All,

A huge, heartfelt thank you to the more than 300 people who attended the rally and council meeting in person on Wednesday night (it was a sea of Stop-Dakota-Pacific-Red), and the 500+ people who participated by Zoom. There is little doubt that we showed the council how the community feels about Dakota Pacific's proposed project. It was a pleasure to hear everyone’s genuine concerns and Mitch Salomon (one of the organizers of the rally) even received an email from the county manager thanking us for our thoughtful comments, respectful conduct, and deep engagement on this issue. From all accounts it was one of the biggest crowds at a public hearing in the county's history, and perhaps even in the state's.

For those who couldn’t make it or had to leave leave before the meeting ended, there were a few material developments at or near the end that are worth noting: 1. Shockingly (or maybe not), one of the final "pro development" public commenters turned out to be a Dakota Pacific employee who did not disclose himself as such. A member of the community identified him and let the council know. 2. At the conclusion of the meeting, Councilman Doug Clyde engaged in somewhat off-putting and semi-sarcastic banter with the community regarding the traffic and Kimball Junction and whether the community really believed there was a problem there. In a slightly disjointed statement which drew a sharp response from those remaining at the meeting (perhaps 40 people), he also seemed to indicate that he did not believe any meaningful message had been communicated to the council by the public during the four hours of public comment. 3. Councilman Roger Armstrong continued to voice his strong opposition to the project, and said he agreed with many of the comments shared by the community, and appreciated the input very much. 4. Perhaps most disappointingly, the meeting adjourned with no clear path forward. The council said they wanted to consider the information they had heard during the meeting, but when asked about specific next steps and associated timing, Councilman Glenn Wright said he did not know.

In summary, we as a community did everything right, now we need to see if the Council will do their part and respect the will of their constituents. If not we will be ready to litigate, launch a referendum and vote out those representatives that choose not to be accountable to the people who elected them in the first place.

To be continued…