uh
[35:24] both parties can come to an
understanding on addressing any
[35:28] identified issues as a result of that
first consultation meeting.
[35:32] » Okay. I asked this at pre-aggenda but
I'll ask it again now. Could you
[35:37] specifically ask for any possible
effects on wild ricing and and that in
[35:43] the area?
>> Yes.
[35:45] » Because there were comments made on that
and I'd like to see some more specific
[35:51] » Yes.
>> details on that.
[35:52] » Yes. And that was my intention um or our
intention uh in referencing traditional
[35:57] ecological resources.
>> Thank you. Any questions from councel? I
[36:02] just have a followup for possibly Eric
or Chad. Um, besides Braun being in at
[36:07] those meetings, will city staff be at
those meetings?
[36:12] » Yes, city staff will also be in
attendance at those meetings and any
[36:14] future ones as well.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[36:18] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[36:22] » Any other questions or comments from
councel?
[36:27] » Uh, no one has signed up to address
this. Could we have a roll call, please?
[36:32] » Councelor Peterson.
>> I.
[36:33] » Councelor Giser. I
>> councelor jelly
[36:35] » I
>> mayor Buchet
[36:37] » I
[36:41] next is resolution 2026-
111 resolution awarding contract for
[36:48] play structure materials and
installation services at Fner Park to
[36:53] Flagship Recreation in the amount of
$31,840.
[36:58] Is there a motion?
>> Motion to approve.
[37:02] » Motion by councelor Gistler. Do we have
a second?
[37:06] » I'll second.
>> Second by councelor Jelly.
[37:11] Mr. Moulder.
>> Uh I'd like uh city engineer David Bol
[37:14] to uh to talk about this.
>> Yeah. Thank you, Mayor and Council. So
[37:18] the resolution before you is in regards
to um some warranty work and some
[37:24] additional work for the new playground
structure over at Fickner. We have a
[37:31] contract with Flagship. They did some
work a couple years ago and um there are
[37:36] some
spots that have not performed like we
[37:42] had uh designed and specified. Those
areas are going to be corrected as part
[37:47] of the warranty by the contractor. And
then the dollar amount before you is for
[37:54] additional improvements that we're going
to make. The first being is there's a
[37:59] top coat that they recommend to do every
3 years. And now that we're 2 and a half
[38:03] years into it, we figured now is the
time to do that. And then we're adding
[38:07] some drainage and under drains um as
part of this resolution.
[38:13] » Thank you. Any questions or comments
from councel?
[38:19] Uh no one has signed up for this. Uh
roll call, please.
[38:22] » Councelor Gisler,
>> I.
[38:23] » Councelor Jelly,
>> I.
[38:25] » Councelor Peterson,
>> I.
[38:26] » Mayor Bucher,
>> I. And I we have to go back a little bit
[38:30] on the agenda. I did not see that
someone had signed up to speak to
[38:35] ordinance 2026-02
on the zoning code amendment which is
[38:42] the first reading. Uh there will be no
vote tonight, but Mr. Berseron, if you'd
[38:46] like to speak to this,
uh please step forward and state your
[38:50] name and hometown.
[39:01] Sorry,
[39:06] » Brian Berseron Herman. Sorry, I thought
I wasn't speaking and then
[39:12] » I I didn't notice that you had written
that ordinance in there.
[39:16] » Got me a little surprised here.
Um, so I'm urging the council I guess
[39:20] you're not voting tonight,
>> correct? But when when and if this comes
[39:24] before you to vote
no on this ordinance or at least to
[39:28] table it. I'm not opposed to
administrative review of flag lot
[39:33] applications. I am opposed to giving one
zoning official the final authority to
[39:38] decide whether a flag lot division is in
the public interest. There's an
[39:42] important difference between determining
whether an application meets objective
[39:45] requirements and determining whether a
proposed development is in the public
[39:49] interest. Both are retained in this
ordinance.
[39:53] If the city's only concern is technical
compliance, then the administrative
[39:57] approval makes sense. But if the
ordinance retains a public interest
[40:01] standard, which it does, the decision
involves judgment and discretion. This
[40:06] is precisely when checks and balances
become important.
[40:10] The planning and zoning commission
provides an opportunity for public
[40:13] testimony, questions, discussions, and
independent consideration of the
[40:17] proposal. and the city council as a fail
safe then can provide accountability and
[40:23] another level of review.
Removing both bodies and giving the
[40:28] final decision to one employee
concentrates that discretion in a single
[40:32] person and removes an important part of
the city's existing checks and balances.
[40:38] This is not a criticism
of the zoning officer. It's a question
[40:44] of governmental structure.
The zoning officer should determine
[40:48] whether an application complies with the
city's rules. The elected and po ando
[40:53] and appointed public body should
determine whether a discretionary
[40:57] development proposal is appropriate for
the community.
[41:01] If the city wants purely administrative
approval, then make the approval
[41:04] criteria purely objective. But if the
city wants to retain the phrase, which
[41:08] it does, in the public interest, then
the public should have the opportunity
[41:12] to participate and and the decision
should remain subject to planning and
[41:17] zoning commission and city council
oversight.
[41:20] The additional review does take more
time as it was mentioned in the PNZ
[41:24] committee meeting uh what a month ago or
so,
[41:29] but that is not necessarily a flaw. It
is the price of transparency, public
[41:35] participation and checks and balances
when the land use decision can affect
[41:40] neighboring property owners and the
future character of the neighborhood.
[41:46] » Thanks.
>> Thank you.
[41:48] » Okay, we uh now have reached the point
of moving to the general public comment.
[41:57] Uh there may be a time where counselors
need to take a short break to use the
[42:04] facilities. Uh we'll announce that, take
a five or 10 minute break when that
[42:09] happens. But the first person up to
speak is Jill Drake.
[42:14] And uh after Jill Drake is Rick Davis.
[42:50] Thank you.
[42:54] Thank you.
I'm back here again today.
[43:02] Uh, I need a drink of water. Anybody can
offer me a bottle of water, please.
[43:08] Thank you.
I am disabled.
[43:13] Appreciate it.
[43:18] Much kindness.
Again,
[43:24] I'm speaking to you.
I'm a disabled woman. Disabled business
[43:30] woman from Soway Township. I live just
down the road from where they want to
[43:35] build the data center. I have a healing
with horses business where it heals
[43:41] people disabled children with autism
including me, police officers, firemen,
[43:50] traumatized women, children.
The business will not survive
[43:57] if the data center is built. It's my
main route to town.
[44:02] It's the main route to access to me from
the people from Canada, Superior,
[44:09] Wisconsin,
all over. I have clients all over from
[44:15] the cities too.
[44:22] The good, the bad, the ugly.
[44:27] Let's start with the good.
[44:32] Herman Hawks equestrian team
started in 2009. Me I started it. I
[44:42] brought it in as an outside club sport
from a 501c3 nonprofit.
[44:49] Minnesota did not recognize horse sports
as a sanctioned sport in school leagues.
[44:55] So I
[45:16] You're
[45:38] I was a member since 2023 before this
whole BI data center came about.
[45:45] And what they did was they slaughtered
my business, my small business. I
[45:51] donated to them. I paid $700 a year for
memberships.
[45:57] And they don't care about the small
business people in this town. They
[46:02] don't, which is
this is how this town was built,
[46:09] not by big corporations, by small
businesses.
[46:15] This plaque went down the day I made my
public announcement. I'm joining Carlton
[46:21] County Chamber of Commerce because they
passed a moratorum.
[46:29] Herman Town has not done that. When are
you going to do it?
[46:37] So that's part of the good, the bad, the
ugly.
[46:42] 74% of the people in this town don't
want the data center.
[46:47] 74%.
It's no good. It's not science. Get it.
[47:03] » Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Bringing
order to me, too. It's very hard to be
[47:09] up here, you know.
[47:16] 74% of the people in this town, 74% of
the people in Minnesota, and 74% of the
[47:24] people in the United States don't want a
why.
[47:32] Tell me your why. Cuz some of you might
not know
[47:36] what is a guy going to do. Google's
going to come in. They are school
[47:41] millions of dollars. They're going to do
they're going to fire those pizzas.
[47:46] They're going to get rid of them because
they're going to have an AI robot
[47:50] teaching your children. Doesn't that
move you?
[47:55] » Mr. Mayor, we're at 3 minutes. I did a
little extra time because of our
[47:58] bandwidth issues.
>> Okay.
[47:59] » Does that not move you? And these
construction workers here that are
[48:03] sitting behind me say, "Oh, we want
these jobs. We're going to have jobs."
[48:06] Do you know there are already robotic
engineers designing robots to do the
[48:10] work? We don't need manpower. We have a
wolf that can do it,
[48:16] right? So why do you want to support
Google data centers when you're
[48:22] supporting AI agents? AI agents are
self-destruction and they're going to
[48:28] kill us. They're going to kill us. They
already done studies that children that
[48:33] live within 5 miles of a data center are
getting childhood leukemia.
[48:39] Does that scare you?
I have more, but I'm running out of time
[48:44] and I'll be back.
>> Do I have more time? I don't know.
[48:48] » It's been up for a while.
>> Okay. Okay. I just want to say the
[48:52] second Holocaust is coming. If you get
that AI and agent in here, it's coming.
[48:57] You're going to destroy us.
Thank you.
[49:03] » Next is Rick Davis.
Rick Davis has an extra three minutes
[49:10] from Barbara Opel.
>> After Rick Davis is Tom Bates.
[49:24] » Hi. Name and hometown, please.
Rick Davis, Herman Town. Uh, you know,
[49:31] I'm still puzzled about why you picked
this site. So, I asked Google, the
[49:37] people that you are working with. And I
said, are large data centers ever built
[49:44] in residential areas without utilities?
You know, there's no utilities there.
[49:51] And here's their answer. Large
traditional data centers are never
[49:57] intentionally
placed in unserviced
[50:02] residential areas. So it says, and I
circled it, never intentionally. So was
[50:10] that an accident? You didn't
intentionally do this, did you? And to
[50:15] all my friends here in uh
>> Sir, you're speaking to the council.
[50:20] » I don't care. I I checked out the rules.
It is normal to interact with the
[50:26] audience. There's nothing wrong with
that. It's my first amendment right. So,
[50:32] I can do this.
My uh friends here in the green shirts.
[50:39] After the Google meeting, I was the only
person that went up there and talked. Me
[50:45] and somebody from Mortonson
talked. We were the last two people in
[50:51] the building and we've talked about
other sites. He was really interested in
[50:57] the Iron Range. Now, I want to see you
guys all put to work, but that's where
[51:02] it belongs. Some play or on Highway 53.
It does not belong in a residential area
[51:11] between two stout streams. It's
ridiculous. You wouldn't want one in
[51:17] your backyard. What about the people
across the street? Fivetory buildings.
[51:22] So what does Google do? They send out
this propaganda here.
[51:29] It's propaganda. And what happens?
So I'm going to go right to this here.
[51:35] Mr. Peterson, we didn't get a chance to
talk at the Sway meeting, but you own
[51:42] Platinum Properties, right? Okay. You've
done a lot of good things. You have
[51:47] Maple Sugar Maple Crossing. You have
Herman Town Square. You have Herman Town
[51:54] Marketplace. You've done a lot of good
things in Herman Town. And you own a lot
[52:00] of properties in the marketplace. But
did you help design this? Because this
[52:06] is ironic. This is about the data
center. Why don't they have a picture of
[52:11] the data center here? They have Herman
Town Marketplace.
[52:16] Did you help design it? Are you're
getting a lot of free advertising out of
[52:21] this? And then it says worldclass new
opportunities. What are those worldclass
[52:28] opportunities? It doesn't say anything
about them. Is it destroying our the
[52:33] environment? Cuz that's what you're
going to do. And then we're boycotting
[52:38] all these businesses, you know, that are
in your properties. Some of them are
[52:43] restaurants. and I've been driving by. I
told you we got a large family. We were
[52:48] going to have a birthday party and
somebody mentioned one of your
[52:52] properties and I said, "No way." So, we
ended up going to the Grand View in
[52:59] Midway Township. It's a beautiful place
to eat in Midway Township thanks to
[53:05] Gunner there. They drew up a ban on the
more on data centers. So, if you want to
[53:11] go eat at a nice restaurant, forget
about Herman Town, go to Midway.
[53:18] » And you know what you can do with this
here?
[53:21] » Okay.
>> I'm going to rip it up and you can make
[53:25] a motion for a five minute recess.
>> Motion for a fivem minute recess. Is
[53:30] there a second?
>> Do I get my time back then?
[53:34] » You're done.
>> I get six minutes.
[53:37] » He's just zeroed out your time. You're
done.
[53:40] Why
>> was he done well?
[53:42] » Six minutes.
>> Chief. Chief,
[53:46] please.
>> How many minutes did you give me?
[53:52] » I am supposed to have
>> quiet.
[53:56] Ladies and gentlemen,
be quiet.
[54:03] Would
[54:08] you like to leave?
>> I did about six minutes.
[54:11] » Okay.
>> Somebody right at the beginning.
[54:25] » Okay, we are taking a five minute break.
[54:39] Ladies and gentlemen, let's return to
our meeting.
[54:47] Order, please.
[54:52] Some housekeeping
things to get out of the way. First,
[54:59] decorum in the training center is
expected to follow the same rules as
[55:04] decorum in the council chamber when
present at a council meeting.
[55:10] We need to maintain order. We want to
hear from everyone, but we need to do it
[55:15] respectfully.
Now, we are having some trouble with the
[55:19] internet, which is why the recording
starts and stops. There's bandwidth
[55:24] issues that are going on this evening
with our internet provider. Also, when
[55:29] someone is addressing the council from
the podium, whenever they turn away,
[55:35] people in the training center can't hear
what they have to say.
[55:40] Okay, we are going to give Mr. Davis
another 3 minutes to come and speak to
[55:45] us and finish what he had to say in the
beginning
[55:50] but let's keep order and maintain
decorum please
[55:56] Mr. Davis,
>> I was out there looking. Can I
[56:02] » have a city attorney who's got
something?
[56:10] » You turn your mic on there, sir.
>> Rules. Then
[56:15] » the mayor has the ability to shut you
down. But I checked all this out and
[56:20] according to the Freedom of Rights Act,
you have you can't interact with the
[56:25] audience.
>> I'm I'm happy to. We We have Yeah, you
[56:29] can't you're not to interact with the
audience. You're to address the council
[56:32] and the mayor. And if you don't, it also
screws up the system too. And
[56:40] it's there is a respectfulness issue to
it which you
[56:44] » which there will be speakers on both
sides and the respect goes both ways. So
[56:49] that's those are the rules that you're
expected to follow.
[56:52] » I get it.
>> Okay. We have some noise coming from the
[56:55] audience somewhere. If we could be quiet
and let Mr. Davis speak.
[57:02] » Okay. Can I start now?
>> Go right ahead.
[57:05] » Okay. The law says you're supposed to
have meetings and listen to the public
[57:11] input
and uh you're not listening.
