Opponents of a proposed Google data center blocked a Hermantown City Council meeting from getting under way Monday night, keeping councilors from voting on permits that would advance the project. Hermantown is a St. Louis County community west of Duluth.
Several dozen people chanted and stomped outside the packed council chambers shortly before the 6:30 p.m. start. Many wore red "no data center" T-shirts and alternated between calls of "Let us speak!" and "Shut it down!" Police officers guarded the doors and pushed back a few people who first approached the chambers. Some supporters of the project, wearing green Jobs for Minnesotans shirts, were also in the building.
The council briefly gaveled in and immediately adjourned until 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. About two hours after the planned start, Police Chief Jim Crace declared an unlawful and unsafe assembly and gave everyone 10 minutes to leave or face arrest. "The City Council chamber and building are severely overcapacity, creating a severe safety hazard," he said through a megaphone. A man in the audience shot back: "You're the hazard!" Everyone appeared to leave peacefully.
The Tuesday meeting was later canceled because early voting takes place in the council chambers until 7 p.m., just half an hour before it was due to begin. "The decision reflects the desire to ensure safe, secure entry and exit for voters without overlap with arriving meeting attendees," the city said in a news release. No new date has been set.
Stop the Hermantown Data Center said the protest began after the public comment sign-up sheet was pulled while many people were still waiting to add their names. The chambers and an overflow room were full well before the meeting, and some people complained they could not watch or take part and suggested a larger venue. The Hermantown Chamber of Commerce and the Duluth Building Trades Council condemned the protest, saying the behavior "was designed to close down the meeting."
The disruption pushed a critical vote past a Tuesday morning court hearing. Opponents had criticized the city for calling the meeting less than 14 hours before that hearing. The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and Stop the Hermantown Data Center are seeking to hold the city in contempt, alleging it violated an agreement on notice requirements for permitting. The group also said residents had only days to review 232 pages of documents and that Google does not yet own many of the parcels involved. Last week, Judge Theresa Neo declined to issue a temporary restraining order, saying the record lacked evidence of manufactured timelines or immediate, irreparable harm.
The council was set to vote on six resolutions for the 1.66-million-square-foot facility in the city's southwest corner, including a special use permit. Others would reconfigure 22 properties into three lots, reject a citizen petition for an environmental assessment worksheet, approve a development agreement with Google and a cooperative agreement with the county, and set protections if the site stops operating as a data center. Google has committed to $130 million in infrastructure upgrades, and would be responsible for up to $210 million, adjusted for inflation, if it fails to complete an approved decommissioning plan over a 50-year period.
The 234-acre site would hold three data buildings of 375,000 square feet each, three 150,000-square-foot mechanical buildings, a two-story office building, 570 parking spaces and seven stormwater basins. Google estimates construction would take six to eight years. The city projects $240 million in property taxes over 20 years, including $90 million for the city and $120 million for the county, with the remaining $30 million presumably going to Hermantown Community Schools. Three weeks ago the council approved an updated environmental review of the site, and Google recently said it would no longer seek $80 million in property tax breaks.
Opponents cite what they describe as governmental secrecy, corporate exploitation, and environmental, health and property value concerns, as well as the project's location in a rural residential area. Google still needs wetland and construction permits, and its final designs could trigger additional environmental review.
