The varied 'Voices of Harwood': Local group pushes for regulations; city leaders and others strongly opposed

HARWOOD — A group of Harwood residents is pushing for a change to the city's home rule charter that would create rules for city leaders to follow when dealing with large project proposals. Voices of Harwood started in response to how the city handled bringing Applied Digital's multibillion-dollar data center project into the community last fall. Some have said the process was too secretive, moved too quickly or didn't give proper consideration to residents' concerns. Michael Swartz, a resident and member of Voices of Harwood, said it may be too late to stop the data center, but it's not too late to set a new standard. 'We don't want it to ever happen again, where we're left in the dark about decisions on that scale,' Swartz said. 'Yes, we elect our (representatives) to make decisions — day-to-day decisions — but on something that is this massive, we should have had a seat at the table.' The amendment is intended to establish guidelines for public protection and responsible municipal decision-making, according to Swartz. This includes requiring third-party studies, public access to information, opportunities for residents to share concerns and detailed documentation explaining the decision-making process for any relevant project. 'If we can't expect communication as part of their natural way that they conduct business, then we'll get it into our charter measure and make it a requirement,' Swartz said. Members of Voices Of Harwood met Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. From left to right: Mark Coolidge, Nancy Coolidge, Mike Swartz, Amanda Swartz and Eric Sinner. He said within the last year he's heard from many unhappy residents, and senses a new level of distrust for city leadership. On the other hand, some residents believe the process was handled appropriately. 'There was nothing that wasn't transparent about it,' said Mark Kerkvliet, a resident and member of the Concerned Citizens of Harwood group. The concerned citizens group held a meeting in response to the amendment, hoping to clarify what it would mean for the city and prevent it from passing. Voices of Harwood is coming up on a year's worth of efforts, including sharing information on its Facebook page, holding meetings and — most recently — gathering 81 signatures to get its proposed home rule charter amendment on the election ballot. In late August, City Auditor Chayla Hansen confirmed she would turn the petition in to the election board so it could be on the November ballot. Swartz encourages residents to read the amendment, see if it makes sense to them and make their own judgment call. Harwood Mayor Blake Hankey expressed grave concerns about the amendment, and feels it will place an almost impossible administrative burden on the community of fewer than 1,000 residents. He feels there will be large costs, increased city staff workloads and a requirement that every decision go to a public vote. 'That is completely nonsensical, and is cost prohibitive,' Hankey said. Harwood Mayor Blake Hankey speaks at a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, at the Harwood Community Center. Eric Sinner, a resident and member of Voices of Harwood, said he feels the amendment is specific — it only applies to large-scale projects, and the cost of studies and other work would fall on the company submitting a project application, not the city. 'So it should have nothing to do with the city being able to afford it,' Sinner said. 'If the companies can't afford it, or won't do it, or the people vote it down, then so be it. Then we don't need it. We move on.' Reviewing the 16-page proposed amendment, there is a section defining projects that would be affected, outlining size, electrical demands and other infrastructure usage. It also says the city may require the applicant to reimburse any reasonable and necessary costs for independent professional review. Applied Digital shared a statement, attributed to Nick Phillips, executive vice president of external affairs, expressing the company's concerns about the home rule charter amendment. He said his team believes there are potential challenges, particularly regarding the legality and enforceability of the revisions that would impact businesses looking to come to Harwood. 'However, the decision regarding this proposal is ultimately up to the voters of Harwood,' Phillips said. He feels there may be unintended consequences if the amendment passes. 'Primarily, this amendment eliminates certainty that there will be a consistent application of law over time for anyone looking to do business in Harwood,' Phillips said. He gave the example of an existing project being reexamined when the owner wants to make a small addition to the site, 'which could result in a 'takings' of the existing property by law.' 'This is just one hypothetical scenario, but the basic outcome is elimination of normalcy in long-established permitting and land use,' Phillips said. 'For more information on this amendment, we would recommend reaching out to the local Chamber of Commerce.' The Forum attempted to set up an interview with Harwood's city attorney, Sarah Wear, who declined to share a legal opinion on the amendment. She did explain that 'the purpose of a home rule charter is to allow a city to exercise certain powers, as set forth in NDCC Chapter 40-05.1, if included in the charter and implemented through ordinances. The powers are limited to those authorized by statute.' Harwood City Councilman Dick Sundberg says he and the other council members followed North Dakota Century Code and the advice of their attorney, and is unaware what else they could've done. He also explained the council was not involved in any non-disclosure agreements and learned about the project shortly before the rest of the community. 'It took a lot of people by surprise,' Sundberg said. 'We were surprised by it. We had no idea that it was coming, or there was a potential project like this, until about August.' He acknowledges the project moved quickly, but when a project takes place in the private sector with no taxpayer money involved, it doesn't have to go through the same process of public hearings and a vote. Hankey feels elected officials like himself and the City Council are responsible for making decisions about projects like Applied Digital's on behalf of residents. If someone doesn't like how things are handled, he encourages them to run for an elected position. 'There's this perception — and I believe it's spurred by just a couple of our residents — that we 'willy nilly' went into this, and we're selling the town out, and we're selling the citizens out, and that couldn't be further from the truth,' Hankey said. 'We did everything we could to try to make the best decision we could for the city, and believe that we did that.' Hankey in particular has faced public scrutiny for signing a non-disclosure agreement with Applied Digital. The mayor says he was approached in July 2025, after then Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney already signed his own NDA. Hankey consulted with Fargo's city attorney, who he says told him there was no harm in signing it and hearing the company out. Sundberg and other residents expressed concerns about rising taxes. He said with caps placed on property tax increases and special assessment restrictions, communities throughout North Dakota are looking for ways to finance regular maintenance and improvements. He feels the data center project has given the city a way to continue upkeep with less reliance on homeowners. Hankey feels people forget that a data center was coming to the area no matter what he or other Harwood leadership did. If it didn't go to Harwood, it would've gone to Fargo or somewhere else, he said. 'My position — and it has not changed — is that if the data center is going to be built where I live, where my family resides, where we're raising our son, I want the tax revenue,' Hankey said. Applied Digital also defends its process. A statement from Phillips said NDAs are commonly used in economic development across most industries. Applied Digital representative Nick Phillips and his colleagues listen to comments during a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, at the Harwood Community Center. The NDAs were active for roughly six weeks while the company asked questions about the cities, jurisdictions and how Applied Digital may fit into future plans. Information about the company was also shared throughout the process. 'As a publicly traded company, when we share information about potential projects that involve non-public, material information, if someone were to trade on this information it would be a violation of federal law, so we want to make sure that people we are dealing with are aware of these laws,' Phillips said. 'Once the deal is announced publicly, the NDAs are no longer needed.' The topics of data centers and public officials signing NDAs made their way through the North Dakota special legislative session. One bill proposed prohibiting public officials from signing certain NDAs involving data centers and other industrial projects, though it failed in the Senate. Sinner said he joined Voices of Harwood specifically because he believes elected officials should not sign NDAs. 'The simple question is, if these facilities are so great, then why do they need to be hidden?' Sinner asked. 'Why can't it be presented to the people?' Swartz feels it's important to know the implications of any given project before agreeing to it, and believes that, in the case of the data center, there are some serious issues that haven't been addressed. In such a rapidly growing and evolving industry, many questions don't have answers. 'If industry is going to truly come in and want to be our neighbor, then let's not start off the conversation by hiding behind NDAs and closed doors,' he said. 'Let's talk to the people (who we're) going to be neighbors with.' Sinner agrees there are many uncertainties and feels data centers need to be regulated or risk getting out of hand, but he's more concerned with how the process was handled than the fact that it's a data center.