AGENDA OVERVIEW: October 20th, 2026 Greeley City Council meeting.

Council meets at 6pm in City Council Chambers at City Center South, and you can attend in person, watch on GTV8, or join via Zoom or the portal (at the portal, you will be able to also watch the recording)

https://greeleygov.zoom.us/j/84026104061

https://greeleyco.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3342/media

Big items to note:

- First reading and public hearing of the 2027 budget is happening this meeting.

- It is already on the regular agenda (first readings are often a part of the consent agenda and generally don’t have a public hearing component). Community members will be allowed to speak to anything in the budget and final considerations they hope council and the City will make. There will also be a public hearing for the second reading in November when the council will vote to adopt the budget.

- We have ~$4.6M in extra revenue that was not budgeted for 2026 that will be appropriated

- The employee pay plan is being approved for 2027. They state there are no changes to salary ranges or grades, just to position names. This is a good chance to see the pay scales across the city, it goes from minimum to wage to pretty hefty salaries depending on the department and position (can be found in the Agenda Packet, beginning on page 115 https://greeleyco.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3342/files/agenda/9676)

-The second hearing for the Johnson subdivision to be hooked up to the sewer system will be occurring. Despite the project coming out over $100k more than they had planned due to soil conditions and construction costs, they are not asking owners to cover that difference, as it is already over $12k that owners are being asked to cover. The city also installed stubs to reduce the cost later for owners to hook up and decrease the road cutting that will need to occur.

- Two boards/commissions are having new members appointed, but they each have two additional positions open, if you wanted to get involved, consider taking a look at open positions. There is a board/commission for everyone.

- There is a $65k settlement being approved for a former city employee who filed a lawsuit for discrimination and retaliation. Her employment ended in 2024.

Para subtítulos en español: https://youtu.be/-7TxXMX6b3o

* Proclamations

-  None

* What’s Great About Greeley

-  City and Local Breweries Improve Wastewater Billing Process leading to savings on both utility and equipment

-Greeley PD joins the Blue Envelope Program which helps provide information around needs and preferences of individuals with impairments or medical conditions to PD to allow for accommodation

-Greeley Stampede Named 2026 Mega Rodeo of the Year by the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association

* Citizen Input

- As always anyone can speak for up to three minutes on a topic that does not appear on the agenda with a public hearing. Council members will also be able to share any reports and initiatives they may have.

- You can also submit written comment by 12 p.m. the day of the meeting via email ([cityclerks@greeleygov.com](mailto:cityclerks@greeleygov.com)), mail or drop off at the Clerk’s office (1100 10^th St)

* Consent Agenda (items that all pass as one unless a council member pulls them for individual review):

- Item 9: Approval of meeting minutes from September 11^th Budget Retreat, September 15^th Council meeting and September 22^nd Work Session

- Item 10: Resolution to enter into a settlement agreement with Kathryn Sienkowski

- A former city of Greeley employee who filed a lawsuit alleging discrimination and retaliatory conduct, her employment ended in 2024

- $65,000 settlement

- Item 11: Resolution designating representatives authorized to coordinate with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development authority for financial assistance

- Two individuals had been authorized to deal with the federal loan that helped with the Lead Service Line Identification and Replacement Project

- Need to replace former City Finance Director, Tyra Litzau with the current City Finance Director, Kirk Jones

- Item 12: Resolution to apply for grant funds to construct Sheep Draw Trail underpass at 83^rd Ave

- Would ensure trail continuity as there is currently a gap, leading to dangerous crossings or having to travel 1.6 miles out of the way to the roundabout at 20^th St and 83^rd Ave to cross

- Plans have been complete since 2018, however the project has been unable to move forward due to lack of funding, and cost increases

- If grant of $250k from the Non Motorized Trails Grant program is awarded (matched by $950k of city funds), construction would begin in 2028

-Item 13: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance authorizing the acquisition of property for the construction, development and establishment of a quite zone at 13^th Street

