North Mankato residents sound off on data center, lawsuit

NORTH MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Monday’s North Mankato City Council meeting was one of controversy and emotion.

The issue in question is the approval of a development plan for the city’s industrial district.

That plan was done through an Alternative Urban Areawide Review, or AUAR.

An AUAR is a type of environmental impact review approved by the state that combines certain aspects of multiple other impact studies.

Alongside the review is an NDA for the city, an issue that meeting attendees took issue with.

“How is an NDA transparent? Non-disclosure, that’s about as transparent as a one-inch steel plate,” said one resident.

Now the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy has filed a lawsuit against the city, as well as the city of Lakeville, alleging that the city did not legally administer the review.

They argue that the stated use of the study was too vague to qualify as a legal use of the program.

The city, in a statement at Monday’s meeting, disagreed.

“The city maintains that its use of the AUAR process was lawful and appropriate,” said mayor Scott Carlson.

The lawsuit alleges that the development plan will be used to construct a large data center in North Mankato, and that such a facility would have major impacts to the local environment and water resources.

For their part, North Mankato officials said they’re not considering any specific proposal for a data center.

But with the new lawsuit expected to take time working through the courts, the future of development will remain up in the air for now.

The council did pass an independent Environmental Action Plan which aims to guide the city’s future practices and was developed in part by some of the residents at Monday’s meeting.

Community members wanted their voices heard Monday night at the North Mankato City Council meeting.

One big topic: environmental concerns should North Mankato ever build a big data center.

“Council, kill this project now.”

“Trust with the community has been broken and will be hard to mend.”

“The city needs to seriously consider how it gathers information, and who they can rely on for accurate information, and how it engages citizens more fully in the process.“

At issue from opponents: the city’s handling of an environmental review and informing the public about a proposed data center.

Council Members Billy Steiner and Sandra Oachs went on record saying they are totally opposed to a big data center.

Right now, the cities of North Mankato and Lakeville face a lawsuit filed by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.

The League of Minnesota Cities is representing the city of North Mankato, reducing the time and expense to the city and taxpayers.

After the meeting the council met in closed session with the attorney who is representing the city.

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