City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening everyone. Want to welcome you to this regular called meeting of the Temple City Council for May 7th, 2026. Please rise as Deputy City Secretary Liz Carowway leads us in the invocation followed by our pledge and the Texas pledge led by City Secretary Janu. Dear heavenly father God, I come before you tonight with gratitude for the opportunity each of us have to serve and together as a community in this place. I ask for your presence in abundance this evening and for your guidance over this council meeting. Lord, tonight as we recognize National Police Officers Week and Police Officers Memorial Day, let us pause to honor and remember the brave men and women who serve and protect our community. God, we thank you for their courage, their sacrifice, and their commitment to keeping us safe. We pray for your hand of protection over every police officer, dispatcher, and first responder. Give them wisdom in difficult moments, strength in times of stress, and peace in the face of danger. God, help them serve with honor, compassion, and fairness. I also ask for your blessing over Ky Brown as he is sworn in as Temple Police Chief. God, grant him wisdom, integrity, and a steady hand as he leads. Surround him with good counsel, and give him a heart for justice, service, and mercy. Tonight, I also pray for our newly elected council member, Mike Emmens, as he begins his service to this community. Give him insight, humility, and discernment in the decisions ahead. Bless him and lift him up as he takes on this new responsibility. And God, I also give thanks for the service and dedication of council member Zo Grant. As she is sworn in following her reelection, we pray you would continue to guide her with wisdom and compassion. Grant her strength for the responsibilities ahead as she enters into another term on this council. Father, lay your hands upon this city and each citizen, the city council, city

leaders and staff, first responders, and all who serve our community each day. Grant each of us patience and understanding. May your peace in the hand of the Lord remain with us in the days ahead and always. In your name I pray. Amen. Amen. Please join me in the pledge. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please join me in the Texas pledge.

Honor the flag. I pledge algiance to thee, Texas. One state one and indivisible. We've got a few um administrative type items tonight before we dig into the heart of the meeting. So, first up, we will um have the uh oath of office for the newly elected officials first. And who who we want first? Dr. Grant.

Oh, I sure do. Thank you.

Maybe better. I feel like I'm loud enough, but yeah. Please raise your right hand. I Zo Grant I Zo Grant do solemnly swear or affirm do solemnly affirm that I will faithfully render the duties that I will faithfully render the duties of council member of council member to the best of my ability to the best of my ability and will and do resolve to sorry I'm so sorry and will faithfully execute the duties and will faithfully execute the duties

of the of the let me just begin I don't know why I'm nervous so many people grant grant do solemnly swear do solemnly affirm that I will faithfully execute the duties of the office that I will faithfully execute the duties of the office of council member of council member and and of the state of Texas of the state of Texas and will to the best of my ability and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution the Constitution and the laws of the state of Texas and and the laws of the state of Texas. So help me God. So help me God.

Congratulations. Good evening.

I'm truly honored and grateful to stand before you as I begin my second term serving district 2 in the city of Temple. Being first elected in May 2023, it was a humbling experience and to be entrusted again with this responsibility is something I do not take lightly. I give honor to God and I want to thank everyone who has supported me through your prayers and encouragement conversations and your continued belief in the work we are doing together. Your support means more than words can express. I want everyone to recognize before you start mentioning my name tonight. My name is Zoe, not Zoe. So, my mom called me Zo. I was the last kid out of eight. And so, that's my name. So, throughout the night, if you want to mention my name, my name is Zo. I'm also I also want to recognize that not everyone in this room may share the same views and that's okay. That's the strength of democracy and it's how we continue to grow as a community. Over the past term, we have made meaningful progress in district 2. From improvements in our parks infrastructure to increased community engagement and investment, we are moving forward. And while there's still work to be done, I remain committed to ensuring District 2 continues to grow, improve, and thrive. Keep in mind, nothing moves fast in the city of Temple. I would also like to thank my fellow council members and our mayor for our continued support of District 2. I've learned so much from each of you and I value the opportunity to serve alongside leaders who are committed to this city. To Mike Emmens, District 3, I look forward to learning more from you and your background and expertise. And I'm especially grateful for the opportunity

I had with Carl Kirkindo. His exper experience and encouragement and leadership have truly made an impact on me. To our community, stay involved. Know what's going on. Even if you are not able to attend a meeting, take time to review the agenda. But don't just stop at the agenda. Read the entire packet. 400 to 700 pages. Read it all. That's where the details are. before each and first and third before each first and third council meeting, we are reviewing those materials. We take the time, we go through it, we visit sites and we make sure that we know what we're voting on and that's being present and even before we take any vote. So when you see something come forward, please know it's not often not the first time it's been said or discussed. I encourage you to watch the replays. Stay informed. I'm talking because I may not get this opportunity. Include me. Including me. I'm very accessible. Your voice matters and your encouragement makes our community stronger. Public service is not always easy, but it's always meaningful. It calls for listening, learning, and making decisions that consider both today and the future of our community. As I enter into this next term, my commitment remains the same. To serve with integrity, to lead with purpose, and to continue advocating for the well-being, growth, opportunity of every resident in District 2. Thank you to everyone here today as we continue to move forward together. The work continues and I am ready. Thank you,

Dr. Mr. Grant, it's a pleasure serving with you. You work hard. You're a quick learner and um and you've got uh you've got the backbone that it takes to serve. So, thank you for your time here. Thank you for re-uping for another year. Three years. Yeah. Got to do all three of them. And uh we're we're glad you're here. Glad you're back. Thank you. Please raise your right hand. I Mike Evans. I Mike Evans. solemnly swear or affirm I solemnly swear in form that I will faithfully execute the duties I will faithfully execute the duties of the office of council member of the office of council member for of the state of Texas for the state of Texas and will to the best of my ability

will best of my ability preserve protect and defend preserve protect and defend the constitution the constitution and the laws of the state of Texas and the laws of the state of Texas so help me God so help me God congratulations I can't call you Mike anymore. I've just got to call you Council Member Emmens. Understand? Do you have anything you'd like to say? No, it's my first time here, so uh I didn't know to prepare a speech, but I want to thank everybody uh for everything that we've uh gone through so far and uh the learning experience, and I'm glad to be here.

Good. We're glad you're here. Thank you. You bet.

Okay. Next item is to uh item four is consider adopting resolution electing uh the mayor prom for the city of Temple. and uh council. I um as we talked about during uh workshop, I would like to nominate um Mayor Pro Tim Walker. I didn't uh I didn't get with her earlier in the week because I was afraid she would say no. So um I asked her during workshop. She's agreed to do that. And so that's my nomination and um I will accept a motion or if anybody would like to nominate somebody else that's fine. But right now, I'll accept a motion to uh to reelect Mayor Pro Tim Walker as the mayor pro Tim going forward.

Move to Walker as the mayor. Second. We have a motion by council member Pilington. We have a second by council member Grant. Council, please cast your vote. Be one no. Mine's not showing up.

It just says waiting. Just Okay. I approve. I vote. Yes. Council member. Yes. Very good. Item four passes uh five to zero. Mayor Pro Tim Walker, thank you for your willingness to serve again in that capacity.

Next item is to administer the oath of office to the new Temple Police Chief, Koi Brown. Chief, come forward, please. Please raise your right hand. I, Cy Brown, I, Corey Brown, do solemnly swear or affirm do solemnly swear and affirm that I will faithfully execute the duties I will faithfully execute the duties of the office of chief of police of office of chief of police for the city of Temple for the city of Temple and of the state of Texas

and for the state of Texas and will to the best of my ability to the will to the best of my ability preserve protect and defend preserve protect and defend the Constitution the Constitution and the laws of this state the laws of this state. So help me God.

So help me God. Chief, would you like to say anything? Where'd the mic go?

Flip it up. There you go. here, council, city leadership. Thank you. Thank you for trusting me to be y'all's chief of police. It's truly honored, truly grateful um for the opportunity for sure. Um, chiefs in the room, I appreciate you community. I know you have high expectations and you should be you should have them in the police department. But I promise you there'll be no higher expectations than the men and women of the Temple Police Department. to the men and women of the city and to the PD. Thank you for the warm welcoming uh this first week. It's been amazing. Many things have occurred that uh just check that box that I made the right decision. Pro promise to support you. Promise to be fair. I promise to hold us to the highest standards possible. And just this week alone, in the last few days, it proved to me the dedication, the work ethic, the professionalism that the agency has. And I'm truly honored in that piece. Chief Mike Harmon, thank honor to serve under you for the last 20 years. Jessica, Briana, my wife and daughter. We didn't do this. I didn't do this myself. We did this together. Truly appreciate the support that you all

given me to make this happen. And uh just thank you, Temple. truly honored and I'm truly proud to uh call the PD my home for me and my family. Thank you.

Chief, as you know, we're expecting big things. you're inheriting a uh a department that is first class right now with uh from administration on down and we just expect you to take that uh to even higher levels. We're looking forward to working with you and for you. You bet. Thank you, sir. Okay. As I often do, I'm going to move a few things around. We're going to we have a few special presentations uh tonight and we're going to do those first. So, um, I'm moving down to item seven on the agenda, and that item is to, uh, recognize the 2026 Little Sprouts program graduates.

Britney, you want this? Okay. Good.

Good evening everyone. My name is Stephanie Miller and Keep Temple Beautiful and the City of Temple Housing and Community Services Department created and implemented the Little Sprouts program which encompass key components chosen to educate and help shape our future leaders in environmental sustainability. The mission is to empower youth to take action to improve and beautify their environment while working with their community towards an eco-friendly future. Tonight, we are so proud to graduate five students from Temple ISD's Thorn Elementary School, our second graduating class of Little Sprouts. This program was was led by Belinda Garcia and myself. On the application, students were asked why environmental sustainability is important to them. Jordan is one of our students, is going to share his response with everyone here tonight. Environmental sustainability is more than a trend to me. It is it is a necessity for my generation's future. Personally, I feel a deep responsibility to help and protect our world that sustains us. Whether it is reducing our plastic use or conserving energy, I believe that small consistent personal choices define who we are. I want to look back knowing I can I contribute to the solution rather than add into the problem. However, individual action is not enough. This is why sustainability is vital for my school. As a large institution of our our school consumes massive amounts of paper, energy and resources daily. By by adopting green practices such as compressive recycling or waste reduction, the school does not just reduce its carbon footprint. It

leads by example. If the school prioritizes the environment, it teaches hundreds of students that stewardship matters. Together, my personal commit commitment and the school's leadership can help build a cleaner, greener future. Yes.

Thank you, Jordan. At this time, I will call on the Little Sprouts graduating class of 2026 to receive their surf their certificate from Mayor Tim Davis. We have Jeremiah Crrathers. Owen Franklin, August Len, Joan, Jordan Molenhower, and Aaron Reynolds.

Thank you. Okay. Next, we're going to recognize May 10th through 16, 2026 as National Police Week. So, I've got a proclamation I'd like to read. This proclamation is from the office of the mayor of the city of Temple. Whereas there are approximately 800,000 law enforcement officers serving in communities across the United States, including the dedicated members of the Temple Police Department. And whereas our community will always appreciate and commend the risks that police officers take every day to ensure the safety of our community. And since the first recorded police death in 1786, there are currently more than 24,500 law enforcement officers in the United States that have made the ultimate sacrifice and have been killed in the line of duty. Whereas in 2026, the name of 363 officers killed in the line of duty were added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington DC. These 363 officers include 109 officers who were killed during 2025 and additional 254 officers who were killed in previous years. And whereas the service and sacrifice of all officers killed in the line of duty will be honored during National Police Week at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund's annual candlelight vigil on the evening on the evening of May 13, 2026. And now therefore, I Timothy A. Davis, mayor of the city of Temple, Texas, do hereby proclaim the week of May 10th through 16th, 2026 as National Police Week throughout the city of Temple. And I urge all citizens to

salute the service of the law enforcement officers in our community and in communities across the nation. In testimony whereof, I witness my hand in the seal of the city of Temple, Texas on this seventh day of May, 2026. Would you like to step forward? Thank you. Thank you for recognizing memorial. Unfortunately, we have officers um from the Temple Police Department. They're on the Texas memorial down in Austin and also on an memorial in Washington DC, officers from your community that that made the ultimate sacrifice. Um, so it's always an honor for us to recognize those that from our department that have made the ultimate sacrifice, but also to know that our council and community supports us as well. So, we appreciate it.