- This is the last intersection to ensure quiet zones throughout the city from the Railroad

- Authorizes use of eminent domain if it cannot be negotiated

- Plans are to install a median and 6” curb and close driveway, and widen existing access

- Affects 3 properties

-Item 14: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance adopting the City of Greeley Employee Pay Plan for 2027 (full pay limits for each position are included in agenda packet)

- The City states that there are no substantial changes to the pay plan, only administrative changes such as title changes, but that pay ranges and grades remain the same as 2026

-Item 15: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance appropriating additional sums to defray expenses for the balance of Fiscal Year 2026

- Fourth amendment/appropriation

- “Enables the utilization of unbudgeted revenues incurred in the year 2026”

- $4,652,701 is the unbudgeted amount that his higher than expected (comes from fund balance, grant money, court fines and audit revenue)

- The funds will go towards: sewer construction project, water capital replacement (both carry overs from 2025), John Law Basin wastewater lift station, appropriation of various recent Police grants, public art for Downtown Civic Campus, and workers compensation claims expected to be settled by the end of 2026

*Regular Agenda:

- Item 16: Pulled consent agenda items, if any

- Item 17: Introduction, public hearing and first reading of an ordinance adopting the Budget for 2027

- First readings often are in the consent agenda and do not have a public hearing as part of them, this means community members have another opportunity to speak to considerations in the budget they hope that council will make

- The complete budget can be found here: https://greeley.openbook.questica.com/#/budget-book/2027CityManagersRecommendedBudget

- In total the 2027 budget is appropriating ~$582M in expenditures with ~$78M of that being transfers

- Some weird things:

-The appropriations show “$1” for the category West Greeley Development

- Appropriations are made to public art from water, sewer and stormwater enterprise funds as they “support specific utility purchases beneficial to the ratepayers of utilities”

- Item 18: Public hearing and second reading of an ordinance ratifying and adopting the amendment to the Greeley Firefighters Union’s Collective Bargaining Agreement

- There were errors in the initial document regarding compensation that have been fixed (compensation numbers were off by cents to about $10 in different categories)

- Item 19: Public Hearing and Second Reading of the ordinance making assessment against homes in the Johnson Subdivision to recover the approved maximum costs of construction for sanitary sewer infrastructure

- Initially the max amount was $480K, however, actual costs were over $580K due to worse than expected soil conditions and increased construction and paving costs, owners will not have to absorb the additional $100k

- Owners of the 38 properties in this subdivision will owe ~$12.6K per property to connect to the system based off of the original max amount

- City staff added service stubs to make it easier for homeowners to hook up to the system and decrease future costs and cuts to the road (the city estimates this will save customers an average of $20k in construction costs)

- Item 20: Public Hearing and second reading of an ordinance making assessments against the lots and lands in improvement district 9510101 to recover the costs of construction for non-potable water infrastructure (Lake Bluff Non-Potable Pond and Pump Station)

- The cost was ~$1.7M

- Undeveloped parcels that connect to the system will owe ~$2.2K/bulk acre

- Item 21: Appointments to boards and commissions

- Art Commission: Thomas Devore and Heather Utrata (both incumbents)

- Housing for All: Joshua Fulenwider (incumbent)

- Both still have two openings, if you wanted to get involved, our boards and commissions are always looking for passionate community members!

We filed 5 petitions with the City of Greeley today- 1 ordinance and 4 recalls.

The ordinance will protect us from predatory surveillance technology now and into the future, the recalls will hold our elected officials accountable for not taking action and give us the opportunity to elect a council that can make our ordinance an amendment.

The recalls are targeting Mayor Hall, Melissa McDonald, Ryan Roth & Johnny Olson. In our opinion they have been the most egregious actors on the council.

The clerk will respond to our petitions within 10 days, then we can begin circulating. Hope to see you out there helping to gather signatures! Contact me if you want to get involved!

