An update on the fight against the planned hyperscale Google data center in Hermantown, MN.
Tomorrow there's a hearing on a Motion for Contempt, after the city council violated a court order around notice requirements for permitting. Tonight, the council planned a special session to pass a Special Use Permit; a Development Agreement; a Reuse and Decommission Agreement nobody had seen before; and a roadway and utility agreement with the county. 232 pages, posted late on the 21st, and the Special Use Permit is for land the company doesn't actually own yet. The council also planned to formally reject a petition for an environmental assessment.
When I arrived at around 18:00, the parking lots and all the grassy areas were full. Inside, the city council chambers were full, the overflow room was full, and the lobby area was full. Initially, authorities attempted to persuade protesters to leave the building for capacity reasons. However, everyone had been told that legally they can't do that unless the meeting is rescheduled for an alternate venue with enough capacity, so nobody left.
Each person wishing to speak is supposed to be allowed up to 3 minutes to do so; however, the council is required to complete business by 22:00. Clearly these two requirements were incompatible. The city council took away the signup sheets for people who wished to speak. At that point, the situation basically became an occupation and noise protest. The scheduled 18:30 start time came and went. Around 100dB of clapping and chanting continued.
Around 19:50, I saw the police having a strategy meeting. At 20:10, the pro-data-center folks started to leave. At 20:20 the council finally turned up, to a chorus of booing. They announced that they were adjourning the meeting, and left escorted by police.
The battle will continue. For anyone interested in the lengthy backstory: https://racketmn.com/google-data-center-hermantown-minnesota-nda
#Minnesota
mathew
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2026-10-27 03:04:00 UTC
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"content": "An update on the fight against the planned hyperscale Google data center in Hermantown, MN.\n\nTomorrow there's a hearing on a Motion for Contempt, after the city council violated a court order around notice requirements for permitting. Tonight, the council planned a special session to pass a Special Use Permit; a Development Agreement; a Reuse and Decommission Agreement nobody had seen before; and a roadway and utility agreement with the county. 232 pages, posted late on the 21st, and the Special Use Permit is for land the company doesn't actually own yet. The council also planned to formally reject a petition for an environmental assessment.\n\nWhen I arrived at around 18:00, the parking lots and all the grassy areas were full. Inside, the city council chambers were full, the overflow room was full, and the lobby area was full. Initially, authorities attempted to persuade protesters to leave the building for capacity reasons. However, everyone had been told that legally they can't do that unless the meeting is rescheduled for an alternate venue with enough capacity, so nobody left.\n\nEach person wishing to speak is supposed to be allowed up to 3 minutes to do so; however, the council is required to complete business by 22:00. Clearly these two requirements were incompatible. The city council took away the signup sheets for people who wished to speak. At that point, the situation basically became an occupation and noise protest. The scheduled 18:30 start time came and went. Around 100dB of clapping and chanting continued.\n\nAround 19:50, I saw the police having a strategy meeting. At 20:10, the pro-data-center folks started to leave. At 20:20 the council finally turned up, to a chorus of booing. They announced that they were adjourning the meeting, and left escorted by police.\n\nThe battle will continue. For anyone interested in the lengthy backstory: https://racketmn.com/google-data-center-hermantown-minnesota-nda\n\n#Minnesota",
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