[57:16] This data center is going to destroy our
environment, pollute our air, pollute
[57:22] our water, increase noise pollution,
destroy our trout streams, destroy our
[57:29] wildlife, create a heat island.
um that could increase the temperature
[57:37] around here 10°
and then these 20 miles of of sewer and
[57:44] water line you're going to be running
are going to inconvenience thousands of
[57:50] people. They only benefit the rich who
will buy up chunks of land and develop
[57:56] them for huge profits. Now, Mayor, I'll
talk to you. I people have been telling
[58:03] me that you've been telling them this is
a done deal. Now, I don't know if that's
[58:08] what you're saying, but that's what
they're telling me. And a former mayor
[58:12] is going around telling people the same
thing. It and Pete Stabber at Farmfest
[58:19] said it's going to be built. That's
right. In his debate, I watched it like
[58:24] two or three times. He did a terrible
job by by the way. and uh and he said it
[58:31] was going to all be built with union
labor, but according to Google, I
[58:35] checked with them, no contract have been
signed yet. So, I hope if it's built,
[58:42] that's the case. But, okay. So, doesn't
the law matter anymore? There are two
[58:48] lawsuits right now still in progress and
more to come. What if you lose these
[58:55] lawsuits? It can't be built, right? Am I
correct? If you lose, doesn't that stop
[59:01] the process?
That's the way I understand it. But and
[59:07] then uh Mr. Muller, I want to address
you because what you were talking about
[59:14] in your tapes, you talked to me before
me and you know each other. So uh what
[59:20] you were talking about in those tapes
and giving telling people what answers
[59:24] and stuff according to Google I got this
from Google
[59:29] it you are undermining democracy it's
unethical practice city administrators
[59:37] are expected to act as neutral objective
advisors to elected officials not as an
[59:46] agent to incoming corporation. So, I
think you should resign. And anybody who
[59:52] thinks he should resign,
>> Mr. Davis, Mr. Davis, you're addressing
[59:57] the council.
>> Raise your hand. Anybody out there who
[1:00:01] thinks and then I'm going to raise two
hands cuz my wife is in here.
[1:00:06] » Mr. Mayor, she thinks good, too.
>> Your three minutes is done.
[1:00:10] » Thank you. And if somebody wants to give
them a salute, you know what I'm talking
[1:00:15] about. Go ahead, Penny.
[1:00:25] Next, Mr. Tom Bates
has six minutes.
[1:00:32] Seated from
Barbara or from Virginia Lord and after
[1:00:37] is Jim Cluckard.
>> Okay.
[1:00:46] Don't start the clock yet. He hasn't got
it down.
[1:00:49] » So, these uh wait a minute, Tom Bates,
Hermantown.
[1:00:53] » Thank you.
>> You bet. These notes are taken from the
[1:00:56] uh the project timeline, the timeline of
the Hermantown hypers scale data center
[1:01:01] development. Uh May 21st, 2024, NDA with
Mortonson signed by Hermantown staff
[1:01:09] Wickland and Moulder. on July 11th, the
last steering committee meeting for 2024
[1:01:17] 20 2045. Um, last, you know what I'm
talking about. The steering committee
[1:01:23] meeting on 7124 was not expected to be
the last meeting, but it was. John
[1:01:30] Thornton states that the steering
committee was never contacted again
[1:01:34] after July 11th, 2024. Despite the end
of communications, the steering
[1:01:40] committee members names were left on the
final report presented to the planning
[1:01:45] and zoning commission and the city
council. Thorton said the report that
[1:01:51] was presented to planning and zoning on
April 15, 2025 had been changed from the
[1:01:57] July 11th, 2024 version. Huh.
presumably by city staff and did not
[1:02:05] reflect what the steering committee
advocated for the Adolf area, which was
[1:02:10] keeping it rural and agricultural. Now,
this is just me editorializing.
[1:02:15] I think what happened was that the city
staff was influenced by the vision of
[1:02:19] the Lon project and moving the Adolf
area from rural and agricultural to
[1:02:25] light industrial. Just my thoughts.
September 18th, 2024, Mayor Ber informed
[1:02:33] of the uh data center project. John
Moulder to Chad Ronetti and Joe Wickland
[1:02:38] talked to Mayor Ber about a data center
project next to uh the Minnesota Power
[1:02:43] Station. Moulder stated, "We made sure
that this area would be zoned light
[1:02:49] industrial. That was never part of the
comprehensive plan when John Thornton
[1:02:54] was part of the steering committee. By
October 25th, 2024, the city of
[1:02:59] Hermanone senior staff was under an NDA.
January 15, 2025.
[1:03:06] Bob, now this this one
this part really cranked me. Um, Johnif
[1:03:14] January 15, 2025, Bob Colemire emails
Mayor Wayne Ber and Eric Johnson
[1:03:21] regarding Mortonson letter regarding
this Mortonson letter that went out and
[1:03:26] asks if this is about a data center.
Okay. January 16th, the city staff
[1:03:31] responds to Bob Colemire's email
regarding the Mortonson letter. So Eric
[1:03:36] Johnson emails Joe Wickland and Chadron,
Cheddy, and Butcher to review his
[1:03:41] proposed response. Eric Johnson says,
"The only application the city has
[1:03:47] received is for a wetland delineation,
which was conducted in the fall of 2024.
[1:03:53] There's been no more applications to the
city, so there's no no more information
[1:03:58] to share. Contact Chris Bates at
Mortonson with these questions." which
[1:04:05] recommends leaving out the suggestion to
contact Mortonson or Chris Bates. This
[1:04:10] is clear obfusication, mayor, clearly
and deliberately hiding the truth of the
[1:04:16] matter from Bob Colemire who asked in
good conscience. This next is addressed
[1:04:22] to the four council members, you and you
and you and him. Okay,
[1:04:31] this is where I got to put on my big boy
PL pants. It is clear that we need a
[1:04:36] clean sweep of the senior staff and
Mayor Ber accepting Paul sense
[1:04:42] and the fire chief. I believe the rest
of them are all compromised and here are
[1:04:48] my recommendations.
[1:04:51] First, fire city administrator Moulder.
Okay.
[1:04:58] Then get in a temporary administrator
that is unknown to Hermantown.
[1:05:04] The new ad the new temporary
administrator should fire all the rest
[1:05:09] of the senior staff and hire on temps to
fill their positions so that we have a
[1:05:15] functional working staff.
[1:05:19] Immediately fire the present permit
chief of police. You'll easily find work
[1:05:24] done in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, or Texas. He'll fit right in.
[1:05:32] That's not a put down. That's just a
matter of culture.
[1:05:38] Choose the new chief of police from
among the ranks of the Hermittown Police
[1:05:42] by a vote of the police themselves.
There's a couple of dandies there. I've
[1:05:48] know them and I think they'll do good if
they're made chiefs of police.
[1:05:53] So, I hope you I hope you took some
notes. I really do. That's heartfelt.
[1:06:01] Scared the living for me to out of
me to bring it up, but that's what I
[1:06:06] think.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[1:06:10] » Thank you. Next, Jim Clucker,
followed by Tom Johnson.
[1:06:26] I'm going to try and be real brief. I
want to thank uh you uh fellows up
[1:06:31] there, members of the council, um
particularly uh Councilman Peterson who
[1:06:37] showed up at our recent Sway meeting.
I'd like to see uh government in the
[1:06:42] community. Uh I'd like to thank the
mayor for taking the time to step out in
[1:06:47] the hallway just a few minutes ago to to
reach some settlement with one of his
[1:06:53] very enthusiastic uh constituents. That
was a good move and I don't think that
[1:07:00] was co-opting. I think that was
communication. I'd like to thank the uh
[1:07:04] chief who commands uh our women and men
in uniform who are here to protect us
[1:07:12] our physical safety while maintaining a
high degree of professionalism.
[1:07:17] What I do not want to thank is our city
administrator who should be dismissed
[1:07:23] sacked immediately. This stinks what's
happened here. The good name of
[1:07:29] Hermantown has been dragged through the
mud. This is not the way to get
[1:07:33] multinationals to come do business here
and uh there are certain standards to be
[1:07:38] maintained. The fish rots from the head.
So, city administrator first to go and I
[1:07:44] would like to see a very thorough um
transcript, detailed transcript of the
[1:07:51] investigation that is now proceeding. I
finally want to read from the uh
[1:07:57] Minnesota Indian Affairs Committee
their resolution of uh 8 July 2026
[1:08:08] um copies are available on the net real
quick just it's a four-page document but
[1:08:14] just to briefly summarize now therefore
be it resolved that to address the
[1:08:20] immediate nationwide threat posed by the
July July 23rd, 2025 executive order
[1:08:26] accelerating permitting of data center
infrastructure. The min Minnesota Indian
[1:08:32] Affairs Council urgently demands the
federal administration suspend the
[1:08:38] orders implementation and calls on all
state and federal authorities. That's
[1:08:44] means you guys
to impose a moratorum on the issue
[1:08:50] issuance of all permits
for hypers scale data centers until a
[1:08:55] comprehensive independent and publicly
available assessment of the full range
[1:09:01] of data center 30 impacts have been
completed. Um the technology is growing
[1:09:08] too fast. Not even the experts can tell
you what's going to happen in 5 years.
[1:09:12] They're asking us to believe in them for
longer than their company has been in
[1:09:16] existence. We need you to put a full
break on this a moratorum. Just give it
[1:09:24] a pause. That's what you do when we get
excited
[1:09:28] and I respect you for that. Please
respect us for asking you to pause this
[1:09:34] train.
>> Thank you.
[1:09:37] Thank you.
[1:09:43] Tom Johnson and next is Don Le Point.
[1:09:50] Name and hometown, please.
>> Tom Johnson, Hermantown.
[1:09:55] Good evening, Mayor Buchet and members
of the Hermantown City Council.
[1:10:01] I grew up in Duth as fourth generation
resident of this region and I have
[1:10:05] proudly called Hermantown home for the
past 5 years. First, thank you all for
[1:10:10] your service to the community and for
the time and effort you invest in
[1:10:15] evaluating projects that shape
Hermantown's future. I'm here tonight to
[1:10:20] express my support for the proposed
Google data center. Like many residents,
[1:10:24] I care deeply about protecting the
qualities that make this area special,
[1:10:28] but I also believe we have a
responsibility to think about the future
[1:10:31] economy our children and grandchildren
will inherit. In my view, the decision
[1:10:35] before you is much bigger than this
single project. It is more about whether
[1:10:39] Hermantown will embrace opportunities
for long-term growth or continue a
[1:10:44] pattern that has too often limited our
region's economic potential. Growing up
[1:10:48] in this area, I have seen businesses
come and go with development
[1:10:51] opportunities proposed only to be
delayed, scaled back, or turned away
[1:10:56] from opposition groups. While public
input is important, the cumulative
[1:11:01] effect has often been a region, this
region that struggles to attract major
[1:11:06] private investment compared to many
competing communities.
[1:11:10] Northwest Minnesota faces real economic
challenges. Population growth in much of
[1:11:14] the region has lagged behind statewide
trends and some areas continue to
[1:11:18] experience population stagnation or
decline.
[1:11:22] This has been documented but documented
by the Minnesota Department of
[1:11:25] Employment and Econom Economic
Development.
[1:11:29] Our regional economy has long been built
on the strength of key industries such
[1:11:32] as iron mining and shipping. These
industries remain vital to our
[1:11:37] communities and deserve continued
support. At the same time, each faces
[1:11:40] challenges beyond our control like
global commodity markets or the reality
[1:11:44] that mining reserves are finite.
Economic diversification is about
[1:11:49] building additional strength by creating
new opportunities in emerging sectors. A
[1:11:53] more diverse economy will help ensure
long-term stability, resilience, and
[1:11:57] prosperity for future generations while
preserving the industries that have
[1:12:02] defined our region for more than a
century. The proposed Google data center
[1:12:07] represents exactly the type of
diversification we should welcome. It
[1:12:10] brings substantial private investment,
hundreds of construction jobs, many
[1:12:14] permanent positions, and significant
growth to the commercial tax base. Is
[1:12:19] also tied to investments in new clean
energy generation and battery energy
[1:12:23] storage that can strengthen regional
infrastructure and support reliability
[1:12:26] for all.
>> Second.
[1:12:28] » Ultimately, I believe the council stands
at a critical crossroads. You can choose
[1:12:33] the same path that has often resulted in
missed opportunities, economic
[1:12:36] stagnation, and limited growth. or you
can choose a brighter future that
[1:12:40] welcomes responsible development,
strengthens our tax base, diversifies
[1:12:44] our economy, and creates meaningful
opportunities for future generations.
[1:12:48] Thank you very much for all that you do.
>> Thank you.
[1:12:52] Next is Jackie Dolan's
or I'm sorry, Don La Point. Don has
[1:12:57] three minutes from Jackie Dolan. So, six
total.
[1:13:05] » Actually, change in plans. I don't need
the extra. Can we hear? Okay.
[1:13:09] » Yeah. I I'm having trouble hearing you.
>> Can I bend it? Is that better?
[1:13:13] » Is the button turned on there?
>> It's green.
[1:13:15] » Try turning it off and on again.
>> Is that any better?
[1:13:21] » That sounds better. Okay.
>> Yeah. Well, sometimes those things reset
[1:13:24] when they get overloaded.
>> Okay. Um, slight change in plans. I
[1:13:28] don't need more than three minutes. So,
Jackie has seated her time, I think, to
[1:13:32] Clarissa. So,
>> Okay.
[1:13:34] » Yeah. So, I'm Don Le Point from
Hermantown. Um, I'm here speaking as an
[1:13:39] individual and not representing any
groups or organizations.
[1:13:44] This seems like it's just like in my
face now.
[1:13:48] Um, this project is not appropriate
for this location. I had originally
[1:13:54] planned to speak about the DNR's August
25th comment about the AUR. I appreciate
[1:13:59] the detailed update that Mr. Ronetti
provided tonight and since the city and
[1:14:03] DNR are in talks and working through
some of those concerns, I will instead
[1:14:08] share some questions and concerns I have
about the consulting services to be
[1:14:12] provided by Braraw Inderech.
My first question is does Bronn
[1:14:17] Intertech have extensive experience in
this type of consulting between tribal
[1:14:22] governments and city governments? My
understanding from tonight's meetings is
[1:14:26] that this consulting process will not
impact the timing for approvals of the
[1:14:30] AUA or permits related to the data
center. If that is the case, what is the
[1:14:35] meaningfulness of the consulting work or
the government-to-government
[1:14:39] communications?
How can the AU potentially be approved
[1:14:43] by the city council before concerns and
communications between urban town and
[1:14:49] the tribal governments are resolved?
That does not seem meaningful. if you're
[1:14:54] able to provide a response, I'd
appreciate it. Thank you.
[1:14:58] » Thank you.
So,
[1:15:02] Jackie, you're seating your time further
down the line. Uh, next will be Candy
[1:15:09] Mock.
[1:15:15] And after Candy Mock is Sarah Winter,
[1:15:21] » I'm gonna need um someone to see three
minutes to me. Does anybody have three
[1:15:26] whole minutes for me?
>> We We have someone who had signed up.
[1:15:33] What's the name?
Okay.
[1:15:39] » Gracias. Ashley. What a good neighbor.
[1:15:46] Hi guys, Andy Mock, Germantown. I
recognize that I will need to work with
[1:15:53] some of you um if I am elected to city
council. I've appreciated the time that
[1:15:59] I have spent speaking with those of you
who answered my emails.