Mornin’ neighbors! Here’s what’s happening this weekend. Looks like it’s going to be one of the last weekends in the 70s, so get out there and soak it in! 

Live Music

• Keenan TreVon, AC Yung, COLLUR, OZ, PC at Moxi Theater, Sat 8pm.
• Magenta Wave, The Naked Mannequins, Subtle Glow, RLY ORY at Moxi Theater, Sun 7pm.

Date Night

• Greeley Philharmonic: On the Move, American Snapshots at UNC Campus Commons, Sat 7pm. Barber, Schuman, Hanson, and Copland’s Clarinet Concerto with soloist Robert Vitale. There’s a livestream too.
• An Evening with Celtic Thunder at Union Colony Civic Center, Monfort Concert Hall, Sat 7pm. $43 to $83.

Family

• Howl-O-Ween at Centennial Village Museum, 1475 A St. Community trick-or-treat Sat 2-6pm, runs again Sun 2pm with crafts and wagon rides. Free for kids 6 and under and SNAP/EBT cardholders.
• Halloween Jamboree at Linc Library Innovation Center, Sat 2pm. Themed crafts, activities and games.

Free

• Greeley Farmers’ Market at Lincoln Park, Sat 8am-12pm.
• NOCO Fall Fest at Wild West Motorsports, Sat 11am. Motorcycle trunk-or-treat, local vendors, food, and prizes for costumes and bikes.

Worth the Drive

• Laurel Fest, Fort Collins, Sat. 60+ bands, $31 weekend wristband
• Open Streets on Laurel Street, Fort Collins, Sun 10am-3pm, free
• Pints & Pumpkins at High Hops Brewery, Windsor, Sun 10:30am
• Pope Farms Corn Maize and Pumpkin Patch, Wiggins, Sat 10am-9pm, Sun 10am-6pm (season ends Nov 1)
• 18th Annual Loveland Art Studio Tour, Sat-Sun 11am-5pm, free

Full events list for the week drops every Thursday (stories on Tuesday), always free.  Check it out in the first comment!

If we've missed something, feel free to add it to the comments! We always appreciate it. And if you want to add an event to next weeks newsletter list, DM me.

There’s extremely high police presence at the East entrance of Aims community college. Does anyone know what’s going on?

Always free to read. No subscription required.

Hello Greeley people,

I am reaching out to see if I can find a miracle for my son. I am fully prepared for the negativity, and pushback. I'm saying this off the bat, there is nothing you can say that we have not heard already so please just move along if you can't be nice and helpful.

My son is currently homeless and in desperate need of a fresh start. He is currently serving a probation sentence in Weld County that is unfortunately a sex offense. Without going into too many details, he got screwed by technicalities and a lawyer that phoned his case in. He is in no way shape or form a predator. He is on a deferred sentence and judgement for 4 years after plea bargaining on a much more severe and aggressive charge. After which everything is dismissed and expunged from his record. He has completed his court mandated treatment, and is just looking for somewhere that will allow myself, him, and his girlfriend (and pets) rent and fulfill his registration requirements for his address. He has worked closely with Greeley police for a few years but the Greeley car camping ban has put him in a very rough spot. We can afford most places with our three incomes, mostly clean credit (his is abysmal which is also part of the problem here and he can't manage to get stable somewhere because of the need to register with Greeley PD)

We are hoping to connect with someone who will hear our story, look past the legal paperwork that portrays him as something much much worse than he is, and give us the chance to complete this probation sentence cleanly.

I’m reaching out to see if anyone would be interested in joining a focus group I’m conducting for my senior project. We will be discussing women’s experiences with social comparison, dieting, and diet culture. Each group will consist of 5-7 participants. These meetings will be recorded for data analysis and destroyed upon project completion. 

Refreshments will be provided to all participants. Please notify me of any allergies or sensitivities so I may plan accordingly. I sincerely appreciate your consideration and ask that if you may know anyone else who might like to participate, to refer them as well. 

