Residents press Hermantown council for details about proposed communications facility and rezoning

Tim Resburg, a resident who spoke during the public comment period, told the Hermantown City Council that neighbors in the southwest quadrant of the city have received letters indicating properties may be bought out for a Mortonson project and asked whether homeowners would be forced to sell.

"We would like to have the city council give us some information about that," Resburg said, and added he had seen a newspaper item describing planning and zoning discussion he said did not reflect public input. He also said a data center would require substantial water for cooling — "on an average, it'll require anywhere from 250,000 to 300,000 gallons of water a day," he said — and asked where any water supply would come from.

City Administrator Mr. Moulder responded that the transactions Resburg described appear to be private land purchases and that "no one's being forced to sell their home." Moulder said the city has no application on file for the facility Resburg described and that any private purchase of land would not be a city action. He added the city has discussed the possibility of extending water to the southwest part of Hermantown as part of broader comprehensive-plan–driven considerations for industrial development, but said there is no specific city approval of a data center at this time.

Mike Ralph, another resident during public comment, reiterated concerns that Mortonson had been buying houses and tearing down homes for a new communications or industrial facility. Mr. Johnson, a city staff presenter later in the meeting, emphasized that the rezoning item on the agenda that evening proposed changing zoning for 14 parcels in the southwest corner of the city — parcels he said are owned by Minnesota Power or the Renfeld Land Company — from S1 (suburban) to business and light manufacturing to align with the comprehensive plan. Johnson said the rezoning on the record applied to those owner parcels, not to private residences.

The council did not take any direct action that night to authorize a specific communications or data center. Staff advised the public that future rezoning for privately owned parcels would require review by the Planning and Zoning Commission, a public hearing and subsequent council action, creating additional opportunities for public comment.

The council invited residents who raised concerns to remain after the meeting to speak with staff for more detail; no formal application or purchase approvals for a Mortonson facility were announced during the session.