Special City Council Meeting in Harwood Turns Contentious

As it was a special meeting, councilors were not required to take public comment; those in attendance were angry they weren't allowed to have their voices heard.

HARWOOD, N.D. (KVRR) – Tensions boiled over in Harwood on the evening of September 10, as a special city council meeting regarding the proposed Applied Digital AI center ended with angry residents trying to make their voices heard.

The special meeting was called to approve the rezoning of the land where the proposed data center will be located.

Because Mayor Blake Hankey called a special meeting, as opposed to having the approval take place during a regular city council meeting, the council was not required to take public comments.

The meeting was also held inside City Hall, with attendance capped at 40 people.

That meant a good-sized crowd was protesting outside the building and circulating a petition calling for Mayor Hankey’s recall.

Those upset with the data center proposal say they don’t feel like the city government is taking their wishes into account.

“One thing that someone said at the last meeting was, ‘No-one voted for this,’ and Mayor Hankey’s response was ‘Yes you did, at the last election,'” recalled Grace Brennan, who spoke out at the conclusion of the special session. “So, if people aren’t happy with that answer, you do have recourse according to the state constitution.”

According to the North Dakota state constitution, a recall election can be triggered by a petition getting signatures equal or greater to 35% of the votes cast in the past election.

The city council voted to accept the rezoning for Applied Digital.