Claremore Data Center Sell-Out: Secret NDAs, Walking Quorums, Retaliatory Trespass, Court Evidence, and the Massive Revenue Giveaway Nobody Wants to Talk About

Claremore, they’re gaslighting you right to your face.

On May 15, 2026 — the exact same day a Rogers County judge heard ironclad evidence of Open Meeting Act violations — City Manager John Feary released his slick “letter to the community” and FAQ page. It’s full of the usual soothing propaganda:

• “no taxpayer funds are being used” to support any portion of this project.
• The facility’s water usage will total “no more than 15,000–20,000 gallons per day” and is “primarily limited to domestic uses such as restrooms and breakrooms.”
• The development is expected to create “hundreds of jobs.”
• The project is being developed by “Beale Infrastructure, an American-owned, publicly traded company.”
• It is “intended to support cloud storage and streaming services, not artificial intelligence or machine learning operations.”

It’s all bullshit.

While Feary was typing that letter, court filings in Durbin v. City of Claremore (Case No. CV-2026-100) laid out the real story in black and white: two years of secret NDAs, deliberate walking quorums, private developer “meet & greets” staged to evade public scrutiny, and retaliatory trespass notices against citizens and journalists who dared ask questions. The judge denied the emergency TRO and argued for the City, but the evidence is now permanent public record and cannot be spun away.

The Backroom Deals the Court Record Proves

• Feary’s own texts (Feb. 6, 2026) to Beale agent Michael Dupollis: He personally orchestrated two staggered “meet & greets” at City Hall — one small group of councilors at 3:30 p.m., the next group at 5:00 or 5:15 p.m. — deliberately split so no quorum would ever be present in one room. No agenda. No public notice. No citizens allowed. Textbook illegal walking quorum under 25 O.S. § 306.
• Secret NDA: Feary signed a non-disclosure agreement with Beale on behalf of the City with zero Council vote, zero agenda item, and zero open meeting. The City’s own website admits “over the past several months” of discussions happened entirely outside any open meeting.
• April 22 mass email “Notice of Trespass Durbins”: Feary blasted it to every council member, all city staff, and 266+ others, declaring the trespass notices against Ronald and Lee Durbin were the official position of “The City of Claremore City Council and administration.” No meeting. No vote. No agenda. Pure walking quorum.
• Retaliatory trespass notices and arrests: Issued the same day the Durbins asked questions about the data center and GRDA deals. Effective immediately. No hearing. No due process. Citizens and journalists banned from their own City Hall. A local farmer was arrested and jailed for going a few seconds over his 3-minute speaking limit at a prior hearing. Residents were locked out of the May 4 “public” hearing.

This isn’t “due diligence.” This is the fox guarding the henhouse — and the fox just got caught on text messages admitting how he sneaks the hens out the back door.

The Tax Giveaway: Normal Development Would Have Brought In Real Money

The 255-acre site was previously government-owned and largely tax-exempt. Under normal commercial or industrial development on the same zoned land:

• Full ad valorem property taxes at Rogers County’s effective rate (≈0.71%–0.84%) would apply to the improved value.
• For a single typical phase (~210,500 sq ft building): $1.3 million to $2 million+ per year in real property taxes flowing to the City, Rogers County, schools, and other entities.

Under the Beale TID/PILOT deal:

• 25-year, 100% property tax exemption.
• Beale pays about $1 million per year in PILOTs (distributed through the TID mechanism).
• The City of Claremore receives only a fixed $250,000 annual “community betterment” payment.

Instead of a $2 million annual tax bill going into public coffers (with the City getting its full share for roads, police, fire, schools, etc.), the City locked in just $250,000 fixed. That’s the giveaway Feary’s letter never mentions.

The Electricity Revenue Loss: The City Voluntarily Cut Itself Out of Millions Per Year

Normally, any large commercial customer buys power through Claremore Electric. The utility buys wholesale from GRDA and resells at retail rates. The markup/profit flows into city coffers — Claremore Electric already transfers roughly $9.95 million per year from electric revenues to the General Fund to pay for police, fire, roads, parks, and everything else.

With this deal:

• The data center gets a dedicated GRDA-owned substation with direct transmission lines.
• It bypasses Claremore Electric entirely.
• The City sells zero kilowatt-hours and earns $0 in retail profit on what would be one of the largest loads in the city’s history.

A data center of this scale typically runs at hundreds of megawatts once fully built out. Using a conservative 200 MW average load:

• Annual consumption: ~1.75 billion kWh.
• At Claremore’s large industrial rate, the City would have earned roughly $22 million per year in profit margin.
• Over 25 years: ~$557 million in forgone electricity profit to the General Fund.

Official city and Beale statements confirm it: the project “will not impact Claremore’s existing electric grid or the power needs of current customers.” Translation: the City voluntarily gave up tens of millions of dollars per year in ongoing utility profit that would have subsidized public services for decades.

Water: Some Revenue Gain, But Real Drought and Rationing Risk

The City will collect water, sewer, and stormwater fees from the data center’s usage. Beale admits up to 1.5 million gallons per day at peak (averaging closer to 1 million depending on cooling). That’s extra revenue for the utility — but Claremore has a documented history of water shortages and rationing (1996 emergency meetings, 2012 voluntary restrictions, 2010–2015 statewide drought). During the next dry spell, that extra draw could force restrictions on residents and farms while the data center’s usage is locked in by agreement.

The “Hundreds of Jobs” Lie and the Beale “Publicly Traded” Spin

Feary’s letter claims the project will create “hundreds of jobs.” In reality, Beale and the City have consistently admitted only about 35 permanent full-time operational jobs per phase (security, maintenance, IT). The “hundreds” are mostly temporary construction crews — often union workers brought in from out of town — not long-term local hiring that benefits Claremore families.

Feary also calls Beale “an American-owned, publicly traded company.” That is false. Beale Infrastructure is a private portfolio company owned by funds managed by Blue Owl Capital (NYSE: OWL). Beale itself is not publicly traded.

On the City Council: $50 Per Meeting and No Real Qualifications

Mayor and Council members earn a token $50 per meeting attended, capped at $100 per month maximum — no salary, no benefits, no pension. They are part-time citizen legislators with minimal qualifications: must be a registered voter and local resident for a short period. No college degree, no professional credentials, no prior government experience required. They rely heavily on the full-time professional City Manager (John Feary) for detailed recommendations on complex deals like this.

Tomorrow Night Is Your Moment — May 18, 6 p.m. at City Hall

The May 18 public hearing on the Project Plan is still scheduled. The court may not have stopped it, but the evidence is now public forever.

Show up. Speak up. Demand:

• Immediate full public release of the NDA and every text, email, and private meeting log.
• Real water and power numbers with independent verification.
• Full disclosure of the TID/PILOT math vs. what normal development would generate in taxes and electric profit.
• Answers on why citizens and journalists get trespassed for asking questions.

If the Council approves the deal anyway, citizens can force a city-wide referendum. You need 357 valid signatures from registered Claremore voters (25% of the 1,425 votes cast in the April 2025 municipal election). You have 30 days after the vote to file. That number is very achievable.

Claremore isn’t some coastal tech hub. This is Rogers County, Oklahoma. You expect your government to work for you — not cut secret deals and then lecture you about “misconceptions.”

The Durbins forced the truth into the court record. Now it’s your turn to make sure City Hall hears it loud and clear tomorrow night.

They tried to sell you out in back rooms. Don’t let them finish the job.