[1:16:06] Not all of you did.
um you all have shared with me um that
[1:16:11] if you find a reason to say no to this
project that you would you would stop
[1:16:16] the process. That's what you've said to
me and I think you've shared that with
[1:16:19] other people. Um I can't see how you
haven't seen enough reasons to say no. I
[1:16:25] also don't understand how there's an
assumption that you must say yes. Who
[1:16:31] has created this urgency? It seems like
it's coming from the budget. The budget
[1:16:35] that is fed to you by John Moulder. um
the budget that's historically kind of
[1:16:40] fluctuated when I've looked at the
history there. Um mayor, you told me
[1:16:47] that this issue is ripping our city
apart and you said it with a hurt in
[1:16:51] your heart and I heard it and I agree.
Um why? Well, at this point now, we've
[1:16:58] talked about the history. We all know
what's happened, but it's also the steps
[1:17:03] that the city has taken and continues to
take. Just I want to let you know I was
[1:17:08] not originally opposed to this when I
first heard about it and it's not the
[1:17:12] project itself completely although
there's there's signs with it but um I'm
[1:17:16] not anti-progress
um it's the red flags that I've seen in
[1:17:20] the process that has that like I
continue to see that don't stop um
[1:17:27] when you make a mistake and there was
mistakes made early on that some of you
[1:17:30] didn't even know about you you stop you
you fix it you you say I'm sorry
[1:17:35] although It's sometimes admitting guilt
that you don't want to get sued for or
[1:17:39] something. I understand that. But you
don't double down and that's what I've
[1:17:42] been seeing. I even saw that as recent
as last week. Now, I know when you file
[1:17:48] with the courts, you serve the other
party information. You file it with the
[1:17:54] court and you make sure the other party
knows. But Gunnar Johnson, our attorney,
[1:17:59] filed on the city's behalf last Thursday
with the court and he didn't let the
[1:18:04] other group know regarding the the
charter. Um quite a lot of information
[1:18:08] in there asking for some pretty
significant action. That is not a
[1:18:14] mistake because he's got too much
experience. I would say that's a
[1:18:17] subversion of a process that should be
well respected, St. Louis County Court
[1:18:22] process.
So people, here's the thing. People are
[1:18:27] still showing up. They're still showing
that they want to collaborate with you.
[1:18:32] Your constituents have asked you for
some steps like a moratorum or to do an
[1:18:37] EIS. That tells me that they're still
open. It's not that they're just saying
[1:18:42] no, no, no, no, no. They're saying they
want to collaborate. In speaking with
[1:18:47] some of you, I get the impression that
you maybe
[1:18:52] that you hop on Facebook and you see
some of the comments and they aren't
[1:18:56] always accurate because they're not
people who really know about the process
[1:18:58] or they're talking about um a data
center elsewhere that doesn't have the
[1:19:03] same proposals that we have. And then
you think, well, they don't know what
[1:19:06] they're talking about, so you dismiss it
as a group. Or you think that it's a
[1:19:09] bunch of hippie freaks out there just
protesting, right? Like I have that
[1:19:13] impression.
um please don't do that. Don't don't
[1:19:17] throw everybody in the same bucket. I
can tell you in talking with the group
[1:19:22] that is against it that it's a it's a
spectrum of thoughts. Some of them are
[1:19:26] saying it's this is not the right place
which you don't have control over right
[1:19:29] now. It's also it's not the process
that's healthy. I'm concerned about the
[1:19:34] ramifications for the environment and or
just it's just not worth it financially.
[1:19:39] I don't think we're guaranteed. So
there's a there's a variety of people
[1:19:42] that are against it for different
reasons and a spectrum that there might
[1:19:46] actually still be a workable
result, but we have got to slow it down.
[1:19:52] Taking five minutes here was a was a
smart move. Taking more time with this
[1:19:56] is a smart move.
Every step that you take drives a wedge.
[1:20:04] You say that each step is not approving
a project, but here's one thing I just
[1:20:09] picked up on the last meeting. Um,
there's other subst steps that we're
[1:20:13] taking. A 60% plan from um from a
consultant to run the water down to the
[1:20:21] site. That's significant. Our engineer
spent some some time. his wages were
[1:20:28] paid by city funds to to do that to
collaborate with the
[1:20:33] the consultant that was putting together
the plan.
[1:20:37] Um,
I have a quote for you from JP Morgan. A
[1:20:43] man has two reasons for what he does. A
good one and the real one. every step
[1:20:49] along the way there's been there's been
reasons given why the 2045 plan needs to
[1:20:55] happen why the utility commission needed
to vote and along the way we have had
[1:21:00] people lose faith talk to um Jim Sweeney
if you're not sure what I'm talking
[1:21:05] about Eddie I saw your face there um
we can loop back on that people see
[1:21:11] through it and they have the examples
and so the reasons that are sometimes
[1:21:15] given by the people that are puppet
mastering we know they're not thrill
[1:21:19] races.
>> 30 seconds.
[1:21:20] » This is like an abusive relationship.
One of my friends has said that that
[1:21:25] there's things happening behind the
scenes. And when the person who is
[1:21:29] abused ends up acting out, then it's
pointed to as though it's somehow proof
[1:21:33] that people don't know what they're
talking about. So remember that when you
[1:21:37] see the signs, when remember that when
you hear people clapping, remember that
[1:21:41] when you see people out at the corners,
that is what's happening. You're
[1:21:44] continuing to drive it. And by turning a
blind eye to some of these misbehaviors,
[1:21:49] each of you has a choice. No one else is
coming to save us. No one else, no other
[1:21:54] permitting. Don't don't act like the
other permitting is going to help you.
[1:21:57] The buck stops here, guys.
[1:22:07] Sarah Winter
[1:22:11] and after that Holston
Sleets Sheets.
[1:22:25] » Hey council, I'm Sarah Winter. Uh the
Hermantown, Minnesota. Um, I know that
[1:22:30] you want a calm and rational meeting and
you know I actually do too. But when
[1:22:36] people don't feel listened to, emotions
will run high. And your responsibility
[1:22:41] in this is to help people know that you
are actively listening and that you are
[1:22:48] truly taking in the concerns of your
constituents. And when we speak to you
[1:22:52] week after week after week, when we give
hours and hours of our time and nothing
[1:22:58] moves the dial, you look at us with
blank faces.
[1:23:02] It doesn't feel like that's happening.
When your staff makes fun of your
[1:23:06] constituents, you should be the first to
come to their defense. I shouldn't have
[1:23:12] to email you and say you should come to
their defense. You should come to their
[1:23:16] your constituents defense without your
neighbors telling you you need to. When
[1:23:21] you realize that the process of building
a hyperscale data center has been going
[1:23:25] on in secret behind the backs of your
constituents, you the representatives
[1:23:30] should be the first to put the brakes on
and to make sure that the process is
[1:23:34] understandable to everyone, that your
constituents, the humans, your neighbors
[1:23:39] that you represent are in step with the
decisions that you're making. You have
[1:23:44] the power at any point to bring relief
and peace to the people you represent.
[1:23:50] Slow this process down. Pause it to
allow corrections to the process to take
[1:23:55] place.
And forgive your fellow citizens when
[1:23:59] they are overcome with emotion because
the place they live, their livelihoods,
[1:24:03] and their quality of living is
threatened.
[1:24:06] Show yourselves to care, to truly care
about your neighbors.
[1:24:11] When you ask us to elect you, you are
pledging to represent us, even when you
[1:24:17] personally don't agree with something,
accepting perhaps moral or ethical
[1:24:21] concerns. We want to trust you. We want
you to be good representatives for us.
[1:24:29] We elect you so that we don't need to be
at every meeting because you already
[1:24:35] represent us. But when you don't
represent the 70% of the population that
[1:24:42] doesn't want this and you show no
indication of slowing any part of the
[1:24:47] process, it doesn't feel like you
represent us.
[1:24:52] Um, with the last couple seconds of my
time, I just want to highlight the Star
[1:24:55] Tribune article of September 5th
>> 30 seconds
[1:24:57] » where the DNR is quoted as saying as it
could that it couldn't object to the AUR
[1:25:02] because it's not allowed to do so. The
comments that Mr. Ranchetti referred to
[1:25:06] in the previously cited problems with
the AUR. Therefore, that review is
[1:25:10] entirely on your shoulders. Their
concerns included the proxim the um
[1:25:14] inadequate baseline data for groundwater
which was gathered during a year of
[1:25:19] drought, the project's proximity to a
Minnesota power substation and that
[1:25:23] those effects should be studied. The
MPCA echoed those concerns. It is on you
[1:25:29] to figure that out.
>> Thank you.
[1:25:32] » Thank you.
Al
[1:25:38] lady, ladies and gentlemen, I want to
point something out. We have a hard stop
[1:25:42] of 10:00 and we will recess until
Thursday if we go up to that point. If
[1:25:48] we keep clapping and using up time,
we're not going to be able to get
[1:25:53] everything done today. You know, maybe
we can get everything done before 10.
[1:25:58] So, Holl
Hol last name
[1:26:04] Oh, Slates. Okay.
[1:26:09] And after Holl is Chris Bates.
>> I'm He's seating his time to me.
[1:26:15] » What's that?
>> He's seating his time to me. Chris is
[1:26:17] Chris Bates.
>> Chris is seating time to go. Okay.
[1:26:22] » So, six minutes.
>> All right. Um, good evening, mayor, city
[1:26:28] council members, city staff, community
members, and Hermantown residents. My
[1:26:33] name is Hston Slez and I am the economic
and community development manager for
[1:26:37] Minnesota from Google. Um I just want to
take a few minutes to share where things
[1:26:42] stand and some of the commitments we are
proposing as we continue working with
[1:26:47] the city um of Hermantown and responding
thoughtfully to what we've heard from
[1:26:51] community members. So, as noted earlier,
as a part of the AUAR process, we did
[1:26:57] receive a letter from the DNR in August
that raised a number of questions, and I
[1:27:02] want to reiterate that those were
comments. Those comments were not
[1:27:06] objections to this project as that was
stated clearly uh by several people. But
[1:27:11] we are treating these comments as an
important part of our process and as
[1:27:16] feedback that deserves a thoughtful
response. So, we are taking the time to
[1:27:19] do just that.
One of the areas we've heard clearly is
[1:27:23] a well is about well water and what this
project could mean for neighboring
[1:27:28] wells. So we want to respond to that
concern with some concrete um solutions.
[1:27:35] We are proposing a baseline
and ongoing monitoring at site with
[1:27:40] results published by the city and
updated quarterly. We are also proposing
[1:27:44] a voluntary program for property owners
within a half mile of the site. Um and
[1:27:50] for neighbor for participating
neighbors, we want to establish baseline
[1:27:53] conditions for their wells. And if a
project related impact is identified,
[1:27:57] which we do not anticipate, um but if
there one is identified, we do want to
[1:28:01] provide a path towards remediation. And
depending on the circumstances, that
[1:28:06] could include installing a new private
well, connecting the property to public
[1:28:09] water service, or another mutually
agreed upon solution. We've also heard
[1:28:15] um a number of questions about the
long-term future of the site, including
[1:28:19] what happens if this facility is no
longer operating and at some point in
[1:28:23] the future um what would that look like?
So, we think that it is an appropriate
[1:28:28] um it's appropriate to address that
question now as we're having these
[1:28:31] conversations. So, we will be working
with the city on an adaptive reuse and
[1:28:35] decommissioning commitment. And if this
facility is no longer operating, we
[1:28:40] would first look at opportunities for
adaptive reuse where feasible. And if
[1:28:45] reuse is not feasible, the commitment
would provide for decommissioning and
[1:28:49] restoration of the site. Again, the
specifics are still being worked through
[1:28:53] with with um with our team, but we want
the community to know that we are
[1:28:57] thinking about the full life cycle of
this project.
[1:29:01] We also believe that a long-term
neighbor means that benefits of this
[1:29:06] investment should extend beyond the
boundaries of the project itself. So,
[1:29:10] we're proposing more than $2.5 million
of initial investments in community um
[1:29:15] community development. And what that
means is focusing on workforce
[1:29:19] development, economic opportunities for
local businesses, expanded youth program
[1:29:24] in areas such as sports and technology.
We also have a workforce strategy that
[1:29:29] is focused on creating opportunities
beyond just construction jobs but
[1:29:33] located directly um on-site and
off-site. We are target targeting at a a
[1:29:39] targeting a 9:1 job creation ratio and
with an emphasis on skilled trades,
[1:29:44] training opportunities and pathways that
can create lasting economic value for
[1:29:48] this community.
And I also want to emphasize the word
[1:29:52] initial when we talk about that 2.5
million is just that we do not see these
[1:29:59] community investments as transactional
and we want to continue listening to
[1:30:03] schools, local leaders, um local
businesses, community organizations and
[1:30:08] residents about where future investments
can have a meaningful and lasting
[1:30:11] impact.
[1:30:16] » Ultimately, all the
[1:30:25] Got to get my arms.
[1:30:48] I'd like to reclaim my time. So, can we
make sure I get my time?
[1:30:53] » Appreciate it. Thank you. Ultimately,
that is how we are approaching the
[1:30:57] feedback received through the AUA
process and our broader conversations
[1:31:01] with this community. And when a concern
is raised, our goal is not to simply
[1:31:06] answer it where we can, but where we
want to turn that feedback into a
[1:31:11] tangible commitment. And you will
continue to see me and Google do that at
[1:31:16] these meetings. The well monitoring and
neighbor well program, the adaptive
[1:31:20] reuse and decommissioning commitments,
as well as the initial community
[1:31:23] investments are examples of what this
looks like in action.
[1:31:28] These commitments are still being
finalized with the city and once this
[1:31:31] work is complete, they will be presented
to the city council with greater detail.
[1:31:36] But uh where things stands today, I just
wanted to share this update and again um
[1:31:42] just illustrate like this is we wanted
to actively demonstrate how we are
[1:31:47] taking the feedback and being thoughtful
about how we respond and informing how
[1:31:51] we move forward. So thank you for the
opportunity and time tonight. Right.
[1:32:09] gentleman in the black cap.
[1:32:40] Emergency recess.
[1:32:56] Okay, next person to speak is Cliff
Davis. After Cliff Davis is Ashley Grim.
[1:33:09] » Yes.
Name and hometown, please.
[1:33:13] » Okay. Uh, my name is Cliff Davis and
I've been here for 82 years. All my
[1:33:18] friends and family call me Skip. So, uh,
since I've been coming to I want to say
[1:33:25] thanks to Ronnie for giving me her three
minutes
[1:33:30] and, uh, thank you guys because I
probably forget to thank you. But
[1:33:35] anyway, since I've been coming here,
I've been hearing stuff like, uh, oh,
[1:33:40] Google's a 20, uh, trillion dollar
company. You know, they they're going to
[1:33:45] get what they want. But I don't know if
you listen to the news about 3 weeks
[1:33:49] ago, they had on there Meta was being
sued for $1.4 trillion.
[1:33:56] So I looked up on a Google thing and I
says, "How much is Meta worth?" $1.5
[1:34:03] trillion. But then just a week ago, Meta
got sued for $18 billion,
[1:34:12] not counting 1.4 against them. and
Mexico is going to sue them. Uh
[1:34:19] so that does just because they got money
doesn't mean that they can't be sued.
