[1:06] All right, good evening everybody. It's uh 502. I want to welcome you to this

[1:10] regular call meeting of the Temple City Council. Please rise as director of

[1:14] housing and community services. Rucker Preston leads us in the invocation

[1:18] followed by our pledge and the Texas pledge le led by Deputy City Secretary

[1:22] Liz >> Carowway.

[1:33] redeeming us and calling us to be your children in which we are called to

[1:38] worship you. We thank you for this society, this community where we can

[1:43] worship you openly and freely and where people's voices can be heard openly and

[1:48] freely. I thank you for our council's commitment to service in this community

[1:53] as they give so many hours. We ask that you would give them wisdom and

[1:57] discernment in all decisions tonight and hereafter and that this community would

[2:03] be one that worships you and one in which the people who need the most help

[2:08] get the most. We thank you so much for your love. Your name we pray. Amen.

[2:17] » To the flag of the United States of America and to the stands. One nation

[2:24] under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[2:29] » And now the pledge for the Texas flag.

[2:34] I aliance to the one state

[2:39] one and indivisible.

[2:48] [clears throat] >> All right. Thank you both very much.

[2:53] Now is the time for public comments. Um, any citizens who desire to address the

[2:57] council on any matter may do so. As always, we just ask that you step to the

[3:01] podium and state your name for the record. Um, we've got

[3:07] maybe 18 20 folks and we'll start with uh

[3:14] Sarah Royer.

[3:19] » Well, is she I bet she's here. Yeah.

[3:25] » And then uh there she is. And then Joe Royer, you're on deck.

[3:34] » Was one of the last people to sign up. This is nice.

[3:37] Um I came here Hello Council. I came here to speak about a few things, but um

[3:43] I actually have some questions about something we just found um that we've

[3:47] been working on. So there is a contract with the city of Rowan. And I know you

[3:54] can't um say anything to me right now, but um over the next 10 years, if they

[4:01] elected to construct the city of Temples's well, the city agrees to

[4:06] provide 830 gallons of day um of water to them above and over and above what

[4:12] they've already agreed to. And this is um a contract that lasts 10 years. and

[4:17] you have to actually make a formal agreement to get out of this contract.

[4:21] Um, you're also accepting 500,000 gallons of waste water a day from the

[4:26] company and this is all for cooling water, which is interesting. Um, it

[4:31] actually goes along the lines. There's so much stuff in this contract. It

[4:37] actually goes along the lines of what you personally told me, mayor, that they

[4:40] were getting about 850,000 800 gallons of 800,000 gallons of water out of the

[4:45] well a day. Um, but this happens to be a well that hasn't even permitted to run

[4:49] yet. And this has happened for um years, I guess. So, I did do a um open records

[4:58] request to find if there was anything um ever that eliminated this contract. And

[5:06] there's not so far. The city hasn't responded. Um it's been almost two weeks

[5:11] and I've gotten zero response. So, um, this is just another thing that we're

[5:16] adding to it. And it kind of is concerning, um, because it also says in

[5:20] here that you will pay Rowan $4.8 million for all of this, which just

[5:25] happened recently. So, it seems like all of this is in effect. Um, I know you

[5:29] guys are going to do like some hourlong monologue to make sure your lie stays in

[5:33] place, and that's really cool, but all we really want are answers, and it's

[5:36] something we have never gotten from you. Um, you do a lot of PR. This thing is

[5:41] really cute and we'll be talking about it on the radio. Um, all of this is just

[5:46] really misleading. You guys aren't leaders, you're misleaders, which is

[5:49] really cool. So, thanks again for um not actually helping us as a community and

[5:54] um we'll be in touch.

[6:03] » Good evening. I'm Joe Royer. I live in District 2. I just wanted to reiterate

[6:08] some of the stuff that we talked about the last meeting and highlight some of

[6:11] the new developments. So the last meeting I I mentioned how we first

[6:17] brought up the ASR well and we saw everybody go into panic mode trying to

[6:20] assuage our fears over this ASR well and we got a level of engagement we've not

[6:26] seen in almost six months. And uh when I called you out on this

[6:31] last meeting about well is is our aquifer contaminated like what is going

[6:36] on here? Clearly we've struck a nerve. There's something you don't want us to

[6:39] know or don't want us to find. And today we hear that Rowan is graciously

[6:44] donating 38 million to the city of Temple to help with our water issues.

