Hermantown votes on Google data center postponed after protest fills city hall
The Hermantown City Council planned a special meeting Monday night to vote on final local approval for a proposed Google data center near Duluth. MPR News reports hundreds of people came, many could not fit in the chambers, and nearly 100 chanted for about two hours; the council postponed the votes. City leaders gave people 10 minutes to leave or face arrest, and no arrests were reported. KSTP and the Duluth News Tribune also report the meeting was shut down. City officials cite hundreds of jobs and a bigger tax base; opponents say the public had too little time to review documents. Several lawsuits against the project remain pending.
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Why it matters
The vote decides final local approval for a large project near Duluth, and the issue is central to next week's Hermantown City Council race. The state Public Utilities Commission must still approve an electric supply agreement between Google and Minnesota Power.
How each side sees it
Sources
- MPR News: Google data center vote postponed in Hermantown following two hours of protests
- KSTP: Protesters shut down Hermantown data center meeting
- Duluth News Tribune: Hermantown reschedules data center meeting
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