Resident Intervention Halts Hermantown Power Line Vote Over Year-Long Environmental Non-Compliance

HERMANTOWN, MN — A controversial transmission line resolution related to the proposed Google hyperscale data center was abruptly tabled by the Hermantown City Council on October 8, 2026, after local residents exposed that City staff appear to have concealed a year-long environmental ordinance violation from elected officials.

During the meeting, the City Council was prepared to vote on Resolution 2026-125, which would approve a 1.6-mile parallel 230-kV transmission line project by Minnesota Power to connect its local substation to the proposed data center. During the public comment period, however, several alert citizens revealed that the City of Hermantown’s shoreland ordinance has been out of compliance with Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) requirements since October 2025, and that an October 1, 2026 deadline to bring it into compliance had passed.

Residents educated the City Council on the non-compliance issue and quoted additional concerns raised by the DNR, including that placement of the transmission line be relocated due to waterways and other environmental concerns.

Members of the Stop Hermantown Data Center (SHDC) released the following timeline and breakdown of the events:

The Shoreland Ordinance Non-Compliance Oversight

· Withheld Evidence: Documents obtained via the DNR show that Hermantown Community Development Director Eric Johnson was explicitly notified of the shoreland ordinance violation over a year ago, in October 2025.

· Omission in Testimony and Lack of Responsibility: During official project presentations to the council, however, neither Minnesota Power representatives nor Director Eric Johnson disclosed the regulatory non-compliance. Instead of taking responsibility and owning the omission and non-compliance issue(s), Director Eric Johnson placed blame on the DNR.

· Late-Stage Intervention: The City Council appeared to be unaware of the City’s non-compliance until residents formally introduced the DNR documents during the public comment period. Following the revelation, the City Council rightfully voted to table the transmission line resolution until compliance is met.

A Pattern of Administrative Misdirection

SHDC emphasizes that this incident is not an isolated oversight, but part of a documented pattern by City staff to withhold critical information from elected leaders to force the data center project forward including, but not limited to the following examples:

1. AUAR Disregard: Staff previously ignored and/or omitted substantive DNR feedback during the updated Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) process, until residents raised concerns during public comments at City Council meetings. At the October 5, 2026, City Council Meeting, the City claimed that the DNR had endorsed the AUAR, when, in fact, the DNR explicitly cited several unresolved issues of concern related to project impacts and necessary mitigations.

2. Comprehensive Plan Manipulation: City staff abruptly halted engagement with the 2045 Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, altered the plan behind closed doors, including modifications to the City’s vision statement, to further the data center project and presented it for City Council approval while keeping the Steering Committee members’ names attached to it in an effort to legitimize and validate the changes.

3. Data Center Denial: City Staff secretly worked with developers and others to further the data center project for over one year while directly denying knowledge to concerned residents. Two City staff members, namely, John Mulder and Joe Wicklund, signed Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) in May 2024, and the Mayor was informed by City staff in September 2024 of the data center project, thereafter, working for nearly one year to tailor changes in zoning, land use definitions, and the comprehensive plan to fit the needs of the project, while denying existence of the project to directly affected residents.

4. Hampering Public Process: The City has hampered opportunities for public input on at least four occasions by providing extremely limited notice and scheduling meetings or events during typical working hours including, but not limited to: the 2045 Comprehensive Plan open house on March 4, 2025, was communicated just one day prior via a social media post; the Project open house on June 24, 2026, was noticed 8 days prior; the 230kV Transmission line public scoping meeting was held 10:30 am to noon on Monday August 10, 2026; and, the second project open house on August 19, 2026, was advertised just three days prior in the Duluth News Tribune.

SHDC notes that, “Approving Resolution 2026-125 could have exposed the City to severe legal risk, signaling a willingness to operate above the law and prioritize corporate profits over people. While we are pleased the City Council tabled the resolution until compliance is met, SHDC remains unyielding in our opposition to the hyperscale data center project.”

