[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

City Council Meeting

Agenda

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