[1:34:25] And uh I've been listening to Aaron
Brochovich quite a bit and and she said
[1:34:30] what they're doing is these data centers
that have come in, they've been suing
[1:34:35] the council people. In other words,
that's like all you guys sitting up here
[1:34:38] that are trying to cover that tried to
cover this up and mislead us. And just
[1:34:44] today I looked on the Google and it said
and I said, "Can you sue the city or the
[1:34:52] council people?" Yeah, you can sue the
city. You sue you can sue the council
[1:34:57] people if they misled you. That's all it
said. But like Aaron Brochovich says,
[1:35:04] they try to sweep sweep everything under
the rug and uh not let you know what was
[1:35:10] going on and they lied to you over and
over again. If that isn't misleading, I
[1:35:16] don't know what it is.
And I was going to say
[1:35:21] that I was watching the rifleman
and the sheriff was saying to the
[1:35:26] rifleman, "We got a new technology here.
It's called striations.
[1:35:34] When the gun shoots off a bullet, we can
tell what gun that bullet came out of.
[1:35:41] That was their new tech technology 130
years ago. Now they got technology. It's
[1:35:48] called AI.
And if they want to find out how you
[1:35:52] guys lie to us and try to sweep this all
under the rug without us knowing about
[1:35:57] it, they got this new technology. It's
called AI. They can go through your
[1:36:02] phones and know know who you talk to and
uh probably even know what you said. So
[1:36:11] that's the only thing good about AI that
I see.
[1:36:15] And another thing Aaron Brockovich said
is they're suing the data centers
[1:36:21] for
[1:36:25] uh putting these in a residential area.
She said they should be 25 miles away.
[1:36:31] Uh, and I believe that 100%. You're
going to come and rip up all the Herman
[1:36:37] Town for that. And it's I think it's
very stupid the way you're doing it. And
[1:36:43] uh, and it shouldn't be done.
And uh,
[1:36:48] Aaron Brockovich said she's coming to
Minnesota. She didn't start her website
[1:36:53] until May. She's got 12,000 emails. so
far. And she said she reads every one
[1:37:00] and then she gives them to her people
and she said she's coming to Minnesota.
[1:37:04] And I hope uh she helps us out with
this.
[1:37:08] Uh that's about all I got to say is
thanks
[1:37:13] to uh people like Aaron Brochovich and
all these people you can look up with
[1:37:18] all those videos
and and I've been watching this on the
[1:37:22] news every night about today on the news
they had about the oh it be good for the
[1:37:28] doctors you know well save the doctors
sometimes but they said they're losing
[1:37:33] that doctor patient relationship that
they used to have because of this AI and
[1:37:40] there's I every night I see something on
channel 8 or something about it. They
[1:37:46] don't even know
what good these data centers are going
[1:37:51] to do to the country and I think they're
going to destroy it and it's going to
[1:37:56] destroy Hermit Down. Well, I want to say
thanks for letting me give me my peace
[1:38:01] of mind.
>> Thank you. Next is Ashley Grim, followed
[1:38:07] by Peter Haftton.
[1:38:12] Name and hometown, please.
>> Hi everyone. I'm Ashley Grim. I live in
[1:38:19] West Duth and I represent Western Duth
on the St. Louis County board. Um, I
[1:38:23] want to talk about uh two different
things. One is there should be a lot
[1:38:28] more questions asked about this bill of
goods that billionaire companies are
[1:38:32] selling you and they're not giving you
all the information. I just heard
[1:38:36] tonight about $2.5 million that we
should be excited about. But I was
[1:38:40] shocked to see $70 million proposed as a
tax abatement for them. I was even more
[1:38:47] shocked to see that it said in the draft
St. Louis County is anticipated to also
[1:38:53] approve this. as I as a commissioner and
the board as a whole never discussed a
[1:38:59] single thing about the data center, but
three St. Louis County commissioners had
[1:39:05] signed non-disclosure agreements. That's
one of many issues that are happening,
[1:39:11] including the infrastructure built out,
but no plan to pay in for that because
[1:39:15] they're getting those tax abatements.
Lastly, I want to speak as an elected
[1:39:20] official about the role of decorum and
all the talk about disrespect.
[1:39:26] Oftentimes, it's targeted at the
audience and on our community members.
[1:39:31] But I want to note a couple things. As
an elected official, I have personally
[1:39:36] seen people cry because of their home
values being decimated, their lives
[1:39:41] being destroyed. I have never rated
them. I have never said it's a four.
[1:39:46] It's a three. I've never diminished
that. Those are people's lives and this
[1:39:50] is our role. Um I've seen my fellow
commissioners sign NDAs. I've seen the
[1:39:57] public deceived. Where is that in
decorum and disrespect? We have such an
[1:40:02] obligation in this office. I also want
to say that changing the time of public
[1:40:08] comment, you see me here with this kid,
our toddler,
[1:40:13] right?
Changing the time of public comment to
[1:40:16] have it be at the very end is also a
form of disrespect and it's a lack of
[1:40:23] decorum on your part. It's just not the
kind that gets called out but it needs
[1:40:30] to. And lastly, and there's much more to
say, we should all be in the same room.
[1:40:34] St. Louis County commissioners meet in
over 30 different locations all over St.
[1:40:40] Louis County. you know that this issue
is driving out a ton of people as it
[1:40:46] should. You should have to face every
single one of them as these decisions
[1:40:51] and hopefully asking more questions.
>> Thank you.
[1:40:56] » Thank you.
Next is Peter Haftton
[1:41:00] followed by Alicia Netta.
Peter
[1:41:14] name and hometown, please.
>> Peter Haftton, Sole Township.
[1:41:20] I first would like to say I agree with
Rick Davis about boycotting any
[1:41:23] businesses that are in support of the
data center. I think that's a fantastic
[1:41:27] idea and I think that would get a lot of
attention in the community.
[1:41:31] As I was driving here, I thought about
many, many different topics that I
[1:41:35] wanted to bring up, but I knew I had
three minutes, so I had to come up with
[1:41:38] four bullet points. That make sense.
First, I'd like to say for everybody
[1:41:41] who's sitting behind me, since I know I
cannot turn around with green hats,
[1:41:45] these are our homes. This is our
property and this is our community. So,
[1:41:51] I know many people drive in for these
city council meetings um with high hopes
[1:41:56] of a big construction project, but this
would personally destroy my property, my
[1:42:02] home that I'm raising three kids um and
pretty much change the way of life on my
[1:42:07] road forever. It would force me to move
away, move away from Hermantown, from
[1:42:11] the area. And I think that's not
considered when somebody stands up here
[1:42:14] and says, "This is amazing economic
opportunities for the community." And
[1:42:18] I'm thinking it's going to force me to
move away from my property and find a
[1:42:22] new place to live. So that's something I
want to bring up. Second bullet point is
[1:42:27] I don't think it should be lost that the
mayor said a 24,000 square foot
[1:42:32] building. We don't need a building that
big. I think we all heard that the data
[1:42:37] center is proposed to be 1.7 maybe 1.6
million square feet. So I think that's a
[1:42:44] comment that we should just all
remember. maybe even make a sign.
[1:42:49] Uh I also would like to talk about the
DNR AUR. Um I think the final AUR needs
[1:42:54] to be rescended for three reasons.
First, uh due to omission of the DNR's
[1:42:59] comments that were first provided by the
uh to the city of Hermantown. The DNR
[1:43:04] provided their comments in April of the
draft for the AU again communicated in
[1:43:09] July that the comments were still valid
and again sent to the city in August.
[1:43:14] Exclusion of agency or public comments
violates Minnesota rules of the
[1:43:18] environmental review process which
requires all comments to be included in
[1:43:22] the AUA and responded to. I am hopeful
that that is going to now occur based on
[1:43:28] the pre-agenda.
Second, the AUR also grossly
[1:43:33] mischaracterizes the DNR's role in
having regulatory and permitting
[1:43:37] authority over the project by including
a list of potential DNR permits. While
[1:43:41] in the DNR's comments, it says that the
DNR confirms absolutely no DNR permits
[1:43:47] will be required, which puts
>> 30 seconds
[1:43:50] » all on an ES Eis and also on the city of
Hermantown to make the right choices.
[1:43:56] Finally, in my 30 seconds, I would like
to just touch on the road construction
[1:43:59] mentioned at the last city council
meeting by Google. um
[1:44:05] the road modifications that are proposed
uh in order to attempt to manage the
[1:44:09] thousands and thousands of trucks and
workers each day. A stop light, a turn
[1:44:14] lane on Midway, Morris Thomas and
Highway 2, St. Louis River Road. Um if
[1:44:19] that is it, that is going to cause major
traffic jams especially at the railroad
[1:44:23] tracks that cross St. Louis River Road
and Midway.
[1:44:26] » Thank you.
>> Thank you. Well,
[1:44:28] » next is Alicia Nea.
[1:44:33] And Alicia has another three minutes
from Cheryl Dannenbring.
[1:44:42] » My name is Alicia Netta. I live in Duth.
I'm going to read um some of an article
[1:44:50] called When the Decision is Too Big for
the City by Charles Marone. This was
[1:44:54] from May of 2026 and I'll email it to
you guys tonight.
[1:45:00] There are some decisions a city can make
and recover from. A bad zoning call, a
[1:45:04] misjudged project, even a poorly timed
investment. These things can all be
[1:45:09] corrected over time. And then there are
decisions that if they go wrong will
[1:45:13] blow up a city's budget, will ruin it
for generations.
[1:45:17] Those are the decisions we should be
most careful about. Those are the
[1:45:20] decisions we should be asking not just
what should be done, but who should be
[1:45:25] allowed to decide. And right now the the
city of Hermantown is considering one of
[1:45:30] those decisions.
The proposal includes roughly $130
[1:45:34] million in new infrastructure built by
Google and then turned over to the city.
[1:45:40] Her Hermantown also offered to provide a
long-term tax abatement worth tens of
[1:45:44] millions of dollars um under which the
city would collect about 15% of the
[1:45:50] property taxes it would normally receive
with the rest returned to Google. This
[1:45:55] agreement would last 28 years, which is
longer than Google has been a company.
[1:46:01] One of the city officials described the
arrangement this way. We're paying them
[1:46:04] back for the infrastructure they're
giving to us. And that framing is
[1:46:08] revealing. What's being described is not
a typical development deal. It's
[1:46:14] essentially long-term financing
arrangement, one that trades future
[1:46:18] revenue for infrastructure delivered
today.
[1:46:22] Since Hermantown's annual budget is just
over a million dollars, the
[1:46:27] infrastructure proposed here would
require a level of operational capacity
[1:46:31] far beyond what the city possesses.
The infrastructure built for this
[1:46:36] project would not remain Google's
responsibility. It becomes Herman Towns.
[1:46:40] A city that currently spends about a
million dollars a year maintaining its
[1:46:44] entire public work system is being asked
to take on infrastructure that costs
[1:46:48] more than a hundred times that amount to
build. not just to accept it but to
[1:46:52] sustain it indefinitely.
The problem is not that cities are
[1:46:57] making bad decisions. The problem is
that they're being asked to make
[1:47:01] decisions far beyond their institutional
capacity to fully evaluate
[1:47:07] uh and also that they're given strong
incentives to take on the risk.
[1:47:12] Google negotiates projects like this
across the country. It brings in teams
[1:47:16] of lawyers, engineers, financial
analysts to structure the arrangements.
[1:47:20] It knows the payback windows, the return
on investment to make a project work,
[1:47:24] and understands the long-term
implications of what's being built and
[1:47:28] how its portion will be maintained.
Hermantown does not operate at this
[1:47:33] scale. We do not have the depth of
specialized expertise. Hermantown is not
[1:47:39] set up to model decades of maintenance
costs on a complex infrastructure system
[1:47:44] tied up to a single user. We don't have
a way to evaluate the long-term
[1:47:49] usefulness of a massive facility.
Um, especially one that's part of a such
[1:47:55] a fastchanging
uh field such as tech.
[1:48:00] Hermantown also doesn't have a clear
understanding of how much additional tax
[1:48:04] base will be needed to meet the future
obligation of all this free
[1:48:07] infrastructure
or whether that level of growth is even
[1:48:11] plausible within a generation.
This is not a criticism of the people
[1:48:16] involved. It's a recognition of the
limits of the institution.
[1:48:20] One side is equipped to deal to fully
understand the deal and the other side
[1:48:24] is not.
Cities should be able to make mistakes
[1:48:28] and recover from them. What we cannot do
is give cities the ability to make
[1:48:33] decisions that if they go wrong, they
cannot recover from them. taking on
[1:48:37] obligations that are wildly
disproportionate to their capacity or
[1:48:42] making long-term commitments that bind
future generations to liabilities they
[1:48:47] may not be able to sustain.
Um, so that was just part of that was
[1:48:52] part of the article I kind of summarized
to keep it within a reasonable amount of
[1:48:55] time. Um, but I went to state fair last
week and I was talking to the DNR and
[1:49:01] the Department of Agriculture about data
centers and thinking about how many
[1:49:06] experts we have at the state level that
are commenting on this project in the
[1:49:11] same way that I as a non-expert am also
commenting on it. And I it is it is wild
[1:49:19] to me that the DNI the DNR and me are in
the same category with our comments.
[1:49:24] maybe they're included, maybe they're
not. Um,
[1:49:28] so it was it was really interesting to
talk to people, the experts at the state
[1:49:34] level. And in my opinion, one of the
most substantial problems with this
[1:49:39] current review process was the decision
to use an AUR, which substantially
[1:49:45] limits the environmental review that's
necessary. And because of this decision,
[1:49:50] the environmental review
is resting heavily on local authorities
[1:49:55] instead of our experts at the state
level.
[1:49:58] Like many others here, I'm in favor of
an environmental impact statement, an
[1:50:03] EIS. Uh, and I just want to acknowledge
to those on the council that
[1:50:10] if it feels like the decisions that are
being asked of you are way different
[1:50:15] than anything you've ever been asked to
do before,
[1:50:19] that's because
this is a crazy project for you to be
[1:50:23] responsible for. Um, this is like it is
wild to me that you're responsible for
[1:50:28] this. So, I just want to acknowledge if
it feels crazy, it is. It's crazy that
[1:50:33] you that this is five people here that
are saying yes to this project. Um, and
[1:50:40] I want to encourage you to share the
burden of that decision by
[1:50:49] six minutes is up and I want to
encourage you to share the burden of
[1:50:53] that decision with the DNR and with a
full environmental review. Don't let
[1:50:57] this rest on your own shoulders. Thank
you. Next is Cindy Olsen.
[1:51:05] Cindy has six minutes also.
>> Who's seated, Mr. Mayor?
[1:51:10] » She has seated from Sasha Dana.
[1:51:15] Name and hometown, please.
>> Good evening. My name is Cindy Olsen and
[1:51:18] I live in Grand Link Township. City
Council, mayor, city staff, thank you
[1:51:24] for your time tonight. On August 26th, I
sent an email to the mayor and the city
[1:51:29] council titled, "Add a medium industrial
classification that would include hypers
[1:51:34] scale data centers." This correspondence
was not listed in the list of
[1:51:38] communications received in tonight's
fourth packet. Um, if you didn't get
[1:51:43] that, it had an attachment. I don't know
if it got caught up in the filter, but
[1:51:46] if you didn't get it, I can certainly
send that after tonight's meeting. But I
[1:51:49] would like to verbally verbalize my
request and share the steps I have taken
[1:51:54] to this end.
As everyone in this room knows, the
[1:51:57] proposed Google hypers scale data center
project has emerged as one of the most
[1:52:02] divisive issues in ter in Hermantown
history. The community is sharply
[1:52:06] polarized, pitting advocates of economic
development against res residents who
[1:52:11] fear the erosion of their rural
lifestyle and localized environmental
[1:52:15] degradation.
