u/minnesota420

Is anyone interested in a random meetup at an Applebees? We can decide here where that would be. I’m serious though. I think an Applebees needs to be stormed and I think that possibly there should be a cake involved. We can be rowdy, but not too rowdy. We need a bunch of weirdos to do some shit together. We need 12 people to all order samplers and have a crap ton of dollar margaritas. If we make this happen, I will be designated driver. We need costumes, a chess board, puppets? I don’t know. All I know is many of us need a laugh. And maybe we could put it on youtube. Who’s with me?

I went to the IGH City Council meeting tonight (6/22). Two items were on the agenda: the third reading of an interim ordinance to study data centers and impose a moratorium, and a site plan request for a ~54,000 sq ft data center at 5890 Carmen Ave E.

Before any public discussion could happen on either item, the council recessed the entire meeting, citing pending litigation. The room was full of residents who showed up specifically to comment. People were frustrated, and it got loud. The meeting was moved to Friday, June 26 at 8:00 AM.

I want to be straight about what that reschedule means: an 8 AM weekday slot is hard for most working people to attend. If you can’t be there in person, the next best thing is getting your comment onto the public record by email before then.

Why this matters even if you don’t live in IGH: the proposed site borders residential areas, including a daycare, senior living, and apartments, and it sits close enough to affect South St. Paul residents who currently have no formal say in the decision. Data centers also pull significant water and electrical load, and Minnesota’s water is exactly what makes us attractive to these developers.

The case for the moratorium (not a ban, just a pause to study):

Health impacts are still unstudied. The effects of a large AI data center on an adjacent daycare, senior facility, and apartments are not well understood yet. We should know before we build, not after.

**Grid impact is unknown** Communities are still figuring out how AI-scale facilities affect electrical load and rates for everyone else.

**The city’s own definition is outdated** IGH’s working definition of a data center describes pre-AI facilities. Approving anything under an outdated definition sets the city up badly for every project that follows.

**Neighboring cities have no voice** Because these facilities can sit on a border, South St. Paul residents can be affected with no mechanism to participate. That gap should be fixed before approvals, not after.

What you can do: Email your comment to the IGH City Clerk, who enters public comments into the official record:

Rebecca Kiernan — cityclerk@ighmn.gov

Ask the council to support the moratorium so the city can study this properly before approving anything. Keep it short and civil. Even a few sentences on the record matters. State your name, and if you’re a neighbor in South St. Paul, West St. Paul, or anywhere in the south metro, say so, because the regional impact is the whole point.

Ask the council to support the moratorium so the city can study this properly before approving anything. Keep it short and civil. Even a few sentences on the record matters. State your name, and if you’re a neighbor in South St. Paul, West St. Paul, or anywhere in the south metro, say so, because the regional impact is the whole point.

The meeting is Friday at 8 AM and the window to weigh in is short. If you’ve got a few minutes, please send something or come to the meeting if you can attend.