Rows of empty metal folding chairs face a raised dais with a long wooden desk, gooseneck microphones and empty chairs behind it, in a council chamber with wood-panelled walls, fluorescent ceiling lights and dark windows at night.

Local Politics

Protest Delays Hermantown’s Vote on a Google Data Center

Protesters stopped a vote on Google’s data center, which the city estimates could pay more than $240 million in taxes over 20 years; the council tries again tonight.

HERMANTOWN, Minn., Oct. 26 — Opponents of a Google data center filled the lobby of City Hall in Hermantown, Minn., on Monday night and kept the City Council from voting on the project. After two hours of chants of “Let us speak” and “Shut it down,” the council briefly gaveled in and recessed the meeting until 7:30 p.m. Central on Tuesday, the city said in a statement. A court is to hear the opponents’ motion to hold the city in contempt that morning.

People in the crowd complained that the city had stopped letting them sign up to speak, WDIO reported; the city had said that public comment would still be taken on each resolution before its vote, Northern News Now reported.

Just before 8:30 p.m., the police chief, Jim Crace, declared an unlawful assembly, saying the building was “severely overcapacity,” and gave the crowd 10 minutes to leave, the Duluth News Tribune reported. No one was arrested, Northern News Now reported.

Chief among the six resolutions before the council is a special use permit for a data center of 1.66 million square feet on a 234-acre site in the city’s southwest corner.The PlansPlans call for three 375,000-square-foot data buildings, each about 33 feet tall, three 150,000-square-foot mechanical buildings and a two-story office, the News Tribune reported. The area was rezoned last year for business and light manufacturing. The others would approve a final plat, a development agreement with Google, a cooperative agreement with St. Louis County and a decommissioning agreement with Google, and reject a citizens’ petition for an environmental assessment worksheet. The applicant for the permit is Harmony Group LLC; Google announced its plans for the data center in March.

The city estimates that the data center could pay more than $240 million in property taxes in the 20 years after it is completed, nearly $90 million of it to the city, WDIO reported. The News Tribune described the 20-year figure as adjusted for inflation. Google dropped its request for a property-tax abatement on Oct. 14, saying it would “instead work with leaders to find alternative ways to support the local school district.” It has committed to pay for $130 million of infrastructure, and would owe up to $210 million, adjusted for inflation, if it failed to complete an approved plan to reuse or clear the site, the News Tribune reported.

The Duluth Building and Construction Trades Council and the Hermantown Chamber of Commerce condemned the behavior of what they called “agitators.” “We support the ability for citizens to be heard but the behaviors displayed this evening were designed to close down the meeting,” their joint statement said. “Let the process move forward.” The city says the buildout would employ hundreds of construction workers.

Stop the Hermantown Data Center, a residents’ group, said in a news release that it opposes the project “due to a documented timeline of governmental secrecy and deception, corporate exploitation, concerns of environmental, health, property value and other detrimental impacts, inappropriate location in a rural residential neighborhood and more,” as quoted by the News Tribune. With the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, it alleges in its contempt motion that the city failed to comply with a court-ordered agreement on public notice. Opponents also question whether Harmony Group controls all the land in its request. In a February survey of Twin Ports residents by Northern News Now and the UWS Center for Research and Evaluation Services, 74 percent opposed the project.

Last week a judge, Theresa Neo, declined to issue a temporary restraining order against the city’s granting the permits, saying the court record “lacks evidence that defendants are manufacturing timelines to avoid judicial review,” the News Tribune reported. She wrote that the plaintiffs may still challenge the environmental review and the permit after the permit has been issued.The ReviewThe council approved an updated alternative urban areawide review, or AUAR, three weeks before Monday’s meeting. An AUAR studies the impacts of proposed development across a geographic area; Minnesota law requires it to be about as thorough as an environmental impact statement, the advocacy center says.

Whatever the council decides on Tuesday night, two of its seats are on the ballot on Nov. 3, the day 41 local ballot questions on data centers are decided in other states. Andy Hjelle, a councilor seeking re-election, says the data center would bring the city $3 million a year in new property taxes, roughly 30 percent of its levy; the city’s presentation puts about $3 million a year at the first year of full buildout. His three challengers call for greater accountability. Google would still need other permits, among them for wetlands, and expects construction to start next year.

Sources

  1. City of Hermantown, “Hermantown City Council Recesses Meeting to October 27,” Oct. 26, 2026.
  2. City of Hermantown, “Data center project information.”
  3. City of Hermantown, “Data Center Agreement Update, October 2026 (presentation),” Oct. 19, 2026.
  4. Northern News Now, “BREAKING: Hermantown data center meeting adjourned and rescheduled amid protests, police declare unlawful assembly,” Oct. 26, 2026.
  5. Northern News Now, “It all leads to this: Hermantown council to vote on Google data center agreements Monday night,” Oct. 26, 2026.
  6. Duluth News Tribune, “Data center opponents shut down Hermantown City Council meeting,” Oct. 26, 2026.
  7. WDIO, “Protesters shut down Hermantown data center meeting,” Oct. 26, 2026.
  8. Fox 21 (KQDS-TV), “Hermantown data center protesters force police chief to clear city hall,” Oct. 26, 2026.
  9. WDIO, “Google drops tax abatement request for proposed Hermantown Data Center,” Oct. 14, 2026.
  10. Northern News Now, “Google behind proposed Hermantown data center,” March 3, 2026.
  11. Duluth News Tribune, “Data center debate shapes Hermantown City Council race,” Oct. 26, 2026.
  12. KAXE, “Hermantown 2026 Election Guide,” Sept. 28, 2026.
  13. Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, “RELEASE: Hermantown Data Center Environmental Study Appealed,” Nov. 5, 2025.
  14. Ballotpedia, “Data center-related ballot measures, 2026,” Oct. 26, 2026.