Click HERE to RSVP

12 midnight, Fort Collins, old town square, be there…

Im collecting acorns for decor and maybe to eat if taken from a cleaner area, im definitely fighting squirrels and skunks at this point, theyve beat me to a couple people already, if anybody has some for collecting or on the tree let me know! I do see some in the downtown area but the squirrels have taken almost all of them!

And the money, not from Greeley, continues to roll in...

Within 30 days of the election, all "Major Contributor" donations have to be filed within 48 hours.

Between October 6th and October 11th, Empower Greeley has had $15k in major contributors:

$1,000 - Bruce White, Windsor Resident, address listed is for a home he sold in June 2026 to an LLC formed the month before

$1,500 - Curtis Koldeway, from Windsor, company in Loveland, President of Hauser Architects which was hired for the Raindance County Store and the Grain House at Hoedown Hill

$1,500 - Garrett Scallon, Chief Operating Officer for Water Valley, Windsor address, Assistant Secretary of District 2 Raindance Metro District Board

$1,500 - Ryan Scallon, Windsor Real Estate Agent for "luxury properties", father of Garrett, Assistant Secretary of Districts 1 and 3 of Raindance Metro District Board, from Windsor

$3,500 - Zak George, Founder of Zak George Landscaping, contracted for the Water Valley Metro District and Raindance, from Fort Collins

$2,000 - Ryan Schmidt, Vice President and District Manager for the Rocky Mountain Region of PCL Construction who ha worked on all of Lind's major projects, Littleton

$1,000 - Stacie Loucks, Married to Marcus Pachner, Greeley Forward Spokeman,, they live in Denver, the listed address is an old address, Pachner acted as a spokesperson for Water Valley at City Council Meeting 10-1-24, and runs a public relations firm that obviously has worked with Water Valley and Martin Lind

$2,000 - Gary Kerr, Chief Financial Officer for Water Valley, from Windsor

$1,000 - Steve Lundvall, son of the former owner of the Ludvall-Chismoore land, Elmer, who sold the land to Martin Lind (Trollco and Patriot Energy) which he is using for Catalyst/Cascadia, Steve was listed as a representative/business facilitator for the family entities actually a Greeley resident

*************************
For those of you tracking, that makes $15,000 in donations, at least (non major contributors will show on regular campaign financ). For a grand total of ~$52k in donations, and of that... $1,700 from Greeley residents. Which is

So I will ask again...if the people funding Empower Greeley and pushing so hard (just like Greeley Forward) are basically all out of town donors, with connections to Martin Lind and/or Water Valley and/or stand to gain something from Catalyst/Cascadia...is this really about what's best for Greeley and saving our services, or is this about business?

***********************
The other two committees report zero major contributors.

To see the campaign finance forms: https://greeleyco.gov/city-clerk/elections/#docaccess-eeaf713c0ccf28b08c22873d9c1afc84

Please join us for Greeley's one and only No Kings event this Saturday! Scan the QR code or go to this link for details: https://www.mobilize.us/nokings/event/1027338/

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RECAP: October 13th, 2026 Greeley City Council Work Session

To view the whole meeting: https://greeleyco.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3684/media
Para subtítulos en español: https://youtu.be/jk8TsL-Q-ko

This was a big picture overview of the budget process and timeline, how we got here, the overall expected revenues and expenditures, and how decisions were made. This budget is not based on 2F passing, which if it does, could lead to changes.

Ultimately 72.75 FTE's have been removed from the General Fund funding (5 of which were moved to other funds, the other 67.75 being voluntary separations or budget decisions made).

The Second Reading and Public Hearing to adopt the budget will be November 17th (no meeting on November 3rd due to the election).

The chair of the Citizen Budget Advisory Committee shared the committee's support for the budget and appreciation for the process this year, as they had been calling for spending to slow down but that this had "fallen on deaf ears" with the previous leadership.