You bet. Thank you.

Next item is a proclamation recognizing May 2026 is water safety month. Leah Somebody. Okay. Would you like to read the proclamation? Would you like me to read the proclamation or Okay. No, I know. I'm gonna read. All right. You guys want to step up? Y'all can say a few words afterwards.

Okay. This proclamation is from the office of the mayor of the city of Temple. Whereas each May, communities across the country observe water safety month to raise awareness and equip families with life-saving knowledge. And whereas as temperatures rise and school doors close for the season, adults and children alike head outdoors to enjoy the neighborhood pools, splash pads, lakes, and rivers. And whereas with increased activity in and around water comes renewed responsibility to prioritize safety and prevention. Whereas time spent in water offers countless benefits from physical fitness to meaningful moments with family and friends. However, without proper precautions, these activities can quickly turn tragic. And whereas drowning remains one of the leading causes of accidental death among children nationwide. And many incidents occur silently and swiftly. However, consistent supervision, formal swim instructions, the use of life jackets, and understanding of water conditions are critical tools in protect in protecting life and ensuring safe recreation for all. And whereas through educational campaigns, swim programs, and community outreach, national and local organizations work together to promote responsible water practices and reduce preventable fatalities. Now, therefore, I, Timothy A. Davis, mayor of the city of Temple, Texas, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as water safety month in the city of Temple, Texas. And I encourage all citizens to remain vigilant, model safe behavior, and take proactive steps to protect themselves and loved ones in order to fully enjoy the season's many opportunities for water recreation. In testimony whereof, I witness my hand in the sill of the city of Temple, Texas on this 7th day of May, 2026. So, thank you.

Straight up. Is it on? You're on. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, city council, um, staff. We just want to make sure that everyone is really aware of water safety month. This is Clarice Free. She's the manager of our aquatics department and she and her staff do amazing things to keep our community safe, um, to run their facilities in a really safe manner. and we're looking forward to the summer. Our pools will be opening soon and um we hope we see all of you guys out there at our pools. Thank you.

Okay, next item is to uh receive a presentation regarding the considerations related to data center development. Miss Myers.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. So, I know there's been a lot of community interest in data center developments in Temple. And so, I wanted to give a presentation tonight to just brief you on some topics to keep in mind as you're making decisions um about these uh about these proposed developments. um and provide some education, especially since there's just uh a lot of questions that our community members have around um what uh land use requirements uh we can adopt, our water and power usage, financial and economic uh impacts of data center developments. And so I I wanted to provide this briefing to give some basic information um to help uh educate uh on this topic. So tonight, uh we're going to talk a little bit about what authority the city has, um the some of the community impacts of uh the proposed data center developments, some of the local protections that we have the opportunity to implement and uh the role of the city within this process. So first I would uh want to start out just with a little bit of basic information on uh the city and our authority. As you may know, cities are political subdivisions of the state of Texas. So, cities um are governed by and must operate within the authority provided by the state constitution and state law. State law authorizes home rule cities, which Temple is, to operate under what's called a city charter. Essentially, a set of rules that are approved by the voters of the city and can only be changed by the voters of the city. City councils are elected to make decisions within the authority that's provided by the charter and state law. City council members in Temple are volunteer positions and receive no salary.

The state does provide for uh some land use uh control or land use tools that cities may use in order to help uh shepherd orderly growth. Some of those tools include annexation and zoning. So annexation is the process of bringing property into the city limits. So property that is uh that is outside the city limits of is of course not subject to city regulations to city taxation um or to city standards. So when you annex a piece of property, it's brought into the city limits and it then becomes subject to those things. In Texas, annexation is voluntary only. So the only time that a city can bring in a piece of property into the city limits is if the property owner requests annexation. So this is not something that the city can uni unilaterally do. Involuntary annexation has not been allowed in Texas for some years. So the only way uh that that a piece of property is brought into the city is the property owner has to petition or request the city council to do that and the city council can then make a determination if that is in the best interest of the city if they want to bring that property under uh the city authority and they can do so if uh if the property owner has requested and they agree that it is in the best interest. Once the property is in the city, then it is subject to a process called zoning. So zoning divides land into land within the city into districts and then it regulates how property can be used. So typical zoning districts are things like residential, commercial, industrial. Those are the the three main categories of zoning. There are subzoning districts of course within

those. Uh but generally speaking, every piece of of of property within the city has a has a particular zoning and then that determines what type of use can occur within that that district. Zoning can also uh introduce certain development requirements such as setbacks, meaning how far a uh a building has to be uh from the property line, if there's any height requirement. So, you know, if a if a really tall building uh can't be built build built, excuse me, next to um a residential structure, it can address parking requirements, landscaping and screening and buffering requirements, noise requirements, and traffic control. When a property is being introduced to be reszoned, it requires public notice and public hearings. And that process is governed by state law. There's a specific state law that sets out what a city needs to do in order to notify the public that the uh state process requires that a mailed notice be sent to the property owner who owns the property that is subject to resoning and also owners within 200 ft of that property. So those folks would get an actual mailed notice in the mail. We are also required to post uh a notice in our local newspaper which for us is the Temple Daily Telegram. We are also required to post agendas of all of the public meetings in which the reszoning or annexation request will be considered. Zoning requests are heard first by another body before they come to the city council which is called the planning and zoning commission. So those agendas are posted. They hold public meetings. They hold a public hearing on the request and they uh consider public input and then make a recommendation to the city council and then the city council has a separate meeting where the

item is heard again with another public hearing and uh resonings and annexations require two readings by the city council. So you will hear all zoning and annexation requests twice at the city council level. all will be posted as a public key as a public meeting and require posting of that agenda at least three business days in advance of when that meeting will occur. So that process is laid out in state law and that's what state law requires us to do when we're considering uh reszoning or annexing a piece of property into the city. So I said this presentation was about data centers and it is. So um I want to orient you a little bit. There's there's obviously a particular uh data center proposal um that you have some have uh been seeing action items have action items on your agenda tonight about and that's a proposed development by a company called Rowan. They are looking at developing um data center campus in what's called our synergy park. So that is a uh a industrial park area in the southeast portion of our community just south of our city's regional landfill. So, zooming in a little bit on that area. Um, again, this area is south of the city's uh uh service center, uh, east service center and our regional landfill. Um, it is a industrial park area. Um, and just to give you an orientation again, this uh the project that that we have had several action items on and you have action item on your agenda tonight is related to projects uh a project proposal by Rowan. Um this is a three-phase development proposal. Uh the first phase uh the company calls project temple. The second phase the company calls project stampede and the f third phase the company calls project ranger. So that's generally where we're talking about when we talk about these data centers that that we've been discussing.

So what does uh what what type of authority does the state give cities in decisions like these? So the city has the authority as we've already talked about to annex property if that annexation is requested by the property owner and then to zone that property. Once zoned the city can implement development standards and permitting requirements. We can require utility agreements in order to access our water and wastewater utilities. As part of the zoning process, we can require traffic studies and improvements uh necessary from those traffic studies. We can implement noise standard requirements and enforce those standards. And other local ordinances and agreements can can be implemented in order to encourage orderly development and protect surrounding uh properties from um uh from uh an impact a negative impact from the proposed development. However, there are there are several things that the city does not control. the state has not delegated that authority to the city and are beyond the uh the authority that you have at the city council to regulate or to influence that includes really most everything around electricity. Um the state has uh has uh not delegated authority to cities related to electric policy. Uh there is a uh statewide electric policy. Uh there's urkot um and that is again that is something that is controlled at the state level and um that cities have little to no um input or impact on that policy. We also don't control the local electric company which is encore. We don't control their infrastructure planning. Um and so that's that is outside the scope of your authority as a city council.

We also don't control state programs for um tax exemptions and incentives that are offered for data center developments. The state of Texas has a program where they exempt from state sales tax much of the servers and equipment that go into data centers. So, as you might imagine, that's a pretty significant incentive that the state offers for data centers, making it attractive for data centers to locate within the state of Texas. That is a state level program. We cannot opt out here locally. It is only uh the only one the only uh entity that has the authority to change, repeal, amend or stop that program is the state legislature. It was adopted by them and they are the only ones who can control that. We also don't have any uh significant authority over the property the private property rights framework that exists in Texas. So Texas for um really all of its history has been a very strong private property rights state um that is embedded in the state constitution and our state laws. And so much of what you can and can't do as a city points back to the fundamental right that Texans have over private property and what they do with their own private property in Texas. You can obviously also not control whether similar projects locate elsewhere in the region or whether they locate just outside the city limits and you uh thus don't control the regional impacts created by projects that remain outside the city limits. So speaking a little bit more about private property, the property uh for the for the Rowan project is private property. It does not belong to the city. It was not sold to the developer by the city and the city did not buy any property on behalf of the developer.

They purchased all of this property on their own and it is their private property. The city cannot force land use. So, you know, I I know that there's some that um that are concerned about the loss of agricultural land in our community, but cities do not have the authority to force a land owner to keep land in agricultural use or any other type of use. They can't you can't you have no authority to prevent lawful development of property. Again, that goes back to the embedded private property rights in the state of Texas. we can't tell somebody what they can and can't do with their property. Um, with some caveats, you can regulate impact. So if the if the property is within the city of temple then again we can use those zoning and development standard authority uh within the authority that the state has given us to regulate the impacts of that development through zoning development review noise standards traffic control drainage standards building code standards and utility agreements. So that's why uh that uh the local plan has f around these data center uh proposals has focused on requiring annexation, incentivizing annexation again because you actually can't require it. Uh the property owner has to uh petition for annexation and then zoning development standards and enforcable agreements. Annexation matters because it gives Temple more control, not less. Again, without annexation, Temple cannot apply its zoning and development standards. We can't enforce utility, noise, traffic or infrastructure protections and the development is not subject to um city taxation. So the so the annexation ensures the pro the project contributes

to the city's revenue which supports city services like police, fire, streets, parks, things we've talked about tonight already. Without annexation, there's limited local regulation. Again, inside the city limits, development can be shaped through those zoning tools. But outside the city, projects can be built by right with far fewer local controls. And why is that? It's because again, the city is a subdivision, a political subdivision of the state of Texas. So, we operate with within a certain set of authority that's granted by Texas constitution and state law. Counties are also political subdivisions of the state of Texas, but they have a different set of responsibilities and a different set of authority and they have far less authority in dealing with land use than cities have been granted by the state. So for example, counties do not have zoning authority. So counties cannot require property can cannot guide development within the county based on zoning districts. you you can't tell uh a a property owner within the county what they can and can't build in a certain location. Development can proceed by right if it meets the limited county, state, and federal requirements that exist, which again are very limited out outside the city limits. Again, there's no zoning, there's no building permits, and there's no development standards,

and that's why you get acres and acres of solar panels. Yes. So that's why part of your strategy has been to encourage and incentivize annexation so that you can apply regulations to shape how this development occurs. But there are limits to our zoning authority. So while we do have zoning authority, it's not an unlimited uh authority. There are certain things that you have to do. So what we again we can limit uses to specific zoning districts. So for example you can say an industrial project cannot locate within a residential district. We can apply development and operational standards through the zoning ordinance. We can require mitigation of project impacts for example in in requiring a traffic study and traffic and and and transportation improvements as a result of that study. And we can use the tools provided through plan development and overlay zoning districts. Again, local regulation examples include things that we've already talked about like setbacks and buffering and landscaping and noise and lighting and screening and traffic and in infrastructure and water use. Cities generally cannot though prohibit a lawful land use citywide. So what you cannot do is say we do not want this use in our city at all. The state of Texas does not allow you to do that. One of the most common ways that people remember this or or or or learn this is things like um sexually oriented businesses. So, a lot of cities they would they don't want to have strip clubs in their community, but the state of Texas does not allow a city to universally say you cannot have a certain use within your community. You have to allow it somewhere in your

