Letters stricken from record in lawsuit over Hammond data center
A St. Croix County judge removed letters from residents and Hammond officials from the court docket in a lawsuit challenging a conditional use permit for Metered Mining’s proposed data center. The Hammond Village Board sued after the village appeals board overturned its denial of the permit, while residents have raised environmental and cost concerns.
Judge Scott Nordstrand of the St. Croix County Circuit Court struck letters submitted by Hammond residents and officials from the docket in the village board’s lawsuit over a conditional use permit for Metered Mining’s proposed data center. Nordstrand said the letters were submitted by people who were not parties to the case and ruled that future filings from nonparties would not be docketed.
The project’s permit was initially tabled and then denied by the Hammond Village Board before the Hammond Village Board of Appeals overturned that decision in June. The village board filed a certiorari and declaratory judgment lawsuit on July 7, arguing that the court should review the appeals board’s decision and interpret the village’s zoning ordinance. Metered Mining’s attorney, Adam Jarchow, sought to intervene and said the company cannot proceed while the permit’s validity remains unresolved.