A hearing for a proposed data center in Hermantown, Minnesota, was shut down amid protests.

The 1.66 million square foot (154,220 sqm) Google data center in Duluth was widely expected to be approved, but the meeting was adjourned after police stopped proceedings. The meeting has been moved to Tuesday, October 27, at 7.30pm.

The Hermantown City Council meeting saw both pro- and anti-data center groups converge, with the latter, larger 'Stop the Hermantown Data Center' movement loudly chanting anti-data center slogans.

The pro-data center group, mostly wearing green tops promoting the business lobby-backed 501(c)(4) Jobs for Minnesotans, sat quietly in the chamber halls. The 'Stop the' protesters were primarily outside the halls, but some managed to get in to make their voice heard.

Following two hours of delay over the loud protests, the meeting was adjourned, and Chief of Police Jim Crace told the crowd that they had ten minutes to leave or face detainment for an unsafe and unlawful gathering that disrupts civil process.

"Hermantown has always been a town where neighbors can disagree with respect," city councilor Andy Hjelle said in a statement.

"People care deeply about what happens here, and passionate discussion is part of small-town life. But shouting down a public meeting to the point where our police officers had to declare an unlawful assembly is completely wrong. That is not who we are, and it is not how Hermantown gets things done."

He added: "Tonight, local folks drove down to City Hall just wanting to take part in their local government. Instead, a coordinated disruption took over the room, shouted down normal business, and drowned out the voices of everyday residents."

Incumbent Hjelle faces a number of opponents in the four-candidate race for two seats on the Hermantown City Council. Data centers remain a key topic on the ballot box, with Hjelle claiming that they will help lower property taxes. He has proposed a data center dividend, which could generate $3 million annually in new city property taxes from the Google facility.

Opponents Emma Richtman, Miranda McKay-Chambers, and Candi Mock have all called for more community involvement and greater transparency, with Richtman a member of the Stop the Hermantown Data Center movement.

Ahead of the delayed vote, Google dropped a request for up to $80m in tax subsidies, reduced the size of the facility, added a well monitoring program, and committed to a quieter campus. The council was also set to vote on whether to approve an agreement with Google to pay to decommission the site if it ceases operations, a first for the hyperscaler.

Should the facility be approved in the latest attempt at a vote, the data center would still need to seek a federal air permit as well as certain state permits. The council has already voted in favor of Minnesota Power building transmission lines to the facility.

Eighty acres of the 234-acre site are also tied up in a lawsuit, as residents claim that they sold the land for a solar farm and were misled over its eventual end use. Another lawsuit claims that the data center project violates zoning restrictions.