[6:48] But when you peel back the layers on this, that's not true at all. 13 million

[6:53] of this. So 10 million is for the ASR project. That's interesting. Uh 3

[6:57] million is for the salmons, but that's contingent on the voters approving the

[7:01] bond. So what happens to that 3 million if it doesn't get approved? Like is that

[7:05] just, you know, gone up in vapor? And the other 25 million is stuff that Rowan

[7:09] was already contractually obligated to pay. So they're not giving us $38

[7:14] million. But it's interesting that they're putting all this good PR out

[7:17] there to try and get ahead of this situation. It it it makes me feel like

[7:21] somebody has a guilty conscience or like somebody's trying to get out in front of

[7:24] a lawsuit. So, we're we're paying attention. We notice I'm I'm showing my

[7:30] hand in that, you know, this is what I'm seeing from from you guys and and uh I I

[7:36] can't wait to see what the next response is. Thank you.

[7:40] » You're welcome.

[7:48] » Scott Shoe

[7:57] Oh yes. Uh and Francis Fiser, you'll be up under Mr. after Mr. Shoe.

[8:03] » Yes, ma'am. That'd be great. Thank you. >> So, may I speak?

[8:07] » Yes, sir. >> So, my name is Scott Schumain. I'm a

[8:10] resident of Temple, Texas. And today, I just got a notification

[8:16] that my water and sewage rates are going up.

[8:20] And to me, this seems very, very wrong. There are currently six data centers in

[8:27] Temple, Texas, if I'm not mistaken, and the only two companies that came up are

[8:32] Meta Inc. and Rowan Digital. They're getting huge tax breaks.

[8:39] And when I called about my rates going up, they said it was due to

[8:44] infrastructure upgrades. Why am I paying for infrastructure upgrades when rowing

[8:52] or all the digital or AI data I'm sorry wait I'm sorry

[8:58] » calm down um data centers are getting huge tax breaks

[9:02] my pay I don't I don't bring home more money every month I don't know where

[9:08] they're coming up with so yeah I don't get more money from work I work for a

[9:14] medical company that's global wide and and I'm very confused on why my rates

[9:20] are going up as more data centers are coming in and they're getting huge tax

[9:25] breaks. Why am I fl fitting the bill for all these upgrades? Why are my data

[9:31] rates going up? And it's not going to stop there. It's going to go to

[9:36] electricity and beyond. It's not going to stop there. And nobody knows the

[9:41] environmental compact or impact that what they're doing in the next 10 years.

[9:48] Nobody knows until it happens. So I'm

[9:55] Yeah, I guess I said my piece. I don't know

[9:59] » what else I can do or >> I'll address that very quickly. the um

[10:06] whenever the council sets the water and um uh whenever the the water and

[10:11] wastewater rates, it is water and wastewater is handled out of what's

[10:15] called a enterprise fund, which means that the rates are intended to support

[10:19] the cost of the water and wastewater system.

[10:23] » Yeah. And so as costs continue to go up and you know people cost more um

[10:28] equipment costs more uh >> but what about the data centers that are

[10:32] coming in that are getting huge tax breaks. What are they paying

[10:35] » that has that has um >> they need to be paying for this and not

[10:39] us. >> We we covered that last week about what

[10:41] they will be paying but these the data centers have nothing to do with the

[10:45] water and sewer rates. That's to maintain the current system.

[10:49] » Okay. Okay. So you guys understand that there's going to be more that's going to

[10:52] be coming behind you that you're I don't know if you're oblivious to it or but

[10:58] there's going to be a lot more with these data centers if you keep letting

[11:01] them come in. >> You understand that? I hope.

[11:04] » Yes. Thank you. >> Thank you,

[11:07] » Miss Fischer. And then Dorothy Sanders, you'll be next after Miss Fischer.

[11:13] » Good evening, Mayor Davis and members of the city council. My name is Francis

[11:18] Fischer. I'm a Temple resident, co-owner of Journey Home Rescue, active member of

[11:23] Justice for the Marlin Dogs, active member of Paul, Public Accountability

[11:28] for Animal Welfare. Mr. Davis, you may recognize me from many of us who

[11:33] remember Judy Gate back in 2012. I was one of the residents who publicly called

[11:38] for accountability then, and I continue to participate in local government

[11:42] today. Dr. Grant, I am your constituent. I supported you for city council because

[11:48] I wanted to see greater responsiveness and engagement from our city government.