community. You can say what zoning use it goes in, but you can't all out banan it. You can't apply arbitrary or discriminatory standards when you're zoning. And you can't adopt regul regulations that are so restrictive that they essentially function as a deacto ban. So if it's a otherwise lawful use, whether you like it or not, you have to you have to allow it somewhere within your community. One thing that um that I want to go back on um on annexation as well, and we can talk about this a little bit more when we when we talk about water, but one of the other things that being inside the city limits allows the city council to do is to consent or deny the drilling of water wells. Outside the city limits, a project can without uh the city's consent drill a well to access water from the aquifer. Inside the city, we can either consent or not consent to a water well-being drill. You have historically his council here has historically disallowed drilling of wells to deplete our aquifer outside the city without annexation. You can't control that and a project could use groundwater to meet their water needs. Did want to make that that point. I forgot. So more about water. data center projects um in Temple are required to enter into a utility services agreement in order to access city water and wastewater services. So these are these uh utility agreements uh are are based on uh for Rowan are based on each phase. Um for phase one which is project temple uh the utility agreement requires the following. It requires what's called a closed loop cooling

system. That's again that's contractually required which is a system that that has a single um upfront charge of the system meaning uh water is is is um is put into the cooling system initially but then that same water recirculates for 10 or more years without requiring additional recharge or or um considerable amounts of additional water. So the uh utility services agreement that we have entered into with Rowan for project uh for the for their phase one project temple uh allows them an initial charge of 2 million gallons of water but that can't be taken at one time. that is phased over a number of days and has to be coordinated with the city of Temple at our consent to make sure that that's taken at a time where it doesn't have negative impacts on our ability to operate our water system. So, if it's a really hot day and a lot of people are using water, watering their lawns, you know, then that might not be a day that that uh an initial charge is allowed to happen. um we will coordinate with them and they um will need to seek um our uh consent on on the best time to do that initial charge and again that initial charge then recirculates for at least 10 years. Our agreement has enforcement provisions. Water usage is monitored and and enforced through advanced metering and enforcement tools are included in the contract, including mechanically limiting devices that physically do not allow more water to be used than we have contractually agreed to if we deem that necessary. Their daily domestic water use is capped at 4,000 gallons a day.

For perspective, the average Temple home uses 240 gallons a day and a typical restaurant uses 7,000 gallons a day. So, um this uh a a d a project um uh and so again, this is project specific uh phase specific. So, there's three phases proposed for Rowan. So, this would this you you would expect a utility agreement for each of those three phases. So for one phase, one of the three phases, they are capped at 4,000 gallons a day, which is less than what you know, a typical restaurant, whether that be a a you know, my daughter's favorite restaurant is Cracker Barrel. So we'll we'll use that as an example, would use less than um than that per day. And again, that is a contractually capped number. I do want to put that in perspective related to Temple's long-term water position. Temple is in a strong long-term water position because the city has spent decades securing water rights, expanding treatment capacity, and planning for future supply. We have 43,000 acre feet of water rights. The majority of our water rights are what's called state adjudicated, meaning that we do not contract with the Brazis River Authority to rent water. We own storage rights in Lake Belton. We own 20% of the of Lake Belton storage rights. Um and many of our rights are senior to almost anybody else in the basin including rights of bar. So we senior rights mean we have stronger legal protection and higher reliability of uh our water rights especially in times of drought. We get water first.

When you look at capacity, we have an average daily demand of 18 million gallons a day. In recent years, our peak usage has been 33 million gallons a day. That means on the hottest day of the year when everybody's using the maximum amount of water, that's what we've capped out at, 33 million gallons a day. Our treatment capacity is 54 million gallons a day. We've recently added 13 million gallons of treatment capacity and we have 4 million gallons additional capacity in planning stages. We also have a project actively underway to secure future investment of additional water supplies and that's in part through our aquafer storage and recovery project which will um is estimated to add an additional 15 million gallons a day which equates to 16,000 acre feet a year. that helps us to have more water, but also helps us to diversify our water from not just surface water in Lake Belton, but also groundwater available and stored in essentially evaporation proof uh uh as you store it in um in the aquifer. 43,000 acre feet a year is 15 billion gallons a year. So again, 4,000 gallons a day compared to 14 billion gallons a year of water rights, just to put that in perspective. So the other big consideration, another big concern is noise. Noise is taken has been taken seriously by the council and you've directed staff to work um uh hard to uh negotiate and to implement some pretty significant noise protections for this project. So the project is required

to use um all commercially available efforts to design, build and operate the facility to minimize noise impact. You have hard standards of decibel limits. But layered on top of that, you have the requirement that all that their construction and operation has to use anything that's commercially available to help reduce the noise that uh might be generated from uh the facility. There has to be buffering um at the facility and they have to hire an acoustical engineer to develop a noise mitigation plan before they even get a building permit. Then they have to build the facility with all of the all of the uh recommendations and requirements that are developed in that noise mitigation plan. And then before occupancy, they have to test to make sure that what they anticipated uh would happen with that noise mitigation plan and the the reduction in noise that would occur by that is actually achieved. At any time if the city receives a complaint uh that that meets the reasonable person standard that we say that's re that a reasonable person would find that noise to be a nuisance. Then um the contract the agreement requires that the zoning ordinance rather requires that they um work with us to add additional noise protections and we have multiple enforcement options including citations, arbitration, and other contractual requirements. Uh we've heard some concerns related to traffic and road impacts. Um, the zoning ordinance requires that a traffic study be performed by the developer before platting. That traffic study has to determine if

there are going to be any improvements that are required in order to mitigate the traffic impact of the development. If those traffic improvements are identified in the traffic study, then the developer must uh either complete those improvements or financially guarantee those improvements to the city satisfaction before a certificate of occupancy will be issued for any building as part of the development. We've also talked about environmental requirements. While the city is not a lead um regulator in environmental uh in environmental regulations, that's primarily falls to uh at the state level the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and at the federal level the Environmental Protection Agency. The state has given the city some limited authority in what we can do related to environmental regulations. So we do have um some uh requirements that we can uh enforce related to uh flood plane, storm water and environmental uh impacts. Um the development must comply with all city, state and federal environmental requirements. They are required to submit a storm water and erosion control plan before constru construction. They are required to address spills, waste, dust, drainage, and site cleanup. And they are required to complete post construction storm water requirements before occupancy. The city can require additional information or third-party review when needed to ensure that the uh developer is meeting the environmental requirements related to the economic and workforce

impact. We'll talk a little bit more about this specifically, but these are significant private investments and result in long-term tax base growth. They provide ongoing revenue sources, including both primarily property taxes and electrical franchise fees. related to job creation. They they do create technical and higherp paying IT, engineering and operations jobs on the ongoing permanent basis, but they also have uh construction support uh that that during construction they support uh temporary jobs and contractors. There's also partnerships that are formed typically with schools and workforce programs uh in the tech industry in the tech space. So, a little bit more information about the the financial impact of these projects. There's been some questions about tax abatement. Tax abatement is used as a tool to secure city oversight. Again, I've mentioned that annexation is not you. You have no authority to require annexation. The property can be developed outside the city limits with none of the development requirements we've just talked about and with no financial benefit to the city but with all of the impacts to the roads, aquafer, electric grid, but with no city oversight or no city revenue. So abatement has been used as a tool to uh to get the property annexed and developed to city standards. During this abatement period, the project will result in approximately $7 million annually of revenue to support city services. That is a significant number. It represents approximately seven cents on

our property tax rate which as council will recall is about 10% of our total tax rate. And I do want to point out that this is per project phase. So as uh I've mentioned there are three project phases uh proposed by Rowan. So the total uh revenue would be $21 million during the abatement of period and then per phase would be $12 million after the abatement period when when the full taxes are stepped in along with the full amount of the franchise uh the electrical franchise revenue. Again, this revenue supports essential services, police, fire, streets, parks without adding that burden on our existing taxpayers. And then it also that that I'm just speaking to the city of Temple impact right now. The project also provides funding for other taxing entities. And this also doesn't include sales tax or other revenue generated during the construction phases of the project. I feel like you have a question.

So, um, $7 million abated, $7 million to to the city per year during the abatement in that piece of property we discussed at the last meeting last year brought in the uh brought in about $300 in tax revenue to the city. phase three which is the pro the pro the part phase three which is the um annexation and zoning case that is on the agenda um that I I believe it was 350 mayor but in in that uh in that range to and that was city of temple taxes only

well that's not really corporate giveaway right even though you're abating something you're getting $7 million versus $350 um annually.

So, talking a little bit about local protections. So, again, um annexation brings the property into the city's jurisdiction and control. Zoning and development standards are what we use to influence the development of the property. The you the zoning uh ordinance that you'll consider tonight requires a utility agreement which limits water use, includes staging requirements and enforcement tools. The zoning ordinance that you consider tonight is where the noise mitigation plan, the acoustical engineering review, the compliance report, and the enforcement options are held. That's also where the traffic study and developer funded improvement requirement is located as well as the requirement for public infrastructure improvements as determined either by the traffic study and the ter for the for uh transportation impact or the utility agreement for water and wastewater impact and again that is both of those items are required as part of the zoning ordinance. Um, so the zoning ordinance is what lays on those requirements. Outside of that, if you leave it outside the city and then it won't be zoned and those requirements um are would not be enforcable. We've talked a little bit about the uh about uh electricity. Um but the state uh policy sets uh the state sets electric policy in Texas and Texas's policies around electricity do encourage this type of development especially electric deregulation that has a significant impact on why Texas is attractive to data centers. These policies are set by the state and not you. You can't change them. Projects elsewhere still impact regional infrastructure and the grid and a location outside Temple doesn't

eliminate that impact. The local question is whether you secure oversight, protections, and revenue if the project's going to move forward in this area. So, a couple of other specific questions that I've that I've had asked are can the can the city council issue a moratorium on data centers. The state of Texas has given cities some very limited ability to do moratoriums. You may have heard about moratoriums in other states and of course other states have have other laws that apply but in Texas it's a very limited tool. Um, you can address a very specific lo local issue. If you have written findings that that particular use and it has to be very narrowly tailored to that specific use that there is there is something that you need that you can put into place that is already in your control that is not yet in place that if you had 90 days you could get that in place. But it doesn't give you more enforcement opportunities. It just gives you a chance to put in regul regulatory authority that you already had. So it doesn't create new regulatory authority. But for example, if you didn't already have a requirement for a utility services agreement, you you could try to get that in place during a moratorum. That as an example, but it cannot be used to prohibit a lawful land use. It doesn't apply outside the city. And recently, the state has made has made these requirements even more stringent uh requiring a 30-day uh notice before you can even start the process. So, uh data centers that are already under consideration, you know, that even if you even if you felt like there was a piece of regulation that would be helpful that you that you have the authority to implement that we don't already have, which staff hasn't identified any of those things for you.