One point of contention for those not in
[1:52:20] support of the project is the city's
decision to bypass a formal
[1:52:24] environmental impact statement. Google
and city officials maintain that an EIS
[1:52:29] is not required because a facility has
been classified as light industrial in
[1:52:34] zoning rules.
Applying a light industrial
[1:52:37] classification to a hyperscale data
center is fundamentally flawed.
[1:52:43] These massive facilities do not fit
neatly into the traditional definitions
[1:52:47] of either light or heavy industrial.
A discrepancy that exists because modern
[1:52:53] hypers scale data centers have
accelerated at a rate so fast that
[1:52:58] regulations have not been able to keep
up.
[1:53:03] According to standard municipal zoning
definitions, light industrial is
[1:53:07] classified by low impact operations with
minimal noise, motor or vibrations.
[1:53:13] These facilities typically feature a
small footprint, produce consumer goods
[1:53:18] and maintain close proximity to
residential areas due to their minimal
[1:53:23] community disruption.
Heavy industrial is characterized by
[1:53:27] highintensity capital intense operations
that require massive acreage generate
[1:53:33] high noise and environmental emissions.
They rely on heavy transportation
[1:53:37] infrastructure like rail lines or deep
water ports.
[1:53:41] The proposed data center fails to align
with either light industrial fails to
[1:53:46] align with light industrial due to its
massive footprints, the immense utility
[1:53:51] and water demands, continuous noise
output from cooling infrastructure, the
[1:53:56] necessary sound barriers, extensive
security fencing, and a workforce
[1:54:00] capacity of employees and contractors
that require 570 parking spaces.
[1:54:06] Conversely, it does not fully meet he
heavy industrial criteria either. While
[1:54:11] it requires massive buildings and
acreage, it has not been reported to
[1:54:15] generate emissions or order odor and
does not rely on heavy freight
[1:54:19] transportation or deep water ports.
To resolve this regulatory gap, I
[1:54:25] propose that the city of Hermantown
introduce an im an intermediate zoning
[1:54:29] category. You can call it midpoint
industrial or medium industrial or
[1:54:33] Hermantown industrial, whatever you want
to call it. This classification would be
[1:54:37] specially ta t tailored for modern
infrastructure that commands vast
[1:54:41] parcels of land, generate high traffic
volumes, require structural sound
[1:54:46] mitigation, and place unprecedented
demands on water and the electric grid.
[1:54:53] Municipalities across the country are
actively rewriting their zoning codes to
[1:54:58] address this unique footprint of data
centers. In Monomony, Wisconsin, an
[1:55:02] ordinance was passed to remove data
centers from standard warehousing
[1:55:05] definitions, creating a dedicated I-4
data center industrial district to
[1:55:09] ensure strict municipal oversight. In
Wasau, Wisconsin restricted data centers
[1:55:15] to a newly amended medium industrial
tier, implementing a mandatory 200 foot
[1:55:20] residential buffer zone to mitigate
cooling infrastructure noise. In
[1:55:25] Monaceel, Minnesota, they shifted data
centers into a general industrial
[1:55:29] classification to better manage off-site
infrastructure strains and isolate them
[1:55:33] from low impact business parks. In
Allentown, Pennsylvania, they face
[1:55:38] intense public push back when attempting
to downclassify a hypers scale project
[1:55:43] into general commercial zones,
highlighting the risk of miscalculating
[1:55:47] miscalculating miscal, excuse me,
misclassifying these intensive
[1:55:52] facilities.
Adopting a medium or midpoint midpoint
[1:55:56] industrial classification is the most
reasonable path forward for Hermantown.
[1:56:02] It would formalize regulations
surrounding data center utility
[1:56:06] consumption, spatial footprints, and
acoustic impacts. Most importantly,
[1:56:11] acknowledging the intensity of this
mid-tier classification would require
[1:56:16] more study than an AUR and would likely
trigger trigger a mandatory EIS
[1:56:21] providing the rigorous environmental
transparity transparity transparency and
[1:56:26] oversight that Herman residents are
asking for. I sent this request to the
[1:56:32] environmental quality board and they are
including they included it in their
[1:56:37] environmental review implementation
subcommittee packet for the meeting next
[1:56:41] week. I plan on intending that meeting
to provide public comment. They
[1:56:46] contacted me and suggested that I also
send the same thing to state
[1:56:50] legislators, city councilors, county
commissioners.
[1:56:54] Um and I have done that. I am asking you
to consider adding a midpoint industrial
[1:57:00] classification that would include hypers
scale data centers. This would be a much
[1:57:04] more appropriate classification than
light or heavy industrial. Thank you.
[1:57:09] » Thank you. Next is Joanne Bates followed
by Nicholas Leech.
[1:57:24] Mayor, city council, and city staff,
we get the feeling that you think we are
[1:57:33] overreacting.
We are not overreacting.
[1:57:37] We get the feeling that you think we're
anti-progress.
[1:57:41] We are not anti-progress.
We however are anti-corruption,
[1:57:48] anti-secre.
We are against a sacrifice zone. We are
[1:57:52] against being told that billionaire tech
brothers deserve more protection than
[1:57:57] the people who drink the water, breathe
the air, pay the t taxes, and live with
[1:58:02] the consequences.
We are fed up. We are here because our
[1:58:08] rural community in Hermantown has been
targeted. Not consulted, not respected,
[1:58:14] not protected, not included, targeted.
We were caught completely offguard by
[1:58:21] the people we elected and trusted to be
transparent. We were dei dismissed when
[1:58:28] we started asking questions. We were
going about our life, working, raising
[1:58:33] our children, gardening, enjoying our
rural way of life. We were paying bills,
[1:58:39] caring for aging parents, and just
trying to survive. We were kept in the
[1:58:44] dark until Hermantown city staff, the
Hermantown mayor, and the Hermantown
[1:58:49] city council told us Google was moving
in.
[1:58:54] And in fact, you didn't tell us first.
We figured it out through the news.
[1:58:59] You went to work pushing a project for
the second largest company in the world.
[1:59:04] A project so controversial it was given
a secret name.
[1:59:10] Deals were made, promises were
whispered, decisions were made without
[1:59:14] seeking answers from independent
experts.
[1:59:19] Due diligence was tossed aside so the
project could be rushed and started
[1:59:23] before anyone could stop it. That's not
democracy. That's betrayal. We are being
[1:59:30] told that they are the engine that will
power big tech AI of the future. They
[1:59:36] aren't here to innovate. They are here
to extract. They want our land. They
[1:59:43] want our water. They want our
electricity. They want us out of the
[1:59:48] way. Who pays the price? Rural residents
of Hermantown. The people whose jobs
[1:59:55] will be replaced by AI. the people who
will live through 10 years of
[1:59:59] constructions, seven days a week, 12 to
14 hours a day. We will pay the price
[2:00:06] while they run over our elected
officials
[2:00:10] with the arrogance of a business that
holds the spot of the second largest
[2:00:14] business of the world. They feel they
are above the rules, above regulations,
[2:00:19] above transparency, and above ethical
behavior. Google assumed we would not we
[2:00:25] would get frustrated that we would get
confused and we would get tired and give
[2:00:30] up. Does it look like we're giving up?
But we are tired of half-truths and
[2:00:36] lies. We are tired of covered up covers
up. We are tired of disrespect by the
[2:00:42] Hermantown city staff. We are tired of
paying 100% of our property tax and
[2:00:49] sales tax only to see that the state of
Minnesota and the city of Hermantown are
[2:00:54] giving Google a free ride. Google has
not been transparent about impacts. They
[2:01:00] are rushing the progress process. They
are courting politicians and dividing
[2:01:06] communities. They promise jobs but
downpay pollution. Both Google and the
[2:01:11] cities have dismissed our concerns. We
are being told it's a done deal.
[2:01:16] » We are expected to be grateful for what
Google will leave behind. Their goal is
[2:01:21] to divide us. Those who want jobs versus
those who want our communities
[2:01:26] environment left whole. But what binds
us together is much more than that. We
[2:01:33] all want clean water. We all want a
backyard we can enjoy.
[2:01:39] Did I go over time? did, but uh there
was someone Karen Howard wanted to seed
[2:01:45] to somebody that needed it. So, we're
giving you her three minutes.
[2:01:49] » Okay.
>> Sorry about that.
[2:01:52] » That's okay.
>> Um we want affordable, available, clean
[2:01:56] electric service. We all want
regulations that keep up with the rate
[2:02:00] of progress. We want transparency from
our elected officials. We want to be put
[2:02:07] before the corporations. We all want
careful planning without the possibility
[2:02:13] of regrets. The future we are fighting
for belongs to the people who live here.
[2:02:19] We want to make this clear. We are not
here to make nice. We are not here to
[2:02:24] beg. We are not here to plead for scraps
of protections after the deal has
[2:02:31] already been made. We are here to demand
what should have already been done. a
[2:02:37] moratorum on hypers scale data and
centers until such a time that the
[2:02:42] regulations catch up with the
technology. Until such regulations can
[2:02:47] catch up to the impact of these
hyperscaled data centers
[2:02:53] have on our environment and our economy.
Until we are certain AI will not
[2:02:58] eliminate more jobs than they promise,
we are not for sale. Our future is not
[2:03:03] for sale. Our natural resources are not
for sale. Fancy mailers to residents
[2:03:09] outside Hermantown won't soften our
resolve. We are asking the city council
[2:03:14] to put this data center development on
hold until such a time as regulations
[2:03:20] match temp technology.
Thank you for listening.
[2:03:24] » Thank you. Next is J. Please.
Next is Nicholas Leachch followed by
[2:03:32] Judy Mayor Mayor M.
Nicholas Leachch.
[2:03:39] He's not here. Okay. Julie
[2:03:45] name and hometown please. And after
Julie is Irene and I think it's
[2:03:52] Opus. Uh
[2:03:56] go ahead. Uh, Julie Mau, Duth. Uh, I'm
speaking against this data center as a
[2:04:02] concerned citizen.
>> Julie, hold it a second. Is that
[2:04:04] microphone turned on?
>> It's green.
[2:04:07] » Try turn it on and off again. See if it
We're having some technology issues this
[2:04:13] evening.
>> Testing
[2:04:16] » better. Much better.
>> Awesome. Um, yeah. Did you do you need
[2:04:20] me to say my name again?
>> No, we're we're good.
[2:04:23] Uh I'm speaking against this data center
as a concerned citizen and as a
[2:04:27] professional ecologist uh who
specializes in water quality and
[2:04:30] utrification issues. Um first of all,
the council claimed that the DNR sent
[2:04:36] comments back during the objection
period yet. That wasn't quite an
[2:04:39] objection to the project. I heard you
kind of use that weird phrasing during
[2:04:42] the premeating or pre-aggenda. Um that
but then yet said the DNR had comments
[2:04:47] and revisions. Um and I thought that was
some confusing wording. Later on, people
[2:04:51] who commented had, you know, said that,
yeah, the DNR is not a regulatory
[2:04:56] agency. It didn't necessarily have the
ability to object, yet it had
[2:05:00] substantial comments. So, I think the
way you're kind of framing that again is
[2:05:04] not very clear. Um, the DNR ecological
and water resources division director
[2:05:08] Melissa Kuski Kuski I believe noted that
there are severe information gaps and an
[2:05:14] incomplete alternative analysis, lack of
defined mitigation strategies and
[2:05:18] inaccurate descriptions of agency roles
and all of this should be addressed in
[2:05:22] the revised AUA to demonstrate the
significant environmental impacts that
[2:05:26] will be adequately identified or
mitigated. Um, and one major concern
[2:05:30] that they raised again that someone else
had said earlier was that baseline
[2:05:34] groundwater data was taken during a
drought year. And I don't know if you
[2:05:38] realize that we are currently in another
drought year. Um, water levels in our
[2:05:41] streams and Lake Superior are at record
lows. My monitoring team is seeing algo
[2:05:46] blooms crop up at increasing severity
and frequency as we faced our hottest
[2:05:50] summer on record. So the reality is that
climate change is rapidly shifting and
[2:05:55] the baselines are shifting. So, how can
we accurately define a baseline,
[2:05:59] especially when this project is moving
so quickly and our conditions are
[2:06:02] changing? I want you to really connect
the dots. I'm asking you to truly think
[2:06:08] about the future of this place that we
call home and think critically about how
[2:06:11] this data center will make life worse
for your children and your grandchildren
[2:06:15] and all of our relatives and the context
of how this region is changing now and
[2:06:19] in the future. And if we're looking at
the an economic angle, it still doesn't
[2:06:24] make sense. According to the Bureau of
Labor and Statistics in the Manhattan
[2:06:28] Institute, the estimated capital
investment to create one permanent data
[2:06:31] center job is $54 million versus other
job sectors spending an average of
[2:06:36] $300,000
on creating one permanent job. Not to
[2:06:41] mention, data centers like this one are
getting rid of most jobs, slowing job
[2:06:44] creation outside of the temporary
construction jobs that they'll create in
[2:06:47] the short term. Many many data center
proponents talk about a need for
[2:06:52] continued economic growth in this
region. But in reality, we do not need
[2:06:56] continued development of an industrial
scale to be prosperous. We need our
[2:06:59] farms intact. We need our ecosystems and
we need our wild rice. As someone who is
[2:07:04] involved in the delisting of the area of
concern in the St. Louis River, I know
[2:07:07] that legacy industry leave scars and
rippling impacts on the environment and
[2:07:11] human health. We are just now finally
seeing sturgeon return and wild rice
[2:07:15] return to our waters. the tangible
things that really matter. But all of
[2:07:19] this recovery and money poured into
restoration will go out the window if
[2:07:22] this data center and the proposed copper
nickel sulfide mines in this region are
[2:07:26] built.
We the people are fighting hard to
[2:07:29] protect our lands and waters which are
the real things that will sustain us
[2:07:32] into a very uncertain future.
>> Thank you.
[2:07:34] » Thank you.
>> I believe it looks like Irene something.
[2:07:40] I can't read the uh last name.
[2:07:46] And after her is Courtney
Grineer.
[2:07:52] » Hi. Name and address or name and
hometown, please.
[2:07:55] » It's Irene Aan.
>> Okay.
[2:07:57] » And I'm from Hermittown.
>> It's It looks better than if I would
[2:08:01] have read it.
>> Yeah. My husband's bowling ballot.
[2:08:04] » Thank you.
>> Uh buddies call him something else.
[2:08:08] Um, so I had a two quick things here.
Uh, and I was looking at the Braun. Is
[2:08:15] the guy still here for Braun?
>> He's not.
[2:08:19] » Well, I was looking at their website and
there is no indication that they have
[2:08:24] done any negotiations with the tribes.
They do cultural
[2:08:30] surveys, but there's nothing about
negotiations with the tribes. And I find
[2:08:36] that interesting.
um why you pick them.
[2:08:42] And the other thing is just historically
we've been in this spot before if you
[2:08:50] remember well you I don't remember but
they tell me US Steel came to Duth in
[2:08:56] about 1915
and I'm sure they had a great plan for
[2:09:00] Duth and they did. They built Gary and
they built the big mill and it was
[2:09:06] booming at the time. It was and I'm sure
the duth city council thought it was a
[2:09:15] great idea, but they didn't stick
around. And what do we got now? You
[2:09:21] know, it cost $165 million
to start cleaning up
[2:09:28] the site. It's still there.