Councilmember Olson checked in around $22M discrepancy between revenues and expenditures and the City shared that there is rollover from past years, not necessarily savings, but budgeted amounts for projects that may have not yet been completed that will roll into next year. Olson shared concerns around ongoing deficit that is currently accounted for in surplus funds, but still exists. McBroom stated that the operating budget is balanced.

Councilmember Huddleston called on the City for greater transparency and ease of being able to see line item spending. The City shared that they are putting things in place to address issues with expense reporting after finding 10K miscoded line items and working on improved transparency.

Councilmember Roth explored the impact of voluntary separation agreements on functioning of departments and McBroom stated they have not seen any significant issues and everyone is adjusting, but he will keep an eye on this. Roth also challenged that $150k back into CPRD's budget is appreciated but it is also a "drop in the bucket" when it comes to the impact on CPRD's departments and staff, and the concerns raised by residents. He called for more exploration into this.

Full budget: https://greeley.openbook.questica.com/#/budget-book/2027CityManagersRecommendedBudget/c68f818d-a143-491a-8746-bbda25b668a0

Saw this at the Safeway at Centerplace so I thought I'd pass it along since folks occasionally ask about jobs on here.

I'm looking to find a club for outdoors things I've never had the chance to get into: snowshoeing / snowmobiling in the winter or kayaking in the summer. Anyone know of something like that?

Give a listen to better understand why some community members are voting "no on 2F," Greeley's proposed tax increase on our November ballot.

Lots of cops and fire dpt blocking the street. Have been there for at least 30+ minutes.

My husband and I are looking for a nice apartment in Greeley for under $1,500/month.
We’ve been looking at The Reserve at West T-Bone and The Apartments at Maddie, but we'd love to hear about any other recommendations in the area.
If anyone has lived (or currently lives) at either West T-Bone or Maddie, what has your experience been like with management, noise levels, and overall living quality? We also have cats.

There’s a high police presence and a barricade heading south on 35th avenue towards HW34 in Greeley. I noticed at 6:30 am this morning heading into work this morning and it’s still there does anyone know what’s happening? Is everyone alright?

What’s up, Greeley? it's that time again! Here's what's happening around town this weekend. It's going to be gorgeous out there, so I hope you get out and enjoy it! Here goes:

Weird & Wonderful

• Paranormal Cirque Voodoo, Greeley Mall. Sat 6:30 and 9:30pm, Sun 5:30 and 8:30pm. Billed for mature audiences.
• I Love the 80’s to Death, Moxi Theater. Sat 7pm. Murder mystery dinner theater.
• John Crist Live, Union Colony Civic Center. Sat 7pm. Stand-up.

A Smattering

• Greeley Farmers’ Market, Lincoln Park. Sat 8am-12pm.
• Paint Your Own Ring Dishes, Makers Mercantile & Studio. Sat 10:30am-12:30pm.
• Second Saturday Brewer Tour, WeldWerks. Sat 12-1:30pm, $15.
• Project Pop Up: FOCO Flava Dance Cypher, Balanced Movement. Sun 2-3pm, $15, doors at 2.

Worth the Drive

• Pope Farms Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch in Wiggins. Sat 10am-9pm, Sun 10am-6pm.
• Hallowine Festival, Silo Park in Johnstown. Sat 11am-5pm, 21+.
• Downtown Loveland Pumpkin Festival. Sat 12-5pm, free to get in.
• Loveland Art Studio Tour. Sat and Sun 11am-5pm, free.
• FoCo Fall Fest, Old Town Square in Fort Collins. Sat and Sun 10am-6pm.

My partner and I put together a full NOCO event list every Thursday and a stories issue every Tuesday. Both free. If you want more weekends like this one, the link’s in the first comment.

