Residents and advocacy groups urged the St. Louis County Board of Commissioners on an item-specific public-comment period to adopt a policy barring county commissioners from signing non‑disclosure agreements and to press the Hermantown City Council to pause rezoning tied to a proposed large data center.

The push for an NDA ban came during extended public comment at the county meeting, where speakers said the secrecy around the project deprived residents of timely information. "We are 0.3 to 0.5 miles from the proposed data center. We will be able to see and hear the effects of this project," said Rebecca Gilbertson, a Hermantown resident who said she learned about the project a week earlier. Gilbertson also told commissioners she understood the Hermantown council planned to rezone 17 homesteads and add roughly 200 acres of commercial zoning to an existing roughly 200 commercial acres near the proposal.

The comments combined two concerns: opposition to elected officials signing NDAs and worries about the Hermantown project itself. "NDAs have no business in government," Gilbertson said. Several other speakers voiced similar objections and asked the county to use whatever tools it has to pause the rezoning process and review planning and zoning actions.

An attorney who commented, JT Haines, identified himself as an attorney in Duluth and the Northeastern Minnesota program director for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. Haines cited the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (chapter 13) and said state guidance from the commissioner of administration indicates government entities may not use NDAs to limit public access to government data. "DPA requests often take months to complete," Haines said, adding that relying on data‑practice requests is not a substitute for real‑time transparency.

Other residents tied the NDA disagreement to broader concerns about local control and environmental impact. "Citizens in St. Louis County deserve better than secrecy from their government," said Kiera Simmons, who said she grew up in the Twin Ports and urged the board to press Hermantown to delay rezoning until a fuller environmental review is done. Lisonbee Hafton, identifying herself as a resident of the county’s Fifth District, told the board that she understood NDAs were signed in late 2024 and early 2025 and that an Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) released in September 2025 gave the public only a few days to review more than 400 pages of material.

Several commenters named commissioners they said had signed NDAs. Speakers identified three commissioners by name as having signed NDAs: Keith Mussoff (spelled variously in public comments), Keith Nelson, and board chair Annie/Anna Harala. Speakers attributed those names to public reports or personal knowledge; the board did not record a formal vote or official confirmation of those specific signings during the public comment period.

Speakers described personal impacts: property‑owners said developers contacted them without disclosing project details, and one resident said a firm offered to buy his land but declined to name the project when asked. "I feel betrayed by these NDAs," said Bob Connor, who said he has invested decades in his property near the proposed site.

Not all public comments focused only on the Hermantown project. Kelly Higgins, a physician assistant at Essentia Health, used her allotted time to identify herself as part of an APP union seeking meetings with county leaders on workforce and nonprofit reinvestment; she requested future discussions with commissioners but did not link that item to the NDAs.

Board members noted the NDA question is on the formal agenda for later in the meeting; during the public‑comment period speakers were repeatedly told the NDA policy item would be considered as an agenda item later in the session. No formal board action on NDAs or on Hermantown rezoning was recorded during the public‑comment segment covered in the transcript provided.

The public comments closed with speakers urging transparency measures and asking the county to press Hermantown for more public review and clearer disclosure. The NDA policy and any related motions were listed on the meeting agenda for later consideration.