What's going to happen with Google?
[2:09:34] What's, you know, they're offering us
this big lots of money, but what happens
[2:09:40] when they're done and they go away?
We're still not done cleaning up US
[2:09:46] Steel. So, that's what I got to say.
>> Thank you. Next is Judy or Courtney
[2:09:54] Grineer and then Judy Granol.
[2:10:00] Hi.
>> Name and hometown, please.
[2:10:04] » This is going to be funny. Um, my name
is Courtney Grryer and I own a childcare
[2:10:08] center in Esco and live in Carlton. My
childcare center serves nearly 80
[2:10:13] children daily and serves families
across the community. Every single one
[2:10:17] of those 80 children that attends my
center relies on water from our well
[2:10:21] along the Midway River. And we are not
within that halfmile comment mentioned
[2:10:26] earlier. My family drinks that water and
so many community children fish that
[2:10:32] river. City boundaries may determine who
gets to vote, but those boundaries
[2:10:37] cannot contain the consequences of
negative effects.
[2:10:41] So, I must ask, who's receiving the
lasting benefits and who's being asked
[2:10:44] to carry the lasting risk? I don't know
who told you that your choice was one or
[2:10:50] the other, but you do not have to choose
between economic growth and protecting
[2:10:54] our environmental resources. We can
create lasting economic value through
[2:10:59] development that strengthens our
communities without asking residents to
[2:11:03] gamble their water and watershed. Real
economic development should leave a
[2:11:07] community stronger. If a project asks
our children to inherit the risks, while
[2:11:13] a corporation takes the reward, that's
not progress. Counselors, choose an
[2:11:18] economic future that does not ask our
community and our children to suffer at
[2:11:23] your hands in the name of power and
profit. Thank you.
[2:11:27] » Thank you, Judy. Grandma,
and after Judy is Derek Strum.
[2:11:43] Judy, name and hometown, please. Judy
Grenell, Forest Thomas Road, Hermantown,
[2:11:51] and I thank you for allowing me to
speak. Um, the Hermantown motto is the
[2:11:57] city of quality living, and I'm proud to
be a resident. My concern regarding the
[2:12:04] center is multiffold, as well as this
recent propaganda that goes to everybody
[2:12:11] thinking it's going to be a wonderful
thing.
[2:12:14] The impact on local, excuse me, local
roads like Maple Grove, Highway 2,
[2:12:21] Midway, Arrowhead will be damaging.
I understand that Duth is going to
[2:12:28] provide the water and sewer lines.
And where will those be located?
[2:12:35] I'm suspicious it's Morris Thomas Road,
which also crosses over the Midway
[2:12:40] River, which is a designated trout
stream.
[2:12:43] brown trout stream.
Um the envir the environmental impact is
[2:12:49] devastating to wildlife, wetlands, wells
and rivers.
[2:12:56] The wells is a big one that I am really
concerned about because I have a well
[2:13:00] and my son has a well and the Midway
River goes right through my property
[2:13:05] diagonally all the way through.
UMD has proof of the negative health
[2:13:11] impact on humans which I think some of
you have heard about but we should ask
[2:13:17] the um people from UMD to give us um
impact on
[2:13:23] um the h the health whether it's
emotional health phys physiolog
[2:13:28] physiological health on um on people
taxes. Well, it sounds like they're
[2:13:35] going to be play paying all these taxes.
Well, my property taxes increased this
[2:13:40] year $1,000.
$1,000. And I had no improvements at all
[2:13:46] to my house or to my property. But
what's that going to do in the future?
[2:13:53] I wish that the citizens of Herman could
vote on this issue, but instead they're
[2:13:59] leaving that the solely decision is to
you, the city council, and I hope you're
[2:14:04] able to make a good decision on it. I
did send a letter to you in April with
[2:14:09] my concerns, but that was a long time
ago and I but I feel it's important for
[2:14:14] me to speak in person. This is not a
comfortable position to be in, but I am
[2:14:20] concerned that the quality of living
>> 30 seconds
[2:14:22] » is
in question in Hermantown and I love
[2:14:26] Hermantown. So, thank you very much.
>> Thank you. Next is Derek Strum followed
[2:14:32] by Joyce Hoyam.
[2:14:38] Who?
[2:14:42] Okay.
[2:14:52] Derek Strom, Hermantown.
There's a massive misconception that we
[2:14:56] that we need data centers for our
everyday life. The biggest argument is
[2:15:00] that if you use your phone or computer
that you have zero rights to complain.
[2:15:04] Currently in the United States, there
are 4,800 data centers built, 89 being
[2:15:08] built, and another 39 projected to be
built. One data center in alone in Utah
[2:15:13] has enough storage capacity for every
person's social media accounts, text
[2:15:17] messages, and emails in this country for
the next 500 years, if you choose to
[2:15:21] believe their own statistics. The next
argument is the AI race with China. What
[2:15:26] people don't understand is the dangers
of AI and the invasions of our
[2:15:30] privacies. For instance, Zoom AI will
soon be transcribing all videos and
[2:15:34] conversations and storing them. Flack
cameras everywhere, monitoring every
[2:15:38] movement. They will say, "If you're
doing nothing wrong, there's no fear of
[2:15:41] cameras until they change what the
definition of wrong is." All of this
[2:15:45] violates our Fourth Amendment rights.
They are taking away our sovereignty
[2:15:49] from our communities. Data centers are
getting water permits for water usage
[2:15:53] before residents and ranchers. Smart
water meters are being installed to
[2:15:58] where if you use too much water, it will
send out messages of your water use and
[2:16:02] if you continue to use that water, they
will restrict your usage. These centers
[2:16:06] are being labeled as self-contained and
that is also misinformation. Energy
[2:16:11] costs will rise due to the spillover
effect. This effect is what future costs
[2:16:15] will be. Black Rockck's own CEO, Larry
Flink, has even stated that communities
[2:16:20] will need to pay for these centers. Look
at your electric bill. They are slowly
[2:16:24] rising the cost to get you used to the
higher prices. Mine just went up 20%
[2:16:29] this month. There's supposed to be a cap
on these rising prices, but to this day
[2:16:34] there isn't any enforcement being done.
Financial institutions are now giving
[2:16:38] out credit loans to the build these
centers without any promise of future
[2:16:41] profits. Everything is speculation. If
they fail, communities will eat the cost
[2:16:47] because or will the companies receive
bailouts. Now, there are a lot of people
[2:16:51] that want to talk about jobs they bring.
Let me ask these people, will this one
[2:16:55] job secure your retirement when the job
is done along with paying with your
[2:16:58] kids' college education? Because once AI
takes over, your kids won't have the
[2:17:03] basic jobs to put them through college.
No beginning starter jobs to teach them
[2:17:07] work ethic. Even as we speak, Taco Bell
has kiosk inside their building. Right
[2:17:12] now, these basic starter jobs are there
because it's cheaper to employ people
[2:17:16] instead of machines. Once this cost is
lowered, millions of people will be out
[2:17:20] of work. It's like DVD players. When
they first came out, they are hundreds
[2:17:23] of dollars. Now you use them to smash a
bug. Now we have the political aspect
[2:17:28] from top to bottom. I was a three-time
Trump supporter, but he has let me down.
[2:17:33] His administration has implemented
executive orders to push these centers.
[2:17:38] The first executive order, unlike
everybody else, these centers do not
[2:17:42] need EPA approval to build. Second,
Trump has an executive order for the
[2:17:46] DOJ. They have a litigation team to sue
communities who oppose these centers.
[2:17:52] Lastly, he's forcing communities to give
subsidies to these corporations who
[2:17:56] choose to build. This is unacceptable.
Our community should not be forced to
[2:18:01] give a trillion dollar company subsidies
for their own profit when the community
[2:18:05] doesn't want it. What our political
leaders forget is that we, the people,
[2:18:10] are in charge, not themselves.
Congressman Pete Stabber is a coward. No
[2:18:14] matter how many times I've been to his
office, emailed him, or been on a town
[2:18:18] hall phone conference, he refuses to
acknowledge my concerns. State Senator
[2:18:24] Jen Mchuan is another. I've emailed her,
messaged her trying to get her support
[2:18:28] in what I put forth. Both stand on the
stage and will say whatever they want to
[2:18:32] hear to help, but then it's comes to
complete silence. We need actual leaders
[2:18:38] who are not afraid to stand against
opposition. This isn't a Democrat or
[2:18:42] Republican thing. It's a community
thing. As long as it stands right now,
[2:18:46] we need to take a stand like a formers
80s movie Brewster's Millions. We need
[2:18:51] to vote none of the above. Get these
lifetime politicians out of office,
[2:18:56] fresh new leaders who will do what they
say and mean what they say instead of
[2:19:00] feeding us lies for votes. Have a
respectable record and stand up for your
[2:19:05] community's beliefs. Now, for
Hermantown, these leaders do not know
[2:19:09] what leading is. Leaders are transparent
and don't hide the factors and effects
[2:19:14] everyone in the communities by signing
NDAs. When Google came to Hermantown to
[2:19:19] build this hypers scale data center, it
should have been voted on by the people.
[2:19:23] But they are supposed to represent us
and our biddings. Period. That's it.
[2:19:28] Now, to protect our community, I
proposed a resolution to secure
[2:19:32] financial means and our health. My
resolution stated that we were to be
[2:19:36] compensated for our loss in property
values which has already been ruled by
[2:19:41] the Minnesota Supreme Court in the Dook
versus Rochester case. The other point
[2:19:45] in the resolution was hold on the city
council and the mayor liable for any
[2:19:49] medical and veterary expenses to be
compensated without years of leg
[2:19:54] litigation due to the pollution from
these data centers. The city council
[2:19:59] refuses to bring my resolution to the
floor. We bring statistics to every city
[2:20:04] council meeting regarding the hazards,
but if it's so safe, why won't you take
[2:20:08] responsibility for the decisions that
you forced upon us? The answer is they
[2:20:12] don't care about the community. What
they care about is saving their name
[2:20:15] from the mismanagement of funds and the
upfront funds they were received from
[2:20:19] Google. Now we have the department heads
degrading members of our community. They
[2:20:23] made sexist, racist, and derogatory
remarks and nothing has been done.
[2:20:27] » 30 seconds.
>> They haven't been fired or suspended.
[2:20:30] Now I am calling on the
General Attorney General Ellison and the
[2:20:35] state St. Louis County Attorney Mackey
to fire all these. Make no mistake here,
[2:20:41] people. We are at war with corporations
to destroy our community and to control
[2:20:46] our way of life through power and money.
We are at war with leadership out of
[2:20:50] their own greed. It's time we take a
stand, tell Google, Black Rockck, and
[2:20:53] Minnesota Power they do not belong in
our community. The only way we survive
[2:20:57] is to stick together and push back to
ensure our quality of life. Thank you.
[2:21:10] Next we have Emily Berg. And after Emily
is Sherry Rowan.
[2:21:27] » Hello.
>> Name and hometown. Uh Emily and I live
[2:21:31] in Midway. Um it's my first time
speaking up here, so I'm sorry if I'm
[2:21:36] not really great. I was just going over
the uh AOA and um I I noticed a few
[2:21:43] things that were mentioned on it. Uh re
specifically regarding the temperature
[2:21:49] and I think we've all kind of noticed
that it's been a hot one lately um the
[2:21:55] last several record-breaking years in a
row. uh especially with all of this um
[2:22:02] drought and um yeah, so they said that
the average temperature um on page 23 is
[2:22:12] the average temperature is 38.8 degrees.
Um it it is expected to increase to 41°
[2:22:23] by 2040.
That is a lot. Um, and then that's just
[2:22:30] under low emissions. Under high
emissions is expected to increase to 57
[2:22:37] degrees as an average temperature here.
So that means we don't get ice fishing.
[2:22:46] That means all of these green hats have
to work out in that weather. That's the
[2:22:52] average temperature, not the high
temperatures. And you are inviting a
[2:22:57] company to come here and dump heat into
our area. You are allowing them to come
[2:23:05] in and remove 10,000
trees. These trees reduce the the
[2:23:13] temperature of the surrounding areas and
they aren't required to replant any of
[2:23:19] that.
They only proposed to replant 245
[2:23:25] trees and that is on page 26 of this. Um
the current cooling days that the
[2:23:34] current amount of days that we need
cooling in our area is 73 as of 2019.
[2:23:42] By 2050, we are looking at 142 to 214
days where we need air conditioning.
[2:23:53] You guys seem lucky enough to have this
air conditioning in here and not have to
[2:23:58] sit out there. But today it was 78°
>> 30 seconds.
[2:24:04] » It was 78° and it was disgustingly
humid.
[2:24:10] Lots of us up here do not have air
conditioning. And you want these people
[2:24:16] to come in here and dump heat right next
to our homes. There is no study about
[2:24:23] how this is going to affect the
surrounding areas. It says in uh on page
[2:24:30] 155, Google must complete a
computational thermy thermal study to
[2:24:37] verify all expelled heat would not
create a heat island.
[2:24:42] » Have they done it?
>> Thank you.
[2:24:46] » Have they?
[2:24:50] » And what time is that? I don't
[2:24:57] » Okay, go ahead.
>> Um,
[2:25:02] yes. Uh, they they have to complete uh a
computational thermal study to verify
[2:25:08] the expelled heat would not create a
heat island.
[2:25:12] um they have not stated what data
they're going to be using because the
[2:25:17] weather patterns here have been very uh
historical weather patterns are no
[2:25:23] longer um what they have been. Uh and
how do we know that the company who is
[2:25:29] doing this study that is proposing this
is going to use real numbers and give us
[2:25:34] back real numbers when they are the ones
who are going to be profiting. Thank
[2:25:38] you.
>> Thank you. The next is Sher Rowan,
[2:25:42] followed by Emma Rickman.
[2:25:58] » Is it Well, is that Sherry?
Okay, Emma, you have six minutes.
[2:26:17] Uh, good evening, Emma Richman,
Hermantown.
[2:26:20] Um, I just want to acknowledge
Commissioner Grim's comments. Uh, I hold
[2:26:25] a lot of space for her as a mother, um,
and any mother or father or caregiver
[2:26:30] who has shown up to engage civically
with their child or children present.
[2:26:36] So, I am deeply appre appreciative of
her commitment.
[2:26:41] Um,
oh, I need that Google flyer. I left it
[2:26:45] on my chair.
[2:26:54] Like many of us, I received this earlier
this week. Um, and I was struck by how
[2:27:00] bold Google's message was of 20 years of
responsible data center development. So
[2:27:06] then where is the EIS and where is the
decommissioning bond? Now I wrote this
[2:27:11] before I heard Holston's comments. So I
would add to that
[2:27:17] where was the thoughtfulness in the
beginning? Feedback should have not been
[2:27:21] necessary to have a decommissioning
plan. If they were a good neighbor,
[2:27:24] Google would have proactively presented
to this to you in the development
[2:27:28] agreement.
It also states on here, our school
[2:27:32] district, I don't remember this project
being approved for Google to speak as
[2:27:37] though they have put down roots here.
Highquality permanent jobs over the life
[2:27:42] of the project. I heard Holston even say
the full life cycle of the project,
[2:27:48] implying it ends at some point. So when
does it end? Is it 28 years like the tax
[2:27:53] abatements say or or that the tax
abatements allude to or is it 15 to 20
[2:27:58] years like the data center literature
states?