we and we have all the tools available. Uh we don't know of anything else that you could use. Um but even if you decided that a moratorum was necessary, you you couldn't stop the the current proposals because they're already uh the the the notice has the the state doesn't allow that. There's a process that has to be followed and the state process doesn't allow for that. Other question that um that I've heard asked is um can the council put this uh to a vote of the of the general uh of the of of the general voters? And the answer to that question is also no. State law does not give um the city council authority to send a zoning decision to the voters. So voters can't um can't have a referendum on a single zoning case and the city council can't put that on the ballot. So that's that the state law doesn't allow for that authority. Um so that is not something that is at your discretion. You have to follow again we've talked a lot about zoning. State law has a very specific process that you have to follow for zoning. You have to follow that process and you cannot have a public vote, a a general vote on a single land use decision. That has to be made by the city council. It cannot be sent to referendum or general public vote. It's just not allowed by state law. One other question that um that I've been asked is there's some confusion um over whether the city purchased property um for Rowan. Um, and the answer to that is no. Um, I think a little bit of the confusion stems from this. So, I wanted to clear this up. There is a parcel uh that uh this property it's about a 100 acre tract. This property was under contract as part of Rowan's phase one

project. So, they had a contract to purchase this property from a land owner. They were going to buy it and develop it as part of their phase one project. At the same time, the city identified and this we just heard the landfill master plan and workshop. The city identified this as the only viable landfill expansion site. So the we we have recently hired a a consultant to develop a landfill master plan. They determined that if we want to expand our existing landfill, this is the only place that is that you that is viable in order to do that. So the city negotiated with Rowan to essentially take over or have them assign that purchase right to the city so that we could buy the property from the land owner instead of for a landfill expansion instead of Rowan buying the property from the land owner for a data center. So that that was the the um relationship in property purchase from Rowan. We we assigned the we were assigned the contract from Rowan to the city of Temple in order for us to do a landfill expansion. As we talked about in the um workshop today, our current landfill has um under 25 years of life and this landfill expansion area would add up to 50 additional years of life to our capacity to serve our community. And again that you can see that in relation to um the the total projects here just showing this slide again that's in the city of Temple landfill expansion area. So again that was originally part of Rowan's phase one project but we negotiated with them to take that to buy that land instead of them buying it. So what has occurred with this project

so far? Uh the first public um uh hearing on this project occurred on September 4th of 2025. That's when the voluntary annexation for phase one occurred with the second reading being on the 18th. That is also the same timeline that the plan development zoning for phase one was considered. On September 18th and October 16th, we had the tax abatement reinvestment zone for phase one uh public hearings and action items. On October 16th, uh the agreement for tax abatement was considered by the city council. On November 20th, the development agreement for phase 1 and phase two were considered and approved by council. That day, there was also the assignment of the property purchase that we just talked about for the landfill expansion. and you will approve that on that day. On January 15th and February 5th, we had the plan development uh zoning for phase two that included public hearings and public public action items on those two dates for that zoning. On March 5th, you approved the utility service agreement for phase 1. On March 19th and April 2nd, you approved the tax abatement reinvestment zone for phase 2. on April 16th and May 7th. You approved the voluntary or you on first reading you approved it. Tonight it's on the uh on the agenda for second reading for the voluntary annexation for phase three and the plan development zoning for phase three. On April 16th, you approve the development agreement for phase three. And there are four remaining action items. I'm sorry, three remaining action items for this project in total uh for all three phases. and that's the utility services agreement for phase two and three and the tax abatement reinvestment zone for phase three. So, um you know there's been a lot of recent attention, but this this uh has been uh an extended

timeline. There's been lots of public action and public meetings held on this project dating back to early September of last year. So um in summary um the uh city does not control ot encore state electric policy state tax incentives or the broader uh legal framework around private property rights in Texas. We do have local tools including annexation, zoning, noise mitigation, traffic review, infrastructure requirements, utility agreements, and other enforceable contracts. The city's responsibility is to ensure that Temple is protected and well positioned to benefit from these developments rather than passively absorb their impacts. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to cover that. I would obviously be happy to answer any questions you have.

Thank you, ma'am. It's a thorough presentation. Council, do you have any questions for Miss Myers? I have one on tax abatement. Um, how often do we do tax abatements? And not just on data centers for Rowan. I mean, just in general. Uh, because I remember when Cinear came here, we we encouraged them trying to get entertainment here and all sorts of different things.

It it really depends on um, you know, private development and and and the uh the the general uh economy of of economic conditions and what you know, private investment is doing. But I would say, you know, it's typical for um we we have a economic development policy which includes our tax abatement policy. We're actually considering uh updating that tonight. You're required to update that every two years by state law. Um and so projects that um meet those requirements can make an application for tax abatement to the city. Um those are typically industrial uh projects like advanced manufacturing but they can include um retail projects when those projects are deemed by the council as catalyst projects or important projects to the community. I would say you know anywhere it it does vary but I would say you know three to six a year at most is what I've seen. Tracy do you uh have a different number? We currently have 14 active.

Those aren't you know those weren't done in a single year but understand. Yeah. So so I just wanted to say that wasn't just for Rowan. We do it commonly for other right other people also for for other uh industries other other projects that meet the the requirements which is you know having a significant capital investment or job creation is generally uh the requirements and that you um you feel it necessary to incentivize that um uh that development into um to be able to to gain the benefits of that investment and that job creation.

Thank you. Anything else? That good? Okay. Thank you, Miss Myers, for that and thank you for taking the time to put that together. I know that's a lot. Okay, moving on. Um, now is the time that we typically uh have public comments. As I usually do whenever we have lots of people that have signed up for public comments, I'm moving those to the end of the meeting. There's about 25 or 30 or so. So, we're going to we're going to move that that uh toward the end. But, we have a fairly short agenda. So, we're going to go ahead and go through the rest of the agenda before we get to the public comments. So, council, I will direct you please to item number 11.

10. Item 10. Yeah. the consent.

Oh, yes. I'm sorry. I skipped right over that. We're going to move now to item seven first, which is the consent agenda. All items under the consent agenda are are considered to be routine by the city council and may be enacted in one motion. If discussion is desired by the council on any of these items, it may be removed from the consent at the request of any council member and will be considered separately. Um, as discussed in workshop, we're going to remove item 10F, uh, just for separate voting consideration. So, council, at this time, I'll entertain a motion on consent items 10 A through 10 S, less item 10F. Approve consent agenda items 10 A through 10 SUS 10.

Second it. We have a motion by council member Pilington. We have a second by Mayor Pro Tim Walker. Council, please cast your vote. I'll say I since mine don't work.

I'm Mike E. I'm still waiting over here.

Um, consent agenda passes. Four votes yes. I'm sorry, five votes yes. Moving on to item F is to consider adopting a resolution authorizing a change order number one to the construction contract with RT Schneider Construction Company Limited of Belton for the Friars Creek Detention Pond project in the estimated amount of $17,187.50. Council, any questions on that? If not, council, I'll entertain a motion on item 7F. Here, I move to approve item 7F.

I'll second. We have a motion by Council Member Grant. We have a second by Council Member Emmens. Council, please cast your vote. I vote I.

I. That item passes. Four votes yes, zero votes no, and one abstension. Kathy, we have lots of folks on 11 and 12. Do we need to go ahead and have the public comments before that? Okay, very good. Then I I uh I will not move the public comments this evening and so we will just dive right into those. We'll start with uh Horatio Marquez. That's good timing. You walked just walked in.

Oh yeah. Um

okay, that's probably better. Let's think. So, we'll do 134 and come back to 11 and 12 and do the uh do the consent before. We have one person that signed up 4:14. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. All right. Yeah. Mr. Marquez, we're gonna Cool. We're going to move some things around again.

Okay. So, we are skipping 11 and 12. We're going to move to item 13, which is the first reading in a public hearing to consider um repealing ordinance 2024-000019-0 for conditional use permit on N7 plus or minus acres in the Kegley crossing edition subdivision lot one block one city of Temple Bell County, Texas. Address is 3404 South Kegley Road. Miss Smith. Thank you, mayor and councel. So, this property is just under one acre in size. It's located along South Kegley Road. Um, in 2024, this property was reszoned with a conditional use permit to allow for an automobile storage facility. The tenant that was going to operate that storage facility decided to no longer occupy the building and now it is converting to an office use. You can see the location there along Kegley Road. It's currently has the commercial zoning with this the conditional use permit. Here's the current site. They are not recommending any changes to the buildings. They are doing an internal remodel. This area in our future development plan is designated as regional commercial. So the zoning is commercial is appropriate here. There are other appropriate zoning districts allowed as well, such as general retail, commercial, office one, office 2, planned development, and the I35 corridor overlay. This property, as I stated earlier, is along Kegley Road. It's a minor arterial. Those are roads that typically have anywhere from two to four lanes and 110 ft of rideway. They can handle traffic volumes of 12 to 24,000 trips per day. So with the expected vehicle trips um of an office that would be around 125 trips

per day. A typical commercial use has anywhere from 700 to 800 trips per day. So Kegley Road is sufficient to handle the traffic of the office use. There are public utilities available to the site, a 6-in water line and a 6-in sewer line. We did send out notifications to all property owners within 200 ft of the boundary. We received one response in agreement and one and zero responses in disagreement. At the planning and zoning commission meeting on April 6, they voted six to zero to recommend approval of this and we recommend your approval this evening. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

Thank you, ma'am. Council, anything for Miss Smith? Discussed in workshop. This one's come back in different iterations two or three times the last couple years. So, yes. Yeah. Okay. Very good. Council, if there are no questions on this item, I will entertain a motion on item 13. We'll have a public hearing first, then we'll do. Sorry, Alan. You got to keep me going. Leaving you down.

No, sorry. I was I was focused. All right. This item is subject to a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on the old FedEx building, come to the podium. State your name for the record, please. See, I knew nobody wanted to say anything. All right. Very good. Then I will close the public hearing. And now I'll entertain a motion on item 13. Motion to approve item 13. Second.

We have a motion uh by council member um by mayor mayor pro Tim Walker. We have a second by council member Grant. Council, please cast your vote. I'll vote I. Item 13 passes five votes to zero. Moving on to item 14. Actually, Joe Royer, you were wanting to speak on item 14. Uh, you signed up for public comments. This item is also subject to a public hearing. Would you rather just wait until the public hearing?

Sure. Okay. Well, if we're going to do that, then we need now to move to public comments. Does he not need to speak on public comments first item? Because he can speak at a public hearing, but there just has to be an opportunity for someone to speak. Okay. I got it. Very good. then we'll do that. Sorry. It's okay. We're all over the place tonight. So, moving on to item 14 is the first reading in a public hearing to consider adopting an ordinance renewing and amending the economic development policy for the city of Temple.

Thank you, mayor and councel to hold two things. Okay. So, we have a economic development policy in place right now. Um right now we are under a two-year time frame. So it is time to renew that. Uh so this is basically a formal framework for evaluating and approving any economic development incentives. Uh those economic and development incentives are provided for projects that typically support job creation, capital investment and high quality development outcomes. This ordinance um would allow for us to have tax abatement which is allowed under chapter 312. Um, this could provide some t property tax relief that's tied to any new value creation. Also providing economic incentives through chapter 380 agreements. This could be through grants, land, and other negotiated tools as well as strategic investment zones. Those are our targeted reinvestment areas. And we have two within the city of Temple right now, which is your downtown core and your commercial. So, as I stated, this is a policy that includes a two-year sunset provision. It was last adopted in May of 2024 and is expected to expire this this year. So, we ask you to regularly review this. It allows you to look at and have the ability to adjust to economic and and market conditions, update incentive thresholds and assumptions, as well as maintain legal compliance and best practices. So, we are proposing some revisions to this, but I would say that there's nothing really substantial here. It's it's as you have it, as you had it written before. Uh, we've made some administrative updates, just some slight formatting changes, making sure that some of those defined terms are consistent language throughout, just

very minor updates to the definitions portion. We have, I would consider more substantial is the wage threshold and the annual salary. Those are your two substantial items there. We have increased those from a little over $17 an hour to $19.52 per hour and that is what they would need to pay the employees hourly. That is based on the American Community Survey data. We have also proposed to update the annual annual salary equipment that would need to be increased. uh we're proposing from 35,439 a year to 40,64 a year. So again, that's that's those job creation thresholds um in order for them to get those incentives. We updated the chapter 380 authority that increased some flexibility for our city manager, especially within our SIZ corridors, which is also subject to funding. And then this would continue the two-year review cycle. So approved tonight. Um that would be done again you would be able to review in May of 2028. So a little bit about the tax abatement framework. Um all the requests are reviewed case by case. So incentives are just not automatic. We review those case by case. They must meet the minimum investment or job creation thresholds that are outlined within that policy. And they have to satisfy at least two of the qualifying criteria to even be eligible. Eligible facilities uh include but are not limited to manufacturing facilities, research facilities, regional distribution center facilities, regional service facilities, research and development facilities as well as other basic industry facilities. It also includes retail stores, apartment buildings, restaurant. A part of the evaluation considerations uh we always look at the level of capital investment, the number and quant quality of jobs that are being created and the overall economic and community impact.

We have the ability in this as well to offer additional incentives. That can be through a chapter 380 agreement as I mentioned earlier which could be grants, land participation or city services to support projects through our strategic investment zone as I mentioned earlier as well which is targeting incentives along our priority corridors such as downtown and those other commercial corridors that we have designated. and that is hopeful that we would cattle um to encourage reinvestment and improve those underutilized areas. We also have enterprise zone participation. Um this would allow for potential sales and use tax refunds as well as permit fee waiverss for qualifying projects. And then the tax increment financing uh that can fund public infrastructure that's tied to new development as well as providing a flexible project specific approach to economic development. And as I mentioned earlier, not many substantial changes, but we're bringing this before you today. And as you stated, mayor, it is subject to a public hearing.

