HERMANTOWN — The Hermantown City Council will meet 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, to discuss six resolutions related to the proposed Google data center.
In-person attendance at the meeting will be capped at 85 people, with a virtual option available.
This comes after a large crowd of protesters attended the original meeting on Monday aiming to delay the resolutions. Following several hours of protests, the Hermantown police eventually deemed the gathering an unlawful assembly and shut it down.
Opposition for the proposed data center has been ongoing since September 2025, when the public learned about the extent of the project through a data request. Google’s involvement in the project was kept under wraps until March 2026.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, Hermantown City Council member Andy Hjelle stated the protests silenced residents of the town.
"A coordinated disruption took over the room, shouted down normal business, and drowned out the voices of everyday residents," he stated.
Opponents of the data center criticized the timing of the Monday meeting. A legal hearing potentially delaying the resolutions was scheduled for Tuesday morning.
Several lawsuits related to the data center are ongoing.
The Duluth News Tribune reported Judge Theresa Neo declined a temporary restraining order to halt action on the resolutions a week earlier.
At the Tuesday hearing, Neo said she would not be changing her plans and scheduled a hearing on the restraining order and several other lawsuit motions for Dec. 8.
The city will accept written public comments for the upcoming meeting until noon Friday. Only in-person attendants will be allowed to deliver verbal public comments at the meeting.
More information on public comment and the link to the meeting's virtual option are available via the meeting's agenda on the city of Hermantown website.
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