[2:28:03] Council, do you remember the
romanticized story Mr. Ronetti shared
[2:28:06] this past fall where the fresh out of
college kid came here from Iowa and fell
[2:28:10] in love with this place
uh and that they will have a much better
[2:28:13] chance to stay here and work here
because we created the chance for this
[2:28:18] project to go through? What happens to
them in 28 years when the life cycle of
[2:28:22] this project concludes? Will a senior
staffer be able to find work in the same
[2:28:27] career path here in the Northland? Will
they need to leave Hermantown for a new
[2:28:30] job? Where does the multiplier effect
go? Supporting local jobs. This flyer
[2:28:36] was not even printed at a local union
printing shop. It was printed out of
[2:28:40] Wisconsin.
[2:28:43] Switching gears, I want to take a moment
to acknowledge the civic courage that it
[2:28:47] takes to get up here and speak.
Depending on where your personality
[2:28:51] falls, speaking spans the spectrum.
Civic courage can look like crying,
[2:28:56] yelling, whispering, getting choked up,
mixed up in your words, laughter, a
[2:29:01] monotone voice, and more. My civic
courage has evolved over this past year.
[2:29:07] I am not crying when I speak up here
anymore, but that is not a sign that I
[2:29:10] have improved at my civic engagement.
Despite a city condoned better score,
[2:29:17] there is a power differential that
exists between you and us. It is no
[2:29:21] small thing to be able to speak through
this invisible veil. I still have
[2:29:25] difficulty making eye contact with you
due to the power you hold. Perhaps
[2:29:29] that's my next goal for improvement. It
takes a lot of courage to speak truth to
[2:29:35] power.
Let me repeat that. It takes a lot of
[2:29:39] courage for you five to speak truth to
power.
[2:29:48] In my campaign journey to serve as
Hermantown city councelor, I have been
[2:29:51] asked multiple times in various
interviews, how do you view your role as
[2:29:55] counselor? Time and again, I have
answered the same. To represent the
[2:29:59] voices of the people of this community.
Are you
[2:30:05] Hermantown and Google are building a
stronger tomorrow together?
[2:30:10] That's what it states on here. Does
Google know something that we don't? No
[2:30:15] permits have been signed. No ground has
been broken. Is this a foregone
[2:30:20] conclusion? Where is democracy in the
decision-making pro process? Google
[2:30:26] seems to be Google seems to be
forgetting about the public process. has
[2:30:31] the city too.
Google does not make the decisions. You
[2:30:36] do. And I would appreciate it if you
start reminding them. The power belongs
[2:30:41] to the people, not the servers.
[2:30:50] » Tim Resburg.
And next is Tom Rittner.
[2:31:14] My name is Tim Resburg. I'm from
Hermantown
[2:31:19] and I'd like to talk to you about some
guarantees that we haven't heard about.
[2:31:26] And uh if you can say yes or no when I
ask you about some of these little
[2:31:32] projects,
one of them is the PLA
[2:31:37] that they're supposed to sign. And these
green hats should know a little bit
[2:31:42] about that. And those who don't know
what a PLA is, it's a project labor
[2:31:47] agreement. and I spent 40 years on
construction as electrician and local
[2:31:53] 242 union out of Duth
and I talked to a few people at the
[2:32:00] Mortonson company when they had that
meeting up there at the Shriners
[2:32:05] and I asked one of the Mortonson people
that's the major contractor
[2:32:10] if they are going to do any PLA and one
guy said I don't know you'll have to
[2:32:17] talk to this other guy from Mortonson.
So I went and asked him and he says,
[2:32:23] "Well, we're thinking about a PLA."
So the green people, they should know
[2:32:30] this and you should too that they're not
going to guarantee that they're going to
[2:32:35] be hiring
anybody on construction from Duth
[2:32:41] through the unions.
And Mortonson is a big enough company
[2:32:45] where they might even bring in their own
people
[2:32:48] and say to hell
with ours. And at this area that
[2:32:54] industrial site that we were told that
was supposed to be a a light business
[2:32:59] manufacturer,
you guys misinformed us about that.
[2:33:06] And in one of his even said you had a
child that was going to be in electrical
[2:33:10] apprenticeship and would spend their
whole apprenticeship working on this.
[2:33:14] That was a mis
illusion too because that's not the way
[2:33:19] it works. They don't keep the
apprentices on one job learning just one
[2:33:23] thing because I've worked on houses all
the way up to nuclear plants. Some of
[2:33:29] the other guarantees I'd like to know
about
[2:33:33] is that the installment of the water and
sewer for this outfit. They say they're
[2:33:40] going to pay to have it installed, but
then now the taxpayers of Hermantown are
[2:33:48] going to have to pay for the maintenance
>> of the line and the pumping stations and
[2:33:53] the tower. And why should the taxpayers
of Hermantown pay for them that the
[2:33:59] billionaires can afford themselves on
this?
[2:34:04] And then
[2:34:09] the wells going dry when they start
digging and blasting. What happens to
[2:34:16] our people that are on the wells?
send their children to school and now
[2:34:22] water or if they come home from work and
there's no water, where is the water
[2:34:28] going to come from? Is there any
guarantee?
[2:34:31] » Time's up.
>> I'm sorry.
[2:34:35] » Who are you?
>> Thank you.
[2:34:42] So in
>> uh
[2:34:45] » they had mentioned
>> had yours seated to Sarah Loal.
[2:34:50] Okay, go ahead. Go ahead, Tim.
And so anyways, talking about the wells
[2:34:56] and them going dry and that they had
mentioned one time that they would run a
[2:35:01] pipeline,
but in order for the citizens that were
[2:35:05] running out of water and haven't had
water for how long, they're going to
[2:35:09] have to pay for the hookup on that. And
it depends if one person's got an acre,
[2:35:15] he'll pay one thing. If the next
person's got 20 or 30 acres, he's going
[2:35:19] to pay a hell of a lot more. And that's
not right and it's not fair.
[2:35:26] And then talking about the property
values,
[2:35:30] is there any guarantee that these
billionaires are going to give us the
[2:35:36] money for our property values that are
going to drop like all get out and go
[2:35:41] because nobody's going to want to live
next to a data center that's producing
[2:35:47] pollution,
light, noise.
[2:35:52] And also there's a guarantee. They had
not given us any guarantee on the storm
[2:35:59] runoff nor the noise pollution or the
lights and the land pollution.
[2:36:06] What's going to happen with that? None
have ever given us a guarantee that
[2:36:11] they're going to do this. And the
company itself has never gave us any
[2:36:15] guarantees. And why do you want that in
there
[2:36:19] if they're not going to give any
guarantees to the taxpayers and the
[2:36:23] homeowners? And it's going to destroy a
lot. They're saying only people 250 ft
[2:36:30] to a quarter mile that they've said
before.
[2:36:35] This is going to affect people miles
around. And two other townships, Soloway
[2:36:40] and Midway.
And Hermantown at one time used to
[2:36:44] always say
come live in Hermantown for the rural
[2:36:50] residential area
and all a sudden now you guys want to
[2:36:55] change that to an industrial site and
all these people that moved up after all
[2:37:01] the lies that you've told them about
moving up here. And then I do believe it
[2:37:06] was back in 2014
somewhere in that area they had talked
[2:37:11] about the light business
and the people of Adolf area said no we
[2:37:16] want to keep it the historical farm and
rural area
[2:37:20] we don't want that
>> 30 seconds
[2:37:23] » and then one use councilman said that
it's only going to be a light business
[2:37:30] place no bigger than the Adolf door
[2:37:35] and now look what we got.
No guarantees.
[2:37:39] » Thank you. Next is Tom Rittner.
[2:37:45] Tom Rittner.
[2:37:59] Nobody's coming.
[2:38:03] Jonathan Thornton.
[2:38:10] » Yes.
>> Okay.
[2:38:16] » Jonathan Thornton, Hermantown resident.
Good evening, mayor and counselors.
[2:38:23] In 2013, I was given an opportunity to
attend the Blandon Community Leadership
[2:38:27] Program along with 23 others from
Hermantown.
[2:38:31] I'm still very grateful to the
Hermittown community for this
[2:38:34] opportunity.
One of the lessons I took away from this
[2:38:37] week-long leadership training was the
art of listening
[2:38:43] to learn.
I still struggle with perfecting this
[2:38:47] art, but it's always top of mind. I'm
going to ask that you listen to my
[2:38:52] comments tonight with an interest in
learning something new.
[2:38:57] I've spent 35 years selling homes in
this area. During that time, I've worked
[2:39:02] with buyers and sellers through changing
markets. I've seen how location,
[2:39:06] neighborhood character, and nearby land
sales influences what people are willing
[2:39:11] to pay for a home.
I want to address a question that has
[2:39:15] not received enough attention.
What happens to the value of a family's
[2:39:20] home when a hyperscaled data center
becomes its neighbor?
[2:39:26] For many homeowners, their largest
financial asset is their home. It's a
[2:39:31] true statement. It represents years of
mortgage payments, maintenance, and
[2:39:36] savings. A decision that changes the
character of their neighborhood can also
[2:39:41] change what a future buyer is willing to
pay.
[2:39:45] The proposed Google data center lies in
the middle, right in the middle of a zip
[2:39:50] code, which we call 55810. I live in
this zip code. many of the people behind
[2:39:55] me do as well.
I did some research over this holiday
[2:39:59] weekend. Remember, I have all the tools
to do this research. I've been doing it
[2:40:04] for 35 years.
The average sale price in 55810 went up
[2:40:10] every year from 2020 to 2025.
The proposed data center became public
[2:40:17] knowledge in late September of 25.
In the last 12 months, the average sale
[2:40:24] price in 55810 has decreased
by 8%.
[2:40:32] That could be explained away if all the
areas around 55810 were also decreasing.
[2:40:37] The facts are different. During that
same period, neighboring 55811 increased
[2:40:43] by 9%
while 5584 increased by 4% over the past
[2:40:49] 12 months.
That is 17% differential in 811
[2:40:56] and a 12% differential in 804.
That is a striking divergence. Why is
[2:41:04] the zip code containing the proposed
project moving in the opposite direction
[2:41:09] from the neighboring residential
markets? The proposed facility is not a
[2:41:14] small office building. It is a hypers
scale industrial complex with
[2:41:19] substantial electrical infrastructure
and mechanical cooling equipment. A
[2:41:23] closed loop cooling system may reduce
water consumption but it does not
[2:41:26] eliminate the need to reject heat into
the outside air that requires equipment
[2:41:32] and equipment can create noise which it
does. Visual impacts and other
[2:41:37] conditions that buyers consider when
choosing a home. The project will also
[2:41:42] have a perimeter noise wall reportedly
ranging from 20 to 35 ft in height.
[2:41:47] These are not ordinary residential
fences. For neighboring homeowners,
[2:41:51] walls of that scale could block views,
alter the character of the neighborhood,
[2:41:55] and make ne nearby homes feel enclosed
by an industrial facility.
[2:42:01] Will a willing buyer pay the same price
for a house next to a massive industrial
[2:42:05] wall as for a comparable house without
it?
[2:42:10] unlikely.
For a $400,000 home, an 8% reduction in
[2:42:14] value represents $32,000
for one home at 400,000. A 10%
[2:42:19] reduction, of course, is 40,000. These
are those are not abstract numbers to
[2:42:24] the family that owns that home. Some
properties around the proposed site have
[2:42:28] sold for extraordinary prices because
they were being acquired for the
[2:42:31] project. These are called assemblage or
project project related acquisitions. A
[2:42:37] developer may pay for more than the or
I'm sorry. A developer may pay
[2:42:43] far more for the ordinary than an
ordinary residential market value
[2:42:47] because it needs this particular parcel
to complete a much larger development.
[2:42:52] That purchase price reflects the
property's special value to the
[2:42:55] developer, not necessarily its value to
an ordinary home buyer. Including those
[2:43:00] transactions as ordinary comparable
sales would distort the analysis. It
[2:43:04] could make the market appear stronger.
precisely because the developer is
[2:43:07] buying up the properties it needs. Which
is why when Google tells you that it
[2:43:12] increases values, they're obviously
using those per those parcels. The
[2:43:17] correct comparison is between ordinary
armslength transactions. If you've heard
[2:43:21] the term arms length transactions,
that's a a term in our industry,
[2:43:24] residential sales, not corporate
assembling an industrial site. So arms
[2:43:30] length transactions are between two
regular home owners and buyers and
[2:43:34] sellers. Those remaining homeowners are
the people whose property values risk we
[2:43:38] need to measure. When you ask the Google
representative if property values would
[2:43:42] be affected, they claim that their
studies show that the property values
[2:43:45] actually increase in the surrounding
areas. Well, first off, why are we
[2:43:49] asking Google this question? Don't you
think that question needs to be answered
[2:43:54] by an independent third party? Or better
yet, just look at the actual facts and
[2:43:58] what is happening to the average sale
prices in the zip codes where the
[2:44:02] project is proposed. The mere proposal
of this project is already creating a
[2:44:07] measurable residential property valued
burden. That burden needs to be
[2:44:12] acknowledged by Google and by the city
of Hermantown. It needs to be disclosed
[2:44:16] and addressed, not hidden by averages
that are born out of multi-million
[2:44:20] dollar acquisitions.
>> Six minutes.
[2:44:21] » Before the city council makes any
further decisions, residents deserve an
[2:44:26] answer to these straightforward
questions. What is the value of the
[2:44:29] residential property that remains around
this project? And how much of that value
[2:44:34] are you, every one of you?
>> Thank you.
[2:44:38] » Are you asking those homeowners to put
at risk?
[2:44:41] » Thank you.
>> How much are you willing to put at risk?
[2:44:44] » Seriously.
[2:44:57] Next is Clarissa Egg.
[2:45:11] Good evening, Clarissa at Hermantown,
but Soway Township. Um, I have other
[2:45:16] things to say, but I want to address
that. Um, he's directly speaking about
[2:45:21] me. My property is 0.5 miles from this
development. I've lived there for 13
[2:45:25] years. It is my primary investment. It's
where I raised my children. I don't want
[2:45:29] to live next to this thing. I have never
been given an opportunity. I'm in
[2:45:33] Soulway Township, so I can't even vote
for you that's making this decision
[2:45:37] that's going to affect my life. Nobody's
going to buy my property. If Google
[2:45:41] wants to be there because it's
convenient for them because of the
[2:45:44] substation, then they should buy out the
properties that have to live next to it.
[2:45:50] It is not fair. And if you if the city
council wants to approve this project,
[2:45:54] then that should be part of the deal. Do
not make the people live next to this.
[2:46:00] If they want to be good neighbors, be an
actual good neighbor. You have the
[2:46:04] money. This is a multi-trillion dollar
company and they're going to let people
[2:46:09] who live next to this property suffer,
lose their property values, and
[2:46:14] potentially be physically, emotionally,
mentally harmed. Moving on to my other
[2:46:19] comments, I'm going to add because I
don't always know if you understand
[2:46:23] what's going on because it's really hard
to tell. There are three active lawsuits
[2:46:28] regarding this data center as we speak.
One is the MCEA and the um stop the
[2:46:34] Hermantown data center versus the city
of Hermantown and Google Harmony Group.