Great. Thank you, council. Anything for Aaron?

Okay. As stated, item 14 is subject to a public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on this matter may do so. We just ask you step to the podium and state your name for the record. I was hoping somebody was gonna step up before me. Oh, you're gonna go live. Is this going to be a minute? Oh, one thing that um I didn't do last uh last council meeting. The council has a policy of uh three minutes during public comments like we spoke about before, but five minutes at public hearings. So, I'm going to limit everyone to five minutes tonight. uh for their public hearing and um uh you will be able to come up one time tonight and be able to speak. I think last week had folks come up two or three times. Again, that was way outside our normal uh normal procedures because I wanted to be sure that everybody had an opportunity to speak. Uh but tonight I'm going to enforce our uh our ongoing policies. Three minutes during public comments, five minutes during public hearings. And I have this little bell here. And when you've got about 15 seconds or so left, I will ring the bell uh lightly just to get your attention.

Is is this published somewhere? I was under the impression that public forums did not have a time limit. The council has an adopted policy called governing standards and expectations and it is covered in that in that policy.

Okay, this is a lot to cover in five minutes. All right. So, I've read through the policy very carefully and uh this is actually not my first economic development policy that I've read. I've actually read quite a few of these in different counties around Texas and even some in Oklahoma. And there are some really unusual things about ours. I thought um for example, um the tiers of tax abatements as as they correlate to different numbers of jobs created. Um most of the economic development plans that I've read um would not allow any sort of abatement under 50 jobs because 50 jobs is the federal threshold at which a company has to offer benefits to their employees. So I find it really odd that we would even consider putting a company with less than 50 jobs in a tax abatement agreement or in the economic development policy unless it's an expansion. That's that I like again I thought was very strange. um the $19.52 for uh the RA wage increase according to the MIT study that should be 1977, but that's with no kids. So if you actually want to be able to support somebody who has kids, that's closer to $32. And so that's that seems a little bit discriminatory to me. Um the definition of eligible facility is really not a definition at all. It's not at all specific. I would expect a policy to have some things like guard rails in it where we have a very clear list of what types of businesses it is that we're trying to attract and that's not here. It's basically just h whatever right. Um personally I would love to see no data centers in that list. Um a lot of things the policy talks about as purpose is quality of life but a lot of things in here seem to be opposite to that. Again back to the kids issue also I I thought it was really interesting that you didn't mince words. you spelled out in almost plain English that any company investing more than $250 million does not is not subject to the rules. Like

the way the policy was worded, it's like case-byase basis which may or may not be subject to the entire policy. So rich people just don't have to follow the rules is what I'm reading here. Um, also the uh I forget the term that it was for the uh I'm trying to rush through this. Um uh the fact that the taxpayers are paying for the utility upgrades to accommodate these large builds I think is wrong. If somebody's going to come in and invest, you know, millions or hundreds of millions of dollars, why can't they pay the extra, you know, six to 10 million for the utility upgrade to accommodate their own business? Why are the taxpayers paying for this? that does not that doesn't seem appropriate for this policy. Um, also the non-axabatement section doesn't have any rules at all. It's just city discretion. That's not a policy. Again, I think a policy should have something resembling guard rails. And, you know, specifically, I would love to see, you know, those guardrails include things like, well, obviously the community doesn't want data centers. And I'll talk more about the uh the ability to exclude them in the in the three minutes um section as as more of a rebuttal to the data center presentation. Um I would love to see us specifically exclude any companies related to AI or AI surveillance or surveillance at all. I mean AI notoriously destroys jobs. I mean Meta is promising us that they're going to lay off 80% of their staff in the next five years. I mean, I think surveillance companies are simply unamerican. And any company that's paid zero income tax in the last 10 years, any year in the last 10 years, if if they're already dodging taxes, we don't need to be giving them tax abatements or any kind of special treatment. Like, we we need companies that are going to come here and create good jobs and a lot of jobs. Most of the development policies that I've read required a minimum of 80 jobs to get any sort of perks or benefits. And and depending on the case by case situation, that could be as high as 120. So, I think I think our our wage

requirements are way too low. I think the number of jobs is way too low. This is I mean, this is kind of an embarrassment as economic development policies go. I mean, I don't mean any offense to the people that I know put a lot of hard work into this, but there's a lot of details here that I don't think had any intention on them. Um, uh, also I've been learning more and more about the Open Meetings Act, and I'm pretty sure we have to table this to next meeting. and we cannot vote on it because exhibit A is missing from the packet. So until the public has the opportunity to get a full picture of what this encourage in encompasses, I think we have to table this for the next meeting. Thank you. Who else? Is there anybody else that would like to speak on this topic? If you'll go ahead and get on deck, that would be appreciated.

You don't need to put the timer on for me because I've got a very short question. I promised myself I was not gonna come up come up here and lie to you, but I'm going to. I'm going to be petty. When I read the packet, it seemed to indicate that this policy already has expired on May the second. So, how can we renew it if it's already expired? If there's a gap of a week or two, as long as council does not adopt any um agreements within that time frame, it's fine. Then when it's readopted on second reading, then it will go forward and be effective for the next two years after that date.

So we don't have to make a whole brand new one just because it ran out. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, Alan. Anyone else? Honorable may I hope just want to talk about the economic issue but I want my time for the later. Can I do that? Honorable may is this um I'm just talking to the number 14. Number 14. Yes. As long as

I just want to let you know this economic uh economic development policy I think it's a great idea. I work with the governor's office. We go around the entire state of Texas, help with the age community, help bring jobs. I'm a product of that's the reason why I'm here today. We need jobs. The state of Texas have a great economic policies from top to the bottom. So, I'm excited. I told that lady in case if you need a help glad to help her and work with them because I'm planning to give a speech to the uh south of Texas Maradona County about the economic impact how we can help those uh areas. So that's why I hope give my time back. I need uh talk about the other issues later.

So did you did you just finish talking on on just number 14? Just number 14. Yeah, you're coming back on about why I support for the data centers in temple. I wrote a letter for you and so that's why I I think I ask you this every meeting. Yes, sir. Please tell me how to pronounce your last name again. All right. It's a Jay Gunak. You could call me JG. You have Okay. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you. And congratulations to the new uh councilman and both of the lady, Miss Soie. I'm make sure I pronounce your name correct. And Mr. Mike and also our Zo Zo. Okay, I apologize. And also our new new police chief with a $53 million budget. I'm really excited. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Any anybody else on item 14?

Kathy, can we address Mr. Royer's um question regarding maybe a missing exhibit? Um what the open meetings act requires is that the agenda that's posted um clearly identify each topic that will be addressed by the council during the meeting. And so what we go by is the the wording that's printed on the agenda. And so as long as that language is correct and it gives everyone notice about what will be discussed, then that is what's required by the Open Meetings Act and that requirement is met by the agenda language. So the um information in the packet it's it is just thatformational but it's not required to be provided in advance by the open meetings act. The only thing the open meetings act is that requires is the agenda language and that it be posted publicly at least um three business days before the meeting.

Okay. Very good. Thank you. Clarification on that. Um that's a little outside the public hearing. Yeah. No, we're good. You bet. Thank you. Can I ask a question about it then? Sure. Great. What am I asking? As long as it's Sarah, as long as it's on topic to the economic development and not about open meeting. Yeah, this is this is about that. Okay, very good. So, um why aren't we not allowed to see the um amendment a exhibit a exhibit A? Why is that not public record? Why is it not something that we can see? you're going to pass it through, but we don't get to we don't get to see what's happening. I mean, this is pretty typical, right?

It is public record, and if you wanted to file I I'm not sure why it was not attached, but it's not legally required by the Open Meetings Act to be attached. If you wanted to um request a copy of it after this meeting, um we would be happy to provide it

after after you voted on it. That's fun. Um, okay. There are several parts of this policy that uh we have a problem with. Um, 1952 an hour is not a living wage. According to the experts, 1977 is a living wage in Bell County for a single person with no kids. So, obviously, we're not looking to bring children into Bell County. Um, you claim that one of the purposes of this policy is improvement of the quality of life, but many items in this policy are the opposite of that. The rules do not apply to the companies who spend more than 250 million. Thank you for being honest about that. If a company wants to come build a new facility, the taxpayers should not pay millions for utility upgrades and service them. They should pay for that. We should not be the ones paying for the roads that were built and all of the city services taken out there. When I had land in the country, I had to pay for those upgrades. I guess when someone has more money that they don't have to pay for it, which doesn't make sense to me. The term eligible facility is very vague. This policy should have specified definitions such as no data centers or no AI or surveillance. The section for non- tax abatement has no guardrails. City discretion is vague and we already know what you guys do when you're left up to yourself. The point of this is useless. No rules means no policy. So, I'm not even sure why you decided to put this together.

Thank you. Who else? Anybody else? Mr. Davis, if we um went ahead and tabled this until the next meeting until we could get exhibit A in there, is that going to uh have an impact on anything on anything going forward? or or if it did, we could we could delay that project if we needed.

All it means is there would be another twoe period where you would not be able to adopt any economic development um agreements. I don't think that we have anything that would be occurring before the first meeting in June. I just want I don't think so, but just a reminder that this does require two readings. So, you could you could adopt it on first reading. Um, and there's still a second reading that um just but you could you also could table it if that's your preference.

But the the uh to to meet the uh the utmost level of transparency, it could be attached for the second we we could go ahead and adopt now if we wanted to attach it in the meantime to the next meeting and then if we wanted to we could simply pull that for for uh special consideration. Okay, we'll do that. Very good. All right, then. Um, anybody else want to speak on this public hearing? All right. Very good. I will close the public hearing. Uh, the first reading of the public hearing. The, uh, um, the the missing information will, uh, will be in the packet next time and we will pull this uh, staff, you would just go ahead and make note that we're going to pull this item uh, at the next council meeting for its own consideration again. So, uh, council, I will entertain a motion on item 14.

I'll make a motion to approve. I'll second. We have a motion by Mayor Pro Tim Walker. We have a second by Council Member Emmens. Council, please cast your vote. I vote I.

There it is. Item 14 passes. Five votes to zero. And this will be on the regular agenda at the next meeting. Okay. Let's move back now to item let's move back to public comments prior to items 11 and 12. Mr. Marquez, you're the only one allowed to come up twice tonight. Again, I I think I read this in earlier. Uh this is public comment period. We ask you please keep that your comments to uh no more than three minutes and please understand that no uh discussion or final action will be taken.

Yes, sir. You ready for the bell at 2:45? All right.

All right. Uh my name is Oasio Marquez. I'm a Marine veteran, a husband, a baseball coach, and a proud member of Local 529 Plumbers and Pipe Fitters. I'm here tonight not as a politician or a corporate representative, but as a workingclass man who believes in this community and the people who uh who live here. I stand before you in support and approving the data center project because I believe in represents something bigger than just another construction job. I believe it represents opportunity, growth, and the future that uh the future that working families can actually be a part of. The men and women in the skilled trades built this country. We built the roads, the schools, the hospitals, the power plants, the infrastructure that keeps America running every single day. These are the hardworking people who wake up from sunrise, work long hours in the heat and cold, and sacrifice time away from their families to provide a better life for their children. We take pride in the bu in building things that matter. Projects like this create real opportunity for real people, not temporary handouts, but careers that allow families to buy homes, support local businesses, and keep money circulating in the community. This project will bring billions of dollars in private investment, hundreds in construction jobs, and long-term economic growth in this area. That means work not only for pipe fitters, electricians, but for the restaurants, hotels, suppliers, small businesses, and everyone connected in the local community. I understand that there are concerns about growth uh about outside workers coming into the area. But the reality is that a large-scale project requires manpower because there is already a shortage of skilled labor across the country. At the same time, projects like this is opens the door for local residents, apprentices, and young people to enter the trades and build

meaningful careers. If someone is willing to work hard and learn the skill, the industry can change that their lives. We are also at a turning point in our nation's history. The world is moving rapidly into the ages of artificial intelligence, advanced technology, and digital infrastructure. Communities that invest in the future will grow and succeed. Communities that refuse to adapt risk uh being left behind. The data centers are uh becoming just as important to the modern economic economy as railroads, highways, factories uh that were previous generations. This is not just about technology companies. is about whether our community wants to be a part of the future economy or watch it happen somewhere else. The facilities also require major investments into power infrastructure, utilities, and local development that can strengthen the area for years to come. As so uh someone who has worked hard all his life, I believe the working uh class families deserve the chance to benefit.