[11:54] I come before you tonight as both a taxpayer and a rescue partner. Journey

[11:58] Home Rescue helps this community. We have pulled dogs from the temple

[12:02] shelter, collected donations for the shelter, communicated with shelter

[12:06] leadership about its needs, and worked to maintain a collaborative

[12:10] relationship. when rescues take animals from a municip municipal shelter that

[12:15] also helps relieve the pressure from the city's sheltering system. The animal

[12:20] shelter is not the first animal welfare issue I've brought before this council.

[12:26] Many as of of us have stood with Pearl's place. After years of uncertainty

[12:31] involving the city and the possibility of imminent domain, we asked for what we

[12:37] believe was a fair deal for Pearl's Place. Instead, after community spoke

[12:42] up, city ultimately

[12:49] it deserved. We are here again because we have concerns about the future of

[12:53] animal welfare in Temple. Temple spent more than $5 million expanding its

[12:59] animal shelter, but staffing and programming did not expand at the same

[13:05] pace. Buildings do not feed animals. Buildings do not clean kennels.

[13:10] Buildings do not socialize dogs. Buildings do not process adoptions,

[13:15] build rescue partnerships, operate foster programs, or reunite lost animals

[13:20] with their families. People do. The shelter may house nearly 140 animals.

[13:26] While its direct kennel care staffing includes two tennel technicians and a

[13:32] shelter management. During the most recent budget cycle, two animal kennel

[13:38] technician positions were deferred again as were deferred the year before and as

[13:44] were deferred the year before. Staffing affects public access.

[13:49] Adoptions and reclaim opportunities, volunteering, enrichment, marketing, and

[13:54] community outreach. The shelter has limited weekend public hours. We would

[13:58] like Temple to examine its actual workload and staffing needs, not simply

[14:04] the minimum staffing necessarily to compare basic feeding and cleaning. Stop

[14:10] doing the bare minimum. Over the coming year, you will see us regularly. We will

[14:16] intend to meet with council members, bring information and research, discuss

[14:21] possible solutions, and continue participating in the process. Topics we

[14:26] believe deserve discussion include staffing.

[14:28] » Miss Fischer, your your three minutes are up.

[14:31] » Okay. >> Thank you.

[14:33] Uh Dorothy Sanders. >> And then on deck is Miss Brenley. And I

[14:39] [clears throat] don't know that I announced this earlier. Whenever you get

[14:41] to down to about two and a half minutes or so, I'll ring the little

[14:44] » All righty. >> bell as a as a as a alert.

[14:49] » All righty. My name is Dorothy Sanders. I volunteer with Journey Home Rescue.

[14:52] financially support several local rescues in the community and I

[14:55] personally adopt it from the Temple Animal Shelter. I'm speaking about the

[14:59] need for a more effective animal advisory committee. I'm also the founder

[15:02] of Justice for the Marlin Dogs and Public Accountability for Animal Welfare

[15:06] or PAW. Through these groups, I help residents use public records, budgets,

[15:10] data, and evidence-based practices to engage with local government on animal

[15:14] welfare. Professionally, my background is in population health management and

[15:18] whether we are managing outcomes for people or animals, the question is the

[15:21] same. Are the interventions we are funding through our taxes actually

[15:25] improving outcomes? Before I get to the shelter, I want to briefly mention

[15:29] Pearl's Place. Through Paul, I helped organize residents who asked this city

[15:33] council for what we believed was a fair resolution after years of pressure

[15:38] surrounding the property. Instead, this city council ultimately rescended its

[15:42] offer rather than rather than provide Pearl's Place with a fair deal we

[15:46] believed it deserved. Now, Temple may lose a rescue, grooming resource, and

[15:51] community vaccination provider to another city. Services that help reduce

[15:55] pressure on our taxfundded shelter system. That matters because the shelter

[16:00] data tells us we need more community resources, not fewer. Temple spent more

[16:04] than $5 million expanding its taxfunded animal shelter. And with that expansion

[16:09] and opening in January 2024, before the expansion, the 2023 adoption rate was

[16:14] about 40.8%. Now it's approximately 40%, essentially

[16:19] unchanged. Return to owner outcomes actually declined with the expansion. In

[16:24] 2023, 525 animals were returned to their owners. Now, in 2025, only 493 were

[16:32] returned, 32 fewer, even though intake increased from 3,382

[16:37] to 3,980 animals. That should make us examine the entire return to owner

[16:43] process. Are field officers able to make immediate returns in the field? Are we

