Yukon residents press council over sale of city land tied to data‑center deal; recall effort advances

A wave of public comment at the Yukon City Council’s June 30 meeting pressed elected officials to reconsider a previously executed purchase‑and‑sale agreement between the Yukon Municipal Authority and BLE Land Holdings LLC that residents say opens the door to hyperscale data‑center development.

Residents and volunteer legal reviewers told the council the agreement, which city staff said was signed last August, contains clauses that allow the purchaser to assign the contract freely, to terminate at its sole discretion, and to stretch closing and construction timelines — provisions they called one‑sided and potentially irreversible.

“We have collected more than five times the number of signatures than the votes that put you in office,” Joe Horn, a local resident involved with the recall effort, told the council. “I will present the clerk tomorrow with the petitions.”

Real‑estate broker Karen Graves said she reviewed the sale documents and read contract language aloud to the meeting. Graves flagged assignment and termination clauses that, she said, could let the purchaser convey the property to affiliates or end users and then be released from liability: “Purchaser shall have the right in its sole discretion … to assign this agreement in whole or in part,” she read, and warned that such language removes practical control from the seller.

Mayor Brian Pilmore confirmed the sale agreement was executed last year: “The contract for this purchase‑sale agreement was signed last August,” he said during discussion. City Manager Jeff Deckard and other staff answered public questions about the trust structure and why Yukon Municipal Authority — the public trust that holds some city assets — executed the sale.

Speakers at the meeting pressed two core concerns: local water supply and environmental consequences. Several residents, including longtime citizens and water‑quality advocates, asked where large data centers would obtain the tens of millions of gallons per day such facilities can demand and whether Yukon’s allocated water would be diverted. Amber Ramsey of a neighboring community said a regional buildout of multiple data centers was already under way and urged Yukon to coordinate regionally on water and infrastructure planning.

A number of residents also raised transparency complaints: that non‑disclosure agreements (NDAs) had delayed public review, that key staff and legal memos were not shared broadly in advance, and that council members were not fully briefed before the sale closed. That lack of clarity has fed calls for accountability: several speakers demanded that Mayor Pilmore and the city manager resign; organizers said recall petitions met or exceeded ward thresholds and would be delivered to the clerk.

Council members responded by promising further review. Karen Graves said volunteer legal teams are exploring specific contract clauses and title issues that could provide a lawful path to unwind the sale or otherwise protect the city’s interests. “I couldn’t find an out initially,” she told the meeting, “but we have identified some contract provisions and zoning inconsistencies that may provide a route to challenge the sale.”

City officials said they would consult the municipal trust indenture, the city attorney and outside counsel. Mayor Pilmore and city staff said they would provide the relevant documents to council and to the public where legally allowable.

The council did not take immediate action to rescind the sale at the June 30 meeting. Residents said they will continue to press the issue, including petition filing and requests for legal review. The authority that executed the sale, the Yukon Municipal Authority, holds the title to the parcels in question; council members said they will seek additional legal and procedural guidance on what options the city and authority may have moving forward.

What happens next: volunteers leading the petition effort told the council they will submit signatures to the city clerk; council members and the city manager said they will review the contract language and related ordinances with new legal counsel and report back in a future meeting.