That's three minutes, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Um, Eric Ragger. Eric, are you here? Yep. And then on deck will be Michael Smith. Michael, you're up next. All right. Come on.

My name is Eric Reger. I'm with Local 529 Plumbers and Pipe Fitters. I'm happy to know that people are concerned about wages here in Texas. You'll be happy to know that we'll be pelling paying well well above those wages. I also uh want to talk about water. A lot of people picture these facilities constantly draining masses of amounts of water from the community. But many modern day desenters now operate using highly efficient closed loop cooling systems. What that means is the water is continuously recycled and reused within the system instead of simply being consumed once and discarded. It designed to dramatically reduce waste and improve efficiency compared to older industrial cooling methods. The reality is that technology companies understand water and energy concerns. They are a serious issue and many of these facilities are being designed with long-term sustainability in mind because efficiency saves money and protects resources. In many cases, these systems are monitored and regulated far more heavily than people realize. It's also important to understand that large industrial projects across America, from manufacturing plants to power generation facilities, have always required utility infrastructure. The difference today is that modern data centers are often built with newer technologies focused on reducing environmental impact while maximizing efficiency. I think it's important that we approach these discussions with facts and balance. Every growing community faces decisions about how to operate and prepare for the future. The question is not whether growth will happen somewhere. It absolutely will. The question is whether this community wants to be a part of that future and help shape it responsibly. I'd also like to note water usage that was laid out earlier. Rowan data center 4,000 gallons a day. Typical restaurant 4700. Niagara bottling 815

815 I hate to even say it thousand a day. So let's keep that in mind.

Thank you Mr. Smith and April. April Herb. Is that right? You'll be on deck. Brain. I wish I'd coordinated with you because you stole all my talking points. But if you know me, I got a backup. So, don't worry. All right. Mayor, council, my name is Michael Smith. I live here in Belton and uh I rep actually we'll go back. Born here in Bell County. I live in Belton and I work here in Temple representing the Temple Area Builders Association. I'm here tonight in support of Item 11, not necessarily because I'm advocating for data centers themselves, but because I recognize the leadership this council has shown in attempting to gain some level of control over a situation where, frankly, you may otherwise have very little. Normally, when I'm standing before you, I'm here to discuss some sort of development regulation, some sort of housing issue, or matters pertaining to our industry. But tonight, I simply just want to come and say thank you. Thank you for your service, your leadership. Thank you for your patience. As a recovering city council member myself, I understand how lonely that dis can feel. And while we may not always agree on every single issue, I want each of you to know that I sincerely appreciate your willingness to serve and your commitment to making Temple a great place to live, work, and raise a family. I know each of you personally. I know your character. I know your hearts. Man, I don't know what just happened there. I know the difficult facts, competing interest, and tough decisions. You're forced away with the best interest of Temple in mind. It's easy for people to throw accusations, criticisms, and assumptions from the outside without fully understanding the realities and

complexities that come with governing a growing city like ours. So tonight, I'm just going to close my comments with a co quote from Teddy Roosevelt's famous man in the arena speech. And if you've ever been in my office, this is not the famous passage that hangs up on my wall, but rather an often overlooked portion that comes just before that. The poorest face life is to face it with a sneer. There are many men who feel a kind of twisted cynicism. There are many who confine themselves to criticism of the way others do what they themselves dare not even attempt. There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy for respect, than he who either really holds or fains to hold an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in an achievement or in a noble effort, which even if it fails, comes to a second achievement. a cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticize work which the critic himself never tries to perform. I'm gonna go back. I'm just going to skip to the bottom. The role is easy to be a critic. There is none easier. Save the role of the man who sneers alike at both criticism and performance. Thank you, council. Is April Herbath here?

Okay. Kayla Arerodando Robert Laura Robert. Okay. Margie Frasier Okay.

Please state your name for the record, ma'am.

Margie Frasier, FM 2086. I where I live. In 2020, we were told you can't drill wells out there. That's the northeast side, I believe, because the sun rises in the east and it kind of comes across like this on our land. And we were told they weren't permitting wells. Why? Because you couldn't get water down there. And uh so that might be why they decided they wanted their annexation because if you don't get water from anybody including the Brazos River Authority who turned them down and you're saying 4,000 gallons but what about the 2 million to load them up along with all the chemicals that are going to ruin the land if there is a leak and if there is a leak you cannot say there won't be. Every time I turn around, we have our water company telling us, "Please boil your water." It happens every two to three months. Boil your water because there's a water leak down the highway. Okay? So, you're not going to guarantee how what what are the protections besides some electronics. Once it's leaked, it's leaked. Okay? So, to me, all of us are going to be affected in the end. It's time for humility and oversight to say we agree. We don't need a ton of data centers. You've got eight. I saw the land that you showed up there. I'm using my time up because I got to thinking about what was being shown up there. That land is larger than all of your temple city. I mean, I looked at that one piece, the phase one. It's bigger than temple city. You add the other two together. That's another one. So you got two more temple cities on each side of you. All I can say is you're looking for destruction in the end when you hurry any kind of plans because it takes a few people. You've got people that came up

and spoke for it. They're all rowing people. We already know it. But then you get the other side as they say and you hear things that you didn't hear. Not just that, there's the things, you know, the true cost of the facilities, the not just the tax revenue, the electricity usage. You're going to have to cool that data center, water or not. Once it goes over 84 degrees, which we have a lot of times where we have over 84 degrees, you're going to have to cool it no matter what. You got to keep it at 70 degrees inside the buildings. Those buildings cover how many acres? How many acres of property do they cover? If they're bigger than the city of Temple, what are we saying here? You got two cities of temple on each side in your industrial area. The noise pollution, all the different things that you need to look at. I mean, people say that they they posted on online the noise 90 dB. That's way over hearing level.

Thank you for your time. That's a little of it.

Few points of clarification. Um these that data center project is not anywhere near the size of the city of Temple. And number two, for some reason there there's a lot of uh chatter about bar um and and turning down a permit. BRA has nothing to do with this process. The city of Temple owns that water. As Miss Meyers said earlier, the city of Temple owns 20% of the volume in Lake Belton and many of those rights prets of BRA. So BRA is not involved in this. Bar did not turn down an industrial water permit. Um, this is the city of Temple's water that is going to uh going to Rowan. You're you're done, Margie. Okay. Very good. Next will be uh Elena Vitco. Oh, yeah. Yeah, let's get somebody on deck.

Alan, can you be on deck? Y'all need to record this because they always censor when I come up here.

Yeah, the last meeting when it turns black, that's when I'm up here and they've done it before when I sat on the board as the diversity, equity, inclusion uh board member, very conservative one, and we shut them down then. But um I have a lot of things to say and I'll just sum it up because we know the truth and we don't trust a word that comes out of your mouth. We don't trust a word that comes out of your mouth. And I do want to sincerely apologize last time I was here. I'm glad you censored me because I was pretty passionate and I try to operate in the love of God and I want you guys to know that I love you and your daughter and your wife over there. God still has a plan for your life.

Please speak directly to the council.

I am um you guys talk about it bringing money in here. Well, our first day of gathering three, we'd gather 3,000 signatures to petition to um get you guys out of your seats for not being transparent and not listening to the people. We have 3,000. Now, all of a sudden, it's 17,500 when Jessica, you barely got 300 votes to get in this seat, but now we need 5,000 votes to get you out. You you want to talk about the money coming into our city? Your husband came and visited us at Cotton Patch drunk with his finger in my face pointing at me. I have he said um I well first he said how it was going to bring money in and that you guys will be able to fix the fire stations that have mold that our firefighters are suffering in sickness because you guys allowed that. That's negligence. He was drunk in my in my face. But I pray for him because we all have suffered from things and I understand what it's like to have suffered from alcoholism and I pray for him and pray he will be delivered. So since someone wanted to say a quote earlier, do not, this is Psalm 34, do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong, for like the grass they will wither soon wither like the grass. Plants they will be no more. Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pastures. you can turn from your ways and repent. Thank you.

We'll have uh is it Roberto Alarro? Yes, sir. You'll be up after Mr. Lidle.

Alan Lidle live here in Gimple. And like Michael Smith said, Bren stole my caulk. I was going to talk about the great things that the zone the zoning and planning commission do and and how the process all works. And the only thing she left out was I've attended a couple of the meetings since we last met here and those people do a humongous job of trying to get the city of Temple on the right track and stay on the right track. I I can't say enough about them. They are citizens. They are elected by the council. They're not paid and and they but they are dedicated. They have packets just as big as y'alls that they have to look through every well in this case it was every two weeks. So they that's the only thing I wanted to say that Bren didn't say was you got to appreciate this zoning and uh planning and zoning commission. They're fantastic people as well as our planning department. But uh and I'll echo the others that we're certainly glad to have CO with us as our as our police chief and to have Mike with us as representing my district. Thank you.

Thank you, Alan. Brandon Watley.

Thank you all for allowing me to speak. I truly appreciate it. My name is Roberto Alferero. I am a member 15 years long now of local union 529. One of the things that I want to bring up is for people to understand that data centers are not just big buildings full of computers. They become part of a backbone of modern economy. In today's world, everything we do depends on digital infrastructure. Hospitals, schools, emergency services, banking, businesses, manufacturing and communication. Data centers support all these and more. When a company invests in a data center, they are also investing in the surrounding infrastructure. These projects often often require upgrades to roads, utilities, water systems, fiber networks, and especially electrical infrastructure. In many cases, these improvements benefit the entire community long after construction is complete. They help prepare cities and towns for future growth instead of forcing them to play catch-up. These projects also create long-term tax revenue that can help fund schools, public safety, infrastructure maintenance, and community services. That means stronger local budgets without putting the burden entirely on homeowners and small businesses. I know some people look at these projects and see only the construction or the temporary disruption. But throughout all of our American history, communities that embrace infrastructure and industry were the communities that grew stronger over time. The towns that invested in railroads

grew. The towns that invested in highways grew. The towns that invested in manufacturing and energy grew. Today, digital infrastructure is just as important as those things were generations ago. We are entering a future driven by artificial intelligence, cloud computing, advanced manufacturing and technology. Whether people realize this or not, data centers are becoming critical infrastructure for entire country for the entire country. I'm sorry. If communities want to compare compete for future businesses, future jobs, and future investment, they need to be prepared for that reality. In closing, I believe this is an opportunity for this town to position itself for the future instead of watching growth happen somewhere else. I believe working families, local businesses, and future generations all benefit when communities invest in infrastructure that creates jobs, strengthens utilities, and attracts long-term economic development. Thank y'all for your time. I wish y'all all blessings and good fortune in the future. Edward Sufal, you're on deck. Good evening, mayor, council members. My name is Brandon Watley, Cedar Creek Road, Temple. I wanted to take the opportunity tonight to thank you, Mayor Davis, and council members. I know you volunteer countless hours, as has been mentioned, here tonight uh on behalf of our city, and we appreciate that. I

would also like to thank our city manager, staff, and first responders for everything you do to help ensure the continued safety, growth, and prosperity of our city. Today is a national day of prayer. Many of us know scripture and it tells us to pray for our leaders. Not only the ones we agree with, but all leaders. Sadly, over recent weeks, I've seen scripture manipulate manipulated, taken out of context, and misused as a curse. I believe scripture calls us to exercise wisdom, humility, truth, and self-control. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, we are instructed to pray for all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. So tonight, I simply want to express my gratitude to each of you who are willing to make personal sacrifices in service to this city and for enduring the pressures and criticisms that inevitably come with leadership, even when they become unnecessarily vicious and personal. And on this national day of prayer, my prayer and hopefully the prayer of the citizens of Temple is that God would grant you wisdom, discernment, courage, and peace as you lead our city. I'd like to close with a Hebrew blessing from Numbers chapter 6 in the Hebrew language. Shalom. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Is Edward Sufall here? as Mr. Sufal makes his way up. Uh, next will be Jose Martinez. Jose, just a second. You got one guy, one before you. He's making his way to the front. So, I wait for him.