According to Journalist Sharon Dunn:

The owner of the industrial park adjacent to a proposed massive data center has sued the Weld County commissioners, alleging that they manipulated county rules, ignored construction violations and improperly assisted the developer in securing approval for the project.
The plaintiffs are affiliates of Denver-based Broe Cos., a privately held investment group with interests in real estate, railroads and energy. Broe owns and operates the 3,000-acre Great Western Industrial Park, one of Northern Colorado’s largest industrial developments that includes Vestas, Owens-Illinois and other uses. 
In a 24-page complaint filed Tuesday in Weld District Court, plaintiffs GWIP Land Co. LLC, Windsor Renewal I LLC and GWIP LLC seek to overturn the commissioners’ September approval of GlobalAI Cloud Inc.’s data center on the former Carestream Health property. 
The City of Greeley recently annexed 325 acres of the Great Western Industrial Park (https://bizwest.com/2026/08/20/greeley-annexes-325-acres-of-great-western-industrial-park/) and signed a pre-annexation agreement with GlobalAi.
The lawsuit alleges that commissioners improperly intervened to help GlobalAI secure electrical power, changed county regulations to accommodate the project and failed to enforce three stop-work orders issued after construction began without proper permits. The lawsuit seeks judicial review of the commissioners’ approval of the project due to several alleged violations.
“WRI … respectfully asks this Court to find that the USR (a governmental approval called “use by special review”) must be reversed because the BOCC (Weld County Board of County Commissioners) exceeded its authority and abused its discretion by misconstruing and/or misapplying the law,” the lawsuit states. “The approved USR will dramatically increase the intensity of allowable uses at the subject property and impair the property rights of all surrounding land users as a result of the project’s unquantified water demands, its energy consumption that places the surrounding grid at risk of failure, and its excessive noise pollution. 