We are convinced the City of Hermantown has abdicated its regulatory responsibilities and is operating far beyond its competency on this project. There is clear evidence that City staff are intentionally feeding the City Council inaccurate information and/or withholding critical information in order to advance this project. We give immense credit to the citizens who conducted the research and discovered this important issue, and we will continue fighting for transparency and community protection.

In solidarity,

SHDC

For Immediate Release
Thursday, August 13, 2026
Media/Press Contact: stopthehermantowndatacenter@gmail.com

STOP THE HERMANTOWN DATA CENTER

Recorded Ridicule by City Leadership Raises Questions About Public Trust, Prompting a Call for Discipline and Independent Investigation

Residents who step forward to participate in their local government should be able to trust that their voices will be heard, their questions and concerns taken seriously, and their participation treated with respect. Newly publicized recordings of Hermantown City staff meetings challenge that expectation. They have captured senior City personnel mocking residents, making comments involving race and individuals’ names, and discussing actions that spark doubt in the transparency and independence of the City’s decision-making process surrounding the proposed Google hyperscale data center. The ease with which these comments were made and the timing between the recordings implies this is unlikely to be separate, isolated incidences and suggests a culture of this type of behavior.

The recordings go beyond unprofessional comments. They raise concerns about scripting conversations between elected officials and developers in order to manipulate the public, shaping the presentation and public perception of a deeply unpopular project, and discussions about keeping communications outside email to avoid disclosure through public data requests. The recordings raise legitimate questions about whether City administration has remained a neutral administrator of the process or has moved into advocating for and advancing a private development project.

Residents should never have to wonder whether questions asked by their elected representatives were prepared behind the scenes, whether official conversations were intentionally kept outside normal public-record channels, or whether their participation in local government is being treated with contempt rather than consideration.

These concerns cannot credibly be resolved solely by the administration whose conduct is in question. In response, Stop the Hermantown Data Center (SHDC) is calling on the Hermantown City Council to immediately assert its statutory authority and ethical obligation to begin to restore public trust by taking the following actions:

• Disciplinary action, not excluding removal from position, for those involved in these recordings, including but not limited to, City Administrator John Mulder, Assistant City Administrator Joe Wicklund, Economic Development Director Chad Ronchetti, Community Development Director Eric Johnson, Chief of Police Jim Crace, and City Attorney Gunnar Johnson.
• Immediately pause further discretionary City action on the proposed hyperscale data center while the issues raised by the recordings are independently reviewed.
• Commission an independent investigation into the conduct documented in the recordings, including treatment of residents, the integrity and independence of the City’s decision-making process, and any attempts to circumvent requirements of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.
• Publicly disclose all non-privileged scripts, prepared questions, talking points and similar materials provided to the Mayor or City Council regarding the proposed hyperscale data center, including who prepared and received them.
• Require the Mayor and City Council members to disclose whether they received or used prepared questions or talking points concerning the project during public meetings or work sessions.
• Conduct an independent review of material City actions involving the proposed hyperscale data center to determine whether any should be reconsidered because the integrity, independence, or legality of the process may have been compromised.
• Acknowledgment and an apology from the City to the residents who were personally disparaged in the recorded meeting.

The recordings speak for themselves. The question now is how City leadership will address what they reveal. It has been a week since the first article was published by the Duluth Monitor and the City of Hermantown has yet to acknowledge it. SHDC has a firm belief of the concept of “tone at the top,” meaning that leadership actions and expectations set the ethical climate, values, and behavioral standards for the entire organization.  The proposed hyperscale data center carries significant and lasting implications for Hermantown, Duluth, and the surrounding region. Regardless of one’s position on the project, decisions of this magnitude require a process the public can trust.

Citizens should never become the punchline for participating in their own government. Until these serious questions about transparency, neutrality, and process integrity are independently addressed, SHDC believes further discretionary action on the proposed hyperscale data center must be paused.

---

Clips from the recordings of the Hermantown city staff meetings are available via The Duluth Monitor’s YouTube page:

• Staff discuss creating scripts for city councillors to follow
• Staff laugh about citizens crying
• Staff disparage data center opponents

Video of the data center education and awareness event, featuring comedians Charlie Berens and Mary Mack, is now available to watch online.