Sure. That's great. Thank you Mr. Sufall. Uh I'm Ed Sufal. I've lived out of town about five miles all my life. Still there. I just moved across the creek and I've run a business equipment business in Temple for many a year till I decided to retire. I'm still part of it and uh working with uh the data center where we used to farm. They come in and they were so easy to work with. We had a crop and they said, "No, we're not going to stop. Get your crop out. Get everything you want to get done." And they worked with us and really compensated us uh for the land uh that we was leasing all these years. And they've been so easy to work with. and uh they're working with the communities. They uh uh I've got lots of friends that uh went to work there now. They're getting they're getting paid well or local restaurant there. It's so much they have so much business now from all these workers uh here they can't hardly keep up with it. So it's a uh Rohan is really

really good to work with may as a land owner may is uh working with them and and all of that and they've been really good uh in the farming industry. our business has picked up uh uh quite a bit and the digital in our farming operation. We use uh the data centers just with everything we do with the auto steer, the all the information that the different machinery now can take and we analyze it and all that. Without the data center, we wouldn't be able to do that. So this is uh a big plus for temple and the and the area. It's a lot different than solar which is takes up lots of farmland compared to what data takes up a few acres compared to everything what they provide.

Amen. Thank you. So, it's uh appreciate be able to say a few words and I'm just going to I can't say enough for the data center out there working with those people. Thank you, Mr. Su. Thank you'all. Mr. Martinez, you're up. And then Miss Brenley, you're next. Uh Jose Martinez. Uh I kind of want to summarize a number of things. some things which haven't been said and which are the reality the sum of it all and a word Rowan sees the mayor and the city council as pushovers that's why they're here

yes with data cent's promises and a lot of technical things were said they're promises not not all that much of contractual not all that much in writing overall about closed loop usage and whatnot uh uh nothing about evaporation for example and all kinds I won't get into all those type of things, but also about miles of heat islands as they're called, which you didn't even mention at all. About deaths from pollution, which you did not mention at all. No one did. Yes.

In Texas, that is. And while the mayor on the other hand ridicules the residents about circus and about fear and whatnot, that's disrespectful of residents of residents of Temple. It is the council who are the mouthpieces and the puppets of Rowan per se. Those of you who count on the council who say that education is important, that's false. That's a lie because education is is what you study. You study the research. You don't go on the word basically of what Rowan or whoever says. You don't go on their word. That's not education. So don't say you're for education overall scholarships. Some of you scholarships and whatnot. That's nonsense. Um, couple other things real quickly. When news came out about the Colleen Commission rejecting a data center, the news came out the next day the mayor uh mayor Davis panicked and publicly emailed uh Temple uh about what Rowan had spoonfed him. Why do I point that out? Because last last meeting he didn't say anything

much. He didn't know anything until Rowan spooed you. you all spoonfed him and then he came out the very next day panicking after after Colleen. So basically, and by the way, real quickly, a recent report shows that that the mayor of Falsa finding about tax abatements. This is a television station and newspaper put this together only about a day or two ago. and basically saying that instead Texas quoting out instead Texas will lose $3.1 billion in sales tax revenues in the next two years because of data center tax breaks passed a decade ago. That's what is behind all this. Another false statement about jobs also uh these are temporary jobs with people talking in real rosy pictures about jobs. These are temporary. They uh uh when uh Colleen rejected the data center there, the folks there had to admit that only four people were going to be uh uh hired. Only four

and not even from Colleen. How about that? That and therefore they rejected. You don't. You're puppets basically. And and and basically what it comes down to overall is that data centers are not required to answer. You're fault. You're falsifying things when you point that out. Nothing much in writing and you all fall for it at the cost of us of our health and whatever else as well at our cost at our expense. Thank you, Mr. Brinley. Uh Cliff Cliff Curry, Miss Brenley,

Neil Brenley Temple. I just want to say Rowan didn't write my talk and neither did Chat GPT and I nominate Jordan and the Little Sprouts for mayor and city council. Yes,

my favorite professor at Temple College, Harold Whittington, instilled in us not only a knowledge and respect for our government that the notion that one person's voice matters. He urged us to write letters, call and show up to our elected officials and speak truth to power. So, I'm here today, one voice, to publicly register a vote, sadly of no confidence to each one of you. City Manager Bren Meyers, so Grant, Mike Pilington, Tim Davis, Jessica Walker, and my newly appointed council member Mike Emmens. The jury is still out on you. Uh, it's become apparent that you all have sold out our city to big tech billionaires and foreign investors. Your goal is to make Temple the largest data center hub in the United States in spite of overwhelming bipartisan opposition. You are tonedeaf to the concerns of the people you were elected to represent. Scripture says, "When the wicked rule, the people groan." You can't hear the groaning because your pride has drowned out the voices of the people.

Sadly, soon our voices would be drowned out by the incessant loud noise of the data centers you're trying to approve. We never should even be at this point. We shouldn't even be here discussing this. Mayor Davis and Mr. Lidle said we should have been here long ago to speak up. The truth of the matter is we thought it wasn't necessary. We thought we could trust our leaders.

Now we know we can't. All trust has been lost and your legacy will be destroyed. I look back at the years when we had servant leaders on the city council like my father-in-law, Dr. Haynes Brimley and Mr. Robert Martin who sat beside him. They too served with no salary. But unlike this council, they received no contracts, no tax abatements, and no other perks for their tenure. They loved their city, and they served with pride. You've left us no choice but to rise up and take action. God have mercy on you. Daniel Aila, you're on deck after Mr. Curry.

Honorable council members, Mr. Mayor, honorable citizens of Temple, Bell County. I'm Cliff Curry. I'm business manager of Plumbers and Pop Fitters Local Union 529 in Wake, Texas. So, I was asked by some of my members to appear here tonight. I'm not a member of this community other than I have about 250 members that live in this community and I represent them from time to time. They elected me. What it does for this community is it these jobs will help accelerate apprenticeship programs. not in the length that we don't we won't make plumbers, pipe fitters, and HVAC and refrigeration techs faster, but we'll be able to make more of them in the same time with these types of jobs, power plants, data centers, industrial projects that are permanent jobs that stay in this community, buy homes, raise their families, pay taxes, use the local businesses, and support the local community. Uh so for that reason, yes, I'm in favor of the data centers. I don't think they're enemy council me. I don't I think everybody has a lot of passion and God bless them for that. I think the council has come back from the last meeting tonight and has shown a lot of transparency with our presentation and I think everybody appreciates that and it's some people don't but but and that's all right it's okay to disagree we can agree to disagree this out over Okay. Okay. This community understand that as a whole still neighbors

can work out for betterment in this community. Thank you. You're on deck.

Pardon? Hearing no hearing is over. This is this is for public comments. So you're up nexture here. My eyes look your hands. How many guys tight code? I understand the consumption of power just one computer from 250 W and Intel Samsung and Intel AMD technology meaning all ships worlds is going to me from technology. What I'm trying to say is that there's no use here. It's got lots of a lot of problems. Chips is going to go up means it's going to go up to 25,000 cell phone. It's going to skyro cars for EV cars. It's going to go up. It doesn't create jobs for my use. When I say that, I mean have a system that's going to program itself. Do the job by itself. All you got to do is type in your hands. That's it.

There's there's no one behind the computer typing anything anymore. means that console can't be made technology and decision what's think it's not right because there will be behind please technology coming soon we already know about the hackers as these things going to happen data center our imagination is in that centers They can go in and source information. They think about that data center is like a gold mine openings. Think about that guys and I understand that your job is temporary. Once your job is done, once you done everybody work, Texas, thank you for your services. Welcome. out of the way neighbor backwards CCC website is very nice questions also for uh enhanced a nice forward point of this uh the water system all of their different

at this point. Justice at this point and that is for many reasons but justice is not part of it because we have fairly inexpensive electricity and this is because solar and gas are about the same price at that point and I'm not it's not too difficult. Big reasonably transportation electric and also uh storage for this excess electricity during a period of time when electrical un low as we we mentioned earlier. Uh there we have plenty of water for this data center and um she in already in uh went over that but there's a part that she didn't tell when when we have excess water in our lakes like Belton did last year the core has to let that water out and that water is open to anyone to take and store in the aquifer. We sit over the Trinity aquifer at this point. We and so we can take that water. Temple can put it in there and it's their water until they need it uh for for a long period of time. As example, Lake Belton last year, you remember when it was high, they had to let out 250,000 acre feet of water to bring it down to 2594 level. At that point, uh that that's millions and millions and millions of gallons. Uh at this point, if there's a question about environmental concerns, you can you can also file a complaint with TCQ uh about this. At this point, uh also the taxes are a win-win uh for both the

county, the city uh and the school district at this point. And uh you there's just no reason why we shouldn't benefit from this taxes at this point. Uh, also we we have a new water well that we've been drilled out on the east side of Temple with about 240 acre feet of water. That's 80 million gallons of water a year that we have that we could use anytime we want to. They haven't activated this well yet, but it won't take that long to activate it at this point and see uh there. But anyway, I greatly appreciate the work and I believe that Rowan will be a good neighbor. Thank you.

Thank you. Next we'll have J D after uh you're after Mr. Fletcher.

Jeb Fletcher, Temple, Texas. During the past city council meeting, the mayor and the council members addressed the concerns of the citizens. Subsequently, our recall was I don't know if the mic is on or not. Can we start my time over

Janet? Take the rest of the day off. Now, am I on? Can you hear me? We're going to start the clock again.

Yes, sir. You got four extra seconds. During the last meeting you addressed the concerns of the citizens recall was inaugurated. Emails were sent out to address the concerns of the citizens on the government page addressing the current concerns of the citizens. Eventually in the newspaper there was the ad put out addressing the concerns of the citizens and it's I don't know if this influx of concerns were in response to the recall efforts. I also had a letter. The mayor had the letter in the newspaper. I also had a letter published by the newspaper and editorial May 4th. To the citizens of Temple and fellow Texans, we are being besieged by an influx of data centers. The mayor and city council has demanded we adhere to their wishes. We have answered their demand and opposition and recalls. Our resolve stands firm. I shall never surrender my obligation

as rightful steward of the land. Our local government has become stewards for the data centers. I call upon you in the name of everything dear to come to our aid. Support the recall. If this call is neglected, I am determined as long as possible and never for my forget my duty and honor. God bless Texas. I am Jeff Fletcher, letter to the editor. Any questions? Any comments? I'm here for you.

Thank you. Thank you, sir. Sarah Royer, you're next.