[2:46:38] Uh there was just a motion to uh for
contempt filed against Harmony for
[2:46:43] breaking a stipulated agreement that
they were going to give MCA 60 days
[2:46:47] notice before they asked for any
permitting. They never did that. They
[2:46:51] put the permitting on. There was a
motion to contempt that was supposed to
[2:46:55] be heard and there's an agreement to um
continue that to October 27th, 2026.
[2:47:01] There's also an um separate lawsuit
involving the stop the Herman data
[2:47:06] center versus the city of Hermantown
where Google and Harmony Group
[2:47:09] intervened in that matter and there are
motion hearings at the end of the month.
[2:47:14] There's also now a federal lawsuit
involved in a large land owner. That
[2:47:18] land owner still owns that land despite
what any of you say. She is still the
[2:47:22] land owner. That land never closed and
all the permits involve her property.
[2:47:27] That lawsuit includes, among other
things, deception when they offered to
[2:47:32] buy her property. So, there's three
active lawsuits. I want to move on to
[2:47:37] the agreement that you've already passed
with the consulting services with Bronn
[2:47:42] Intertech for up to $20,000. And I want
to know if you actually looked at that
[2:47:48] agreement because it you're paying a lot
of money for actually nothing. Um,
[2:47:53] according to the agreement, they're
going to research and do an engagement
[2:47:57] letter for $3,52.
One letter and some research. $3,52.
[2:48:05] Planning a meeting, $3,257.
Just the planning. Uh, the meeting the
[2:48:13] um including food and hotel costs for
all of you, $4,738.
[2:48:19] and then a summary report and a
recommendation for $1,874
[2:48:25] for a total of $12,921.
That does not even include any actual
[2:48:30] work or or contacting the tribes. So, I
wonder if you actually read these
[2:48:36] agreements. And that leads me to my next
point. I have been sitting here meeting
[2:48:41] after meeting for a year and I've looked
over your voting record for several
[2:48:45] years. Some of you have never once voted
no to anything. A resolution, an
[2:48:52] ordinance, a land use decision for
years, never once voted no. How can it
[2:49:00] be possible that every single thing that
comes in front of you is a good idea?
[2:49:06] You're obviously not listening to
anybody. you are seemingly listening to
[2:49:12] like um John Moulder, administrative
Moulder, who promised um Minnesota Power
[2:49:18] Elite Eric Forsman in an email from uh
June 14th, 2024 that he could reszone
[2:49:25] the land for the data center in as
little as eight weeks. What does that
[2:49:29] mean for you and your decision making?
That's how he thinks of you. That you're
[2:49:34] not going to ask any questions. You're
not going to do any due diligence.
[2:49:37] You're not going to listen to anybody
because he's telling Eric Boresman from
[2:49:40] Minnesota Power that he can reszone all
of this land to accommodate a hypers
[2:49:45] scale data center the size of the US
Bank Stadium in 8 weeks. That's taking
[2:49:50] the power away from you. That would
insult me if somebody was telling me of
[2:49:56] how I'm going to vote and I'm not going
to listen to any of the people that
[2:50:00] voted me in. Isn't that insulting to
you? Isn't that embarrassing to you?
[2:50:05] Because it is embarrassing to me that
none of you ever vote no. Not tonight,
[2:50:12] not last month, not the month before,
never.
[2:50:17] You have to stop and think. And to me,
and this is out of no disrespect, it
[2:50:22] truly isn't. But you look like puppets.
And there is a puppet master and he's
[2:50:27] pulling the strings. And that would be
um Moulder. And you've seen how he talks
[2:50:31] about his residence. you've seen and
listen to the recordings. Um, and I
[2:50:37] think that you should really stop and
think about what you're doing and
[2:50:42] actually vote your conscience. Maybe put
some ethics in it. Maybe put some
[2:50:46] critical thinking skills. Use your
intelligence and make your own
[2:50:50] decisions. And don't be told how you're
going to vote. And certainly that you're
[2:50:54] not going to affect thousands of people,
if not hundreds of thousands of people,
[2:50:59] because somebody says that you can
decide it in eight weeks. Thank you.
[2:51:15] Jeffrey Danahill
[2:51:20] Jeffrey. Yeah.
[2:51:34] They're looking.
[2:51:42] » Hi. Name and hometown, please.
>> Good evening. Good evening. Jeffrey
[2:51:47] Donahghue, Midway Township.
I want to talk about the elephant in the
[2:51:52] room and one is uh mayor, you've talked
about decorum respect.
[2:51:59] The elephant in the room is 99% of the
people that have addressed this council
[2:52:08] on this issue have said no.
No data center on this site.
[2:52:16] No, no, no,
no.
[2:52:23] That's pretty easy, isn't it? I feel
like you're bullying us.
[2:52:28] A lot of us are here are senior
citizens. A lot of the people here are
[2:52:33] You laugh, you smile at that.
[2:52:38] I couldn't be more serious. A lot of
people here are older,
[2:52:44] senior citizens, disabled people.
We're up here. We're up here late.
[2:52:52] We don't need to be We don't need to be
bullied.
[2:52:57] The fact that you guys
still are leaning on this and still
[2:53:02] voting yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, after
99% of the speakers have said no. No,
[2:53:09] no, no, no. How is that possible? How
how can you be human beings?
[2:53:18] » How is that possible that you could be
human beings? 99% of us are saying no
[2:53:25] and you're still moving everything
forward. And a lot of times you're not
[2:53:29] even paying attention to who's speaking.
You're looking at pieces of paper.
[2:53:33] You're looking at the timers. You're
wondering what time it Well, we all are.
[2:53:38] It's late.
[2:53:41] But how could you be moving this thing
forward when the entire area doesn't
[2:53:48] want it? Yeah. The trades people think
they're going to get some work out of
[2:53:52] it. They might.
So, there's going to be some people for
[2:53:57] it.
Construction workers are great. By the
[2:54:01] way, I have six minutes. My wife seated
uh me three minutes. She's on the top of
[2:54:06] page five.
Uh,
[2:54:09] » thank you.
>> So,
[2:54:13] yeah, they might get some work, but
these big contractors, I know how they
[2:54:16] come in. They come in and they're they
may or they may hire some local
[2:54:20] contractors. They may not. We've got a
shortage of contractors in the greater
[2:54:26] Duth area anyway.
So, if all the contractors are hired,
[2:54:33] there won't be anybody left to build our
homes and businesses. So it it may be
[2:54:38] true,
but it still comes down to why are you
[2:54:45] moving this project forward when the
community clearly says don't move it
[2:54:52] forward.
It's this is supposed to be a democracy.
[2:54:58] You're supposed to be representative of
your constituents, which I unfortunately
[2:55:03] am not one of. But I'm three miles as
the crow flies from this project. So I
[2:55:10] get no positive benefits, but I do get
the negative benefits. And there are
[2:55:15] thousands of negative benefits. I can't
even begin to go into them tonight.
[2:55:19] You've heard many, many people talk for
the last year about the negative
[2:55:24] impacts. And I haven't disagreed with
one of them.
[2:55:29] The people here in red shirts know
probably way more than you four do. In
[2:55:35] with respect, we've had to learn. We've
had to read, read, read, read, and read.
[2:55:43] Go to meetings, talk to people. We have
become, unfortunately, we've had to
[2:55:47] become experts on hypers scale data
centers.
[2:55:53] The valuation of homes
and what you're going to do to the
[2:55:58] valuation of homes is is sinful.
You're going to give our property value
[2:56:06] to Google
and you're going to debate their taxes.
[2:56:12] I mean, this is stupid.
[2:56:17] Stupid. And now you guys aren't. You're
very intelligent. I've spoken to a
[2:56:22] couple of you personally. I respect you.
But this project is stupid.
[2:56:29] It makes no sense. But even if it was
smart, 99% of the people say no. And
[2:56:36] you're representing us or your
constituents anyway. The Hermittown dats
[2:56:44] say no. You represent them. They say no.
You vote no. That's how it works in a
[2:56:50] democracy.
You don't decide.
[2:56:55] You do what your constituents want and
they want no data center on this site.
[2:57:04] Light industrial, give me a break. It's
going to be one of the top five largest
[2:57:10] businesses in the state and by far the
largest hypers scale data center.
[2:57:18] » 30 seconds.
>> It's going to be damaging in so many
[2:57:21] ways.
[2:57:25] But we don't want it. The community
doesn't want it. Listen,
[2:57:31] respect, decorum.
We're not the enemies. We're just a
[2:57:38] bunch of people saying no project on
this site. So, please, no project on
[2:57:44] this site. Carlson put a one-year
moratorum.
[2:57:49] It was unanimous. Midway Township
one-year moratorum. We are asking at
[2:57:56] bare minimum for a one-year moratorum on
your project.
[2:57:59] » Thank you.
>> Thank you,
[2:58:03] » Ronnie Stenson.
[2:58:10] Ronnie Stenson.
Oh, I'm sorry. Um Ross Bjorland, if he's
[2:58:17] still here.
Okay.
[2:58:23] Jimmy Peterson.
[2:58:40] » Good evening, mayor, members of the
council. My name is Jim Peterson.
[2:58:45] » Oh, sorry.
>> No worry. and uh I'm from West Central
[2:58:50] Minnesota near Fergus Falls and I'm here
this evening on behalf of AFCOM.
[2:58:57] AFCOM stands for its AFCOM.
Uh we are the association for computer
[2:59:04] operations and management and we support
IT and data centers across Minnesota
[2:59:12] and we take a special neutral
educational
[2:59:17] resource standpoint and we look
exclusively at Minnesota.
[2:59:22] Um,
we want to help with bringing some of
[2:59:27] the misconceptions regarding water taxes
and some of the other areas to light.
[2:59:35] There is a competitive landscape that
exists between states. We listen to
[2:59:42] developers. developers are telling us
that the decisions in Minnesota are
[2:59:48] being looked at with North Dakota, South
Dakota, and Iowa sites in consideration.
[2:59:56] Um there's a competitive landscape
between communities, utilities, loads,
[3:00:04] and industry.
And those those competitive
[3:00:09] advantages
exist in different areas and they play
[3:00:15] against us in some areas that we are in.
Um
[3:00:21] so just want to thank you all for
letting me be here this evening taking
[3:00:27] this in and it's it's difficult
sometimes to be leaders and to be
[3:00:33] brought out to do the right things. So,
thank you. Appreciate it.
[3:00:37] » Thank you. Next is Nate Rickard,
[3:00:43] Todd Pelky.
[3:00:54] Thank you, Mr. Mayor, City Council. I'm
Todd Peli from Hermantown, Minnesota,
[3:01:00] and uh I'm here to uh be in support of
the data center. I've tried to been
[3:01:06] open-minded and listen to a lot both
sides of what people are saying about
[3:01:09] the data center and I find uh
I still lean towards the data center for
[3:01:16] many reasons. I think that the city
cannot quantify the benefits it's going
[3:01:20] to bring to this community, not just the
data center itself, jobs it can promote
[3:01:26] throughout the city, people uh spin-off
jobs of this thing. They're going to
[3:01:31] need people to plow the snow, mow the
grass, do maintenance out there. A lot
[3:01:36] of jobs are going to be opening up
within the community. Uh I went to some
[3:01:40] graduation parties this spring for
people that were graduate from high
[3:01:43] school. You talk to 90% of them, they
say they're going to have to leave
[3:01:46] Hermantown to find a place to work or
learn a living. This gives opportunity
[3:01:51] for these kids to get a job with the
union, do an apprentice program, maybe
[3:01:56] not all in the same building, but they
get a foothold in there. This is
[3:02:01] something that doesn't come easily to
Herman.
[3:02:04] So, I suggest they support this. Uh I
hear them paint a picture of the
[3:02:09] residential area out there. I live out
there. They kind of printed like their
[3:02:14] sidewalks and shade trees when people
are walking up and down the sidewalks
[3:02:18] pushing their strollers. Uh Midway Road
is County Road 13. It's a allseason road
[3:02:26] for trucks, maintenance vehicles come up
and down there all day long. And there's
[3:02:31] two commercial railroads in there. If
they were to stand by the radio tracks
[3:02:35] and watch those tankers go by and look
at the placers on the side, those tanks,
[3:02:39] if they knew the stuff that's rolling
through that residential area, they'd be
[3:02:43] more upset about that than the data
center. So, I think that uh I suggest
[3:02:49] that you do push the data center through
as soon as possible so they see you can
[3:02:53] capitalize on this money coming into the
community.
[3:02:59] Thank you for your time.
>> Thank you. Next is Megan
[3:03:03] Ling. L Megan
[3:03:10] Elling Ellie.
[3:03:14] Okay.
[3:03:22] No one there.
Sue York,
[3:03:30] Julie Pierce.
[3:03:51] Thank you, mayor, city councilors.
Excuse me. Been a long evening. Um, my
[3:03:57] name is Julie Pierce. I live in Duth and
I work for Minnesota Power and I have uh
[3:04:03] been a pretty consistent member here of
uh your city council meetings. Just
[3:04:08] wanted to provide a couple updates here
um from Minnesota Power. Wanted to let
[3:04:13] you know that uh we are going forward
with our process. It's continuing with
[3:04:18] the Minnesota Public Utilities
Commission on the power supply plan for
[3:04:23] the next 20 years for the utility. So,
in the next several days, you might be
[3:04:28] hearing more about the renewable energy
that we are bringing forward as part of
[3:04:32] our broad long-term plan to serve the
residents in in our broader region. Uh
[3:04:39] this might also include the 700
megawatts of new clean energy that the
[3:04:45] proposed Google data center will enable
for our power supply. So both these
[3:04:50] topics are going to be front and center.
Just wanted to give you a heads up that
[3:04:53] you might be hearing about new renewable
project development uh from Minnesota
[3:04:58] Power. The Public Utilities Commission
hearing is on Thursday and so we'll be
[3:05:03] hearing some more there. If you have any
questions, please please let us know.
[3:05:08] We'll report back.
Second of all, I also uh there is
[3:05:13] another public hearing uh at the AD
shrine uh regarding our new transmission
[3:05:19] line, our regional reliability line
called the ISA and Mr. Dan McCourtney
[3:05:25] from our environmental area reported out
on that uh recently at a at a meeting.
[3:05:30] Just wanted to let you know that there
is a public hearing on 9:22
[3:05:34] regarding that and uh if you have any
questions again let us know. Uh
[3:05:40] secondly, I just wanted to thank you um
as a participant in these meetings for
[3:05:45] keeping um us safe. um there's been a
lot of uh harsh words and physical um
[3:05:56] physical threats to a certain extent and
so I just wanted to make sure
[3:06:02] the verbal
>> Hey, we can end this meeting now. Yeah,
[3:06:09] we have been very um respectful with our
words and our thoughts as we've come
[3:06:14] forward and I and I appreciate what
you're trying to do to keep this in
[3:06:18] place. I don't think anyone should be
chased out of a room or chased out of a
[3:06:22] a a public setting and so we've been
just really thankful for how you've been
[3:06:27] trying to to work that in in the
presence of uh of your city
[3:06:31] professionals. So, thank you very much
and uh I will report back. Thank you,
[3:06:37] Lisa Bodin.
[3:06:43] Okay, Richard Winkler.
[3:06:48] Richard Winkler.
Check the other room.
[3:07:02] Okay,
we are out of names and I will entertain
[3:07:08] a motion to recess.
>> Motion to recess.
[3:07:13] » Do we have a second?
>> Second.
[3:07:16] » All in favor say I. I