Brainerd officials agree to draft new power and development contract for BlockMetrics, set hard deadlines and deposits

City staff and members of the Brainerd Public Utilities Commission and Economic Development Authority agreed on May 8 to draft a new power agreement and a revised purchase-and-development agreement for BlockMetrics’ proposed data center at 1911 TC Drive, and to return to the groups with firm deadlines, a required upfront deposit and potential penalties if the company does not meet milestones.

The consensus followed a multi-hour exchange in a joint meeting of the Brainerd City Council, the Public Utilities Commission (BPU) and the Economic Development Authority (EDA) about a project that has not executed previously circulated agreements and missed a commencement deadline described in the EDA contract.

City staffer James Kramick said staff "does recommend continuing to work with BlockMetrics through a power agreement extension and revised purchase and development agreement with the EDA," while adding conditions to allow earlier termination if no progress is made. Kramick reviewed construction progress in submitted plans and identified a remaining issue: the roof over the air-cooling units that, if removed, would trigger a conditional-use-permit review under the city—s recent data-center ordinance.

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