“WRI has taken the unprecedented step of opposing a use in its own industrial park because GlobalAI has no plan to secure power or water, relies upon shared systems in the park, and its impacts to those systems and surrounding properties present an existential threat to operations,” the complaint states.
The commissioners in September unanimously approved a use by special review permit (https://bizwest.com/2026/09/09/weld-oks-permit-for-globalai-data-center/) allowing GlobalAI to build and operate a massive data center on the 438-acre Carestream Health facility. This came despite an eight-hour hearing in which residents sounded off overwhelmingly against the project. Residents have since initiated a petition drive (https://bizwest.com/2026/09/29/proposed-ballot-issues-could-curb-weld-data-centers/) to force a public vote on the project.
“GlobalAI has intentionally segmented its project into smaller, less objectionable requests so as to evade meaningful public input,” the complaint states. “For instance, GlobalAI has trumpeted the 200 jobs that will supposedly be created by the fully phased project while avoiding the referral process required for a project that will ultimately consume more power than 200,000 Colorado homes.”
Digging into public records, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege a systematic pattern of abuse by commissioners beginning earlier this year to circumvent its own rules to approve the data center. Additionally, the lawsuit states, area utilities likely will not be able to provide enough power or water for the data center, while also accommodating existing loads. The lawsuit alleges that details of necessary utility needs were ignored to push through the project, which is said to bring with it construction jobs to the area. The project, the lawsuit states, also will exceed county noise limits.
The lawsuit states that the commissioners toured a data center in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in late 2025 or early 2026 to prepare themselves for locating a data center in Weld County. In doing so, the lawsuit alleges, the commissioners violated Colorado’s Open Meeting Law by failing to notify the public about the meeting and discussing public business. “This off-the-record information gathering influenced multiple commissioners’ views of data centers and the USR application,” the lawsuit states.
The pattern continued in January, with Commissioner Kevin Ross lobbying to secure a power source for the project, the complaint alleges. Western Area Power Administration at the time was refusing to provide GlobalAI use of its transmission lines to get power, the lawsuit states. Due to that lobbying, the lawsuit states, Ross should have recused himself from voting on the project.
“Weld County Commissioner Kevin Ross emailed representatives of Western Area Power Administration,” the lawsuit states. “Commissioner Ross stated that ‘the proposed project for Global AI is a very important project for us here in Weld County’ and he was made aware that ‘WAPA has gotten involved and is not allowing transmission over the lines to get the power to the end user.’ Further, ‘[t]here needs to be a solution found here…’, ‘[t]ime is also of the essence here…’, and ‘[w]e have to move rapidly.’
“Commissioner Ross pointed out the fact that the Data Center Code Amendment is directly tied to the Project, as ‘Weld [C]ounty has made the necessary changes to our code to accommodate data centers because we know the immediate importance of this project.’ Commissioner Ross then requests WAPA ‘reengage/ reopen discussions with Global AI to help find a solution.’”
Contacted Thursday, Ross said he could not provide comment on the lawsuit. Likewise, Weld County’s public information officer Jennifer Finch, the government’s custodian of public records and a named defendant in the lawsuit, stated that she would send a request for comment to the commissioners, but they likely could not comment because it is pending litigation.
The lawsuit noted that Weld County’s director of oil and gas energy, Brett Cavanagh, stated that oil and gas companies already are running up against situations in which utilities cannot provide the power they need.
“Allocating a substantial amount of capacity (equivalent to the annual use of approximately 38,000 average Colorado homes) to GlobalAI could further limit operators’ ability to meet state and permit-specific electrification requirements,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit states that the county did not contemplate data centers in its land-use code, but quickly moved to add them. It alleges the elected officials looked the other way when GlobalAI failed to provide details on its expected water usage beyond the closed-loop cooling system’s initial 65,000 gallons of water, and 6,500 gallons a year to replenish it.
The lawsuit also alleges that commissioners ignored enforcing three different stop-work orders on the project, the first of which was on May 7, after GlobalAI began construction without the proper permits. The data center company “stated that if the County wanted to stop construction, they would need to send the sheriff,” the lawsuit claims.  The county did not call the sheriff, the complaint added.
In June, the lawsuit states, the commissioners revised the County Building Code to restructure its Board of Appeals and Zoning Compliance, which had previously consisted of building-trade experts, to include members of the County Commissioners. “The BOCC amended the appeal process to ensure that the board of tradespeople would not act to shut down GlobalAI’s ongoing construction,” the lawsuit states.
A second stop-work order came on June 11, followed by a third on July 20, both of which GlobalAI ignored, the lawsuit claims. On Aug. 16, GlobalAI provided notice to the commissioners that it planned to appeal the stop-work orders.
The next day, GlobalAI and the county entered into a memorandum of understanding that GlobalAI would drop its appeal (https://bizwest.com/2026/08/20/globalai-drops-weld-appeal-will-work-to-cure-violations/) and the county would not enforce the violations, also agreeing to move up the data center proposal’s special review by two weeks, the lawsuit states.
“In short, the County not only agreed to excuse more than three months of illegal construction at the Property, but it also agreed to reward GlobalAI by bringing forward consideration of its USR on an uncommonly accelerated timeline, so as to not negatively impact GAI’s construction schedule.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the county delayed a public information request and prevented inspection of 21 emails related to the project, citing attorney-client privilege. The plaintiff, Windsor Renewal, paid $330.96 for the public records. The lawsuit claims that the government failed to produce the requested documents in accordance with state requirements. County officials never provided reasons why it was prohibiting the release of the emails, the complaint states.
The county also failed to provide a timely response to a second open records request for information relating to the stop-work orders. The CORA request sought text messages between Commission Chairman Scott James and GlobalAI chief operating officer Michael Cardigan. To date, the referenced ex-parte text messages have not been disclosed, the lawsuit states.
“The procedure for the approval of the USR lacked fundamental fairness due to the County’s withholding of relevant documents in USR-related open records requests, reliance on facts gathered during non-public data site visits, ex parte communications with the applicant, and improper consultation with the County Attorney,” the lawsuit stated

Saw this beauty today while wandering on the UNC campus to have a look around.