Honorable mayor and a councilman consult again. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I saw that like a lot of citizens said I saw the email. I figure write an email. I I put a post at the X then a local newspaper I uh telegraph Temple Telegraph say hey can you uh reduce that from 350 to 250 uh and they say they will publish that so openly I'm I'm talking I'm support of data center I don't know anything about Rowan but I know their financials I know what they do they're part of the Facebook and if you look at the data center why I support for the mayor because the AI boom is humongous. If you look at the last Friday economic data came out from Wall Street Journal and US economy, the economy is driven by AI. We need a data centers. So why what I'm saying is it's a new industrial revolution. I remember one of my colleague for me friend army guy and he talked about the importance of uh this re revolution. So when I hear these people and against the data centers, I hear sometimes I feel like Bernie Sanders talking or AOC is talking about this socialist ideas. We cannot push these ideas in this state here. These data centers I'm telling you they use liquid and then they sessions. Yeah. Yeah. Texasion and and 766 total data and 998 and and was five and uh if you look at my online community

and then the data says that they had huge amount of people against this economic impact that That's why I say from Texas but economic opportunities. So I appreciate you standing up. We need new jobs. I work with the government team. We need the data technology. I thank you very much. Everyone have a blessing. I hope the next China. Thank you. Thank you. Sarah um I don't think this was ever about whether or not I think this is about um no impact studies not having no reporting about what um this will do to our community. We have uh we found out company has straight to investors where they're raising money and ended up selling um to Blackstone which is a whole other thing that they had 1600 megawatt and the largest data center. This is all all four. This is where we found all four

of us about it. You violated the open act. There was no no problems accurately. It's nice to know they only have a lot of to know about it. You thought to happen in the US was great to put in a little paper. Um and it was still this community you were born to be a representative of the people of this city that all of you have. There are significant you work. There are some significant biolog to for what we've spent tens of millions for them about those contracts. You stopped our open do later. This is a no stop being the voice of wind. It's nice you allow your very states when we have no real wars and you won't have time to recognize you. This is this is your last open records that are being used by here. We we can do not part two section 2.1 um we we just shout

I'm George. So I want to thank you for me language very carefully without I can't help it because you just can't argue with we've seen thousands of research studies this And it's this guess right um it's it's interesting we can't restrict land structure there you know how we can't possib businessually businesses not have any bumps so clearly some ways they right interested in charging one of those seem also about drilling oils on the city of industrial drilling oil inside the city but not outside the city. That was that was brilliant. That was a very disingen very uh uh in order for outside studies like this you've got from clear water which because 4,000 gallons per day like there's no way they could have so if we weren't forgiving annex if we weren't allowing them tox and you talk about how how temple is in a superior water position Right. B and the TWWD have already water in 10 years. It doesn't matter. We have superior water rights. It just means

we're the last ones to lose water. We're still out of water in 10 years. So superior rights is just against the runner. Somebody ask me that 4,000 gallons a day or an office of 40 people is outrageous. They were I think she said she ran a a summer camp with 80 employees and didn't use that much water. Like running around outside in the heat like that's something doesn't add up there. You also mentioned ASR wells which really surprised me. I'm I'm assuming you're depending on the ignorance of the audience on this one because anyone who's researched an ASR well knows that these are really horrible ideas. It's very expensive. It's very dangerous. You run a high risk of poisoning the aquifer. And the fact that you would even mention that, I mean, yes, I'm aware it's on TWWDB's long-term plan for how to mitigate the our water crisis, but it's yeah, this is this is something that needs to be a last resort that sadly isn't. And suddenly the city can require environmental controls, but in the last meeting, you said otherwise.

It's Yeah. So, I guess I'm just going to wrap up there, but uh um yeah, thank you for for your time. Thank you, Joe. Uh Marie Marie from heard the anything that the last four people have said. Oh no.

Okay. It don't matter if anybody hears me or not cuz I'm 62 years old and I'm dying anyways. So I don't care. I've watched y'all's body language all this time.

I'm a veteran. I've been all over this world and I'm a history fanatic. I love history. One thing my father always told me is do your research. Listen to both sides of the argument. Find the common common denominator in both sides and start your research from there. I've researched these data centers all over this country. I listen to people talk. I contact people who live near them. how they don't have any water pressure. There's chemicals in their water. They're having drug problems, treatment problems, cancers they didn't have before. Now,

I love your speech. That was a great job, by the way. Excellent job. Your district one, guess what? My name is David W. Shaden. People call me Mr. Shaden, Master Shaden, Grandmaster Shaden, but my favorite name is PETA. Period. I period, T period, A period. Because I'm at the point in my life, I got nothing to lose. I buried my son in 22 in Brookman Medical Center. I buried my brother, found him in his home dead for six weeks. So, I got nothing to lose. But I don't think y'all researched anything.

Really don't cuz I'm a layman. I didn't go to college. I'm a veteran. I'm a soldier. I'm an ex-aircraft worker. I've worked unions. I've crossed union pickets. And by the way, the jobs Rowan is a good neighbor, huh? Well, guess what? Every corporation's a good neighbor. They want to be your friends so they can get in the door. I own a business. I'm a good neighbor till I find out you're doing something wrong to me and I'm not going to be a good neighbor. That's what business does. It's just business. Don't take it personal. Don't take what I'm telling you personal. It's not personal. I'm just trying to put an idea in your Who is Temple? That's my question to you. Who is Temple? They don't even know.

No. Who's Temple? Are you Temple or are everybody out here Temple?

This is Temple. Temple is the people who live, work, enslave here every day. I am a taekwond do school. You know what I work with? Underprivileged kids whose teachers left them behind. I got a second grader who couldn't even write his name legibly. I got kids who can't read their grade level. I get kids who can't do math. You know what I do at 62 years old? I sit on and read with them and teach them how to write their name. That's what I do. That's where I have to spend my time. I have kids that are self-abusing because the system didn't care about them. I don't make money. I live on a disability check. I live hand on. This is my good clothes. I don't care about money because it doesn't mean a stinking thing. You didn't even know who Temple is. Temple is everybody who lives here.

You look like you were on your phone for a while. You look like you were on the phone the first time, even while she was talking. You actually look like you were paying attention. Bravo, dude. Welcome to the company. Good job. You look like you're angry. This is the body language you put off the the whole night. I've learned to read body language. I've been in combat situations. Okay. What I'm trying to tell you is y'all need to wake up and listen to these people. Yeah. Cuz you build one of these data centers, they ain't going to be here. They're gone because they're not going to have a choice. Look at your housing market. I watched the housing market prices. They're dropping. 5,000 here, 10,000 there, 20,000 there. Prices are dropping. Even the rents are dropping.

Think, do your research. Have a wonderful day. And if they do a recall, I'll meet you again. And I hope you have a wonderful day. Feel love. on uh on deck is Kurt Riley and I get to follow that. My name's Marie BBE. Um I do want to thank you for

I do want to thank you guys for your service. I know this isn't an easy job and I I commend you for showing up after the last meeting. Baptism by fire, I guess. Um, Miss Meyers, it was very informative and I am very sincere. Um, I learned a lot. There were some interesting things and I did have a few questions answered but um and I know you can't answer my questions but I'm kind of wondering like who I know Rowan builds for clients and I know that they probably can't tell us exactly who their client is but I think the city of Temple might feel a little better if we knew what they were building for. Um is it for medical? Is it for uh government um protections?

But I do I do think many people have a misunderstanding that whatever data is created here is for us here. Is this even an data for an American company? Is this are we outsourcing to China? I I don't know. And I I hope that I can I'm going to attend some meetings and get some answers. Another question I have not heard asked are uh I know that contractually they're allowed a certain amount of water when they are charging and and all that. If for some reason something breaks or something goes wrong, which things just does happen. Um are there fines and penalties? And I'm really curious as a citizen what those fines and penalties are. And I'm imploring I'm I'm begging you if there is a fine and a penalty that that fine and penalty for going over that water usage is more than what it would cost for um water trucks. So they have to get outside water trucks to bring it in just as a deterrent. I I read recently that uh SpaceX, they went over their for three years in a row. They had a contract of the amount of water that they were allowed to use and they went over that. And it just worries me. Big companies have big pockets and fines sometimes don't mean a lot to them if it doesn't hurt. So, just make it hurt. Um,

I love the hardworking men that were up here talking and I appreciate that they are feeding their families and they're doing it the hard way. My husband built a business and he busted his knuckles for 35 years and he moved his wife out here, bought her some pretty land and not so pretty house. But that's in my backyard. He busted his knuckle and potentially a company's coming to hurt it. So, this is I'm being selfish because I am worried about my new neighbor. Thank you for your time and consideration, y'all.

Kurt Riley, is Kurt here? No. Kurt Robin Peoples. Thanks. Uh, my name is Robin and I live in the Jackson Park neighborhood of Temple. I've spoken at a last council meeting regarding my data center concerns. So today I'm just going to focus on a question. Um I would like to know if the Temple City government has a point of view about how many data centers the city and its resources including any land that could one day be annexed can support safely. I'm asking about both the number of facilities but also most importantly the total number of megawatts and the acreage of impermeable surfaces. Um I believe this question must have a concrete answer somewhere. Surely nobody believes that we can convert um every acre of temple into a data center just as we would not into auto manufacturing or strip clubs or whatever. Um so but what is that number? I haven't seen that anywhere. Um I've heard seven or eight facilities are in various stages um from being built already to just proposed but without a concrete definition of what our council and planners believe is Temple's total capacity and without a clear understanding of the demand say in megawatts of the facilities in the planning pipeline. I'm not sure whether to interpret those seven or eight facilities as the end goal or just the beginning. Um, I understand and appreciate the limitations placed on city government in these matters. The state wields almost all the power and

cities are left to weigh the trade-offs. Um, but first and foremost, we all need to be taking these same concerns that we have to Governor Abbott and Representative Hickland and demanding change of direction at the state level. So, please also remember data centers when you're voting in November. Um, but ultimately annexation approvals and tax abatements, all of that still amounts to Temple's endorsement of these projects. So, how can we Temple residents or the council know if we're overextending ourselves if we aren't um discussing our total estimated capacity to host them? So, thank you for your time. Thank you, ma'am. Rayanne Brown.

Rayanne. No. Rayanne. Okay. Last. Mr. Chuck Lucco.

Hello. Uh my name is Chuck Lo. Um and um I'm not here to speak to a particular agenda item. I'm here to give a few words of support for Tim Davis and for Jessica Walker and Mike Pilington uh and the rest of the council. I don't know uh Mike Immons very well. What I know about him and I've met him, he's going to be great. So welcome. Um, same to you, Zo. Uh, I don't know you well, but I'm impressed that with your heart for Temple. Um, about Tim, I've known Tim about 25 years. He and I coached little league boys baseball. Uh, that's the first taste for Tim for politics. Uh, probably more difficult than city council. Um, I grew up here, so I'm a homer. Uh Tim and wife Jennifer, they chose Temple uh to be their home. They moved here from their home of Abalene. Uh Tim chose to run for city council in 2013, elected mayor in 2018. Tim loves Temple. Um Mike Pilington. Mike has been a part of his family's business. Bell contractors of Belton uh sewer and water drainage utility repair when things go wrong in the middle of the night. Um he fixes sewer lines all over the place. And uh Mike's dad was one of the most generous and kind persons you could ever ever meet. And he recently passed away. And uh Mike took over for his dad a few years ago as president of Bell Contractors. And he chose to use his leadership skills to give back when he

chose to run for city council. He is honest and treats people like they want to be treated. Um Jessica Jessica Walker. Jessica's family has been here three generations. She loves Temple. Her husband Bruce was in high school in Temple High when I was here back in the late 70s. I know I look a lot younger, but um anyway, their their family business, Lingfield Lumber, has been in the Walker family a very long time, almost forever. And Jessica's been a very big part of that. Um, so I know she's a great lady. And just a little nugget I wanted to mention, when you go into a business, the way the staff behaves and treats customers is a direct reflection of leadership um, and the upper management here in Temple. Our city council and city manager, they have an impact on the staff and uh, we're lucky to have them in my opinion. Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, we have lots of sheets up here. I think that is everyone. Let me be sure I didn't miss a sheet. Very good. Uh thank you all uh that spoke. Thank you for taking your time to come to the meeting tonight. It's not always easy. Uh we're going to move on to item 11 which is the second and read uh second and final reading to consider adopting an ordinance authorizing the voluntary annexation of 185.148 plus or minus acres located in the Maximo Marino survey abstract number 14 Bell County Texas and identified by Bellcad property ID is parcels 706770717 7069 234587. Um, council, we uh we've pulled this item just for voting purposes. So, um, I will entertain a motion on item number 11.

I'll make a motion to approve item 11. Second. We have a motion by Mayor Pro Tim Walker. We have a second by council member Pington. Council, please cast your vote.

I'm the last one. Looks like

uh I for me item 11 passes four votes yes, zero votes no, and one abstension. Moving on to item 12 is the second and final reading to consider adopting an ordinance authorizing a resoning and binding site development plan request from a to plan development light industrial on 302.67 67 plus or minus acres located in the city of Temple, Bell County, Texas. Identified as parcels 7068, 7073, 7067, 7071, 7069, and 234587. Council, I will entertain a motion on item 12.

Item 12. Second. We have a motion by council member Pilington. We have a second by Mayor Pro Tim Walker. Council, please cast your vote. Vote I. Item 12 passes. Four votes yes, zero votes no, and one abstension. It is currently 8:00 p.m. Thank you all for attending, and we are adjourned. didn't this uh as