[16:47] maximizing microchip scanning and registration? And can working residents

[16:52] realistically reclaim their pets when shelter closes at 3:30 in the afternoon

[16:56] and only open for 4 hours on the weekend? Because a lost animal that goes

[17:01] directly home never needs a taxfunded kennel, transfer, adoption, or

[17:06] euthanasia decision. The cat data deserves the same scrutiny. In 2023, 636

[17:12] cats were euthanized. In 2025, that increased to 766,

[17:17] about 20% higher. Of those 766 cats, 322 were classified as feral. Those feral

[17:25] cats alone accounted for a roughly 42% of cat euthanas. This is an opportunity

[17:30] for prevention. TNVR, foster care, neonatal resources. After expansion, the

[17:35] greatest intake growth came from owner surreners, not stray intake. So the

[17:40] lesson I take from these numbers is not that temple should have expand not

[17:43] expanded the shelter. Square footage alone does not change outcomes. Staffing

[17:48] does. Accessibility does, prevention does, operations do, and those are all

[17:52] decisions of how we use taxpayers resources. So my request tonight is

[17:56] simple. Please place the Temple Animal Shelter on an upcoming city council

[18:01] agenda so we could have meaningful public discussion about these outcomes,

[18:05] how our taxes are spent, staffing, accessibility, prevention, and the

[18:09] future of animal services in Temple. Thank you.

[18:11] » Thank you, ma'am. Uh, Miss Brenley, followed by Miss Frasier.

[18:24] Neil Brinley, longtime Temple resident, not paid by Rowan to be here. For the

[18:30] record, I publicly opposed the Meta Data Center in Temple, which is now marked

[18:35] into three buildings instead of one before I ever heard about Rowan LLC.

[18:40] Imagine my shock when I heard about an open house to introduce the community to

[18:45] Rowan, the next invasion of hyperscale data centers that this mayor, city

[18:50] council, and city manager rolled out the red carpet for. You weren't content to

[18:55] wait and see how good a neighbor Meta would be before you eagerly signed on to

[18:59] at least seven more data centers that Rowan wants to build in Temple and leech

[19:03] off our precious resources. You failed to get an independent preliminary air,

[19:08] soil, and water testing done to provide liability protection for the city in

[19:13] case of an environmental catastrophe. You secretly and foolishly allowed Rowan

[19:18] to drill an ASR well, which could potentially contaminate our aquifer.

[19:23] Even too much oxygen released into the aquifer is harmful.

[19:28] Somebody of you signed a non-disclosure agreement with Meta, according to former

[19:33] city attorney Kathy Davis, and now it is mysteriously disappeared. Where is it,

[19:38] Miss Thomas? You have racked up massive debt with your unwise spending and are

[19:43] now raising taxes and calling for a bond election, which is nothing more than a

[19:47] glorified tax increase, to build a senior center to replace the one you

[19:52] allowed to operate in dangerous disrepair.

[19:57] No amount of potential tax revenue from Rowan or Meta will erase the

[20:02] disappointment I have in you. In my opinion, you will go down in history as

[20:09] the worst Temple City Council, Mayor, Mayor Proim, and City Manager we have

[20:15] ever had. And we have had some doozies. Your only hope to regain our respect is

[20:22] to vote no on these and any future requests made by Rowan and Meta as well

[20:28] as any other industry that causes the division that hyperscale data centers

[20:33] have caused in our city. We take no pleasure in calling you out, but we

[20:38] cannot remain silent and watch you destroy our city and our quality of

[20:42] life. For too long, Temple has been run by developers, builders, and

[20:47] construction material providers and those who benefit from the trade. And

[20:52] stacking this audience, and the parking out there is despicable.

[20:56] This is not personal or political. AI is demonic. It is a spiritual battle

[21:02] between good and evil. Choose your side wisely. Christ is king.

[21:08] » Amen. >> Thank you, Mel Margie. And following

[21:13] Margie will be Miss Vitco

[21:26] Frasier Temple, Texas. I didn't know I was speaking on this part of the thing,

[21:30] but I did have a concern because uh my parents, my dad was World War II Air

[21:37] Force, my mother came out of Germany, Whispod

[21:42] She came out of concentration camp and I'm looking at the AI data centers and

[21:49] the information they take and all of that because I [clears throat] see it as

[21:55] another way like the brown shirts as they call the Nazis who collected

[22:01] information on people for [clears throat] the main concentration

[22:04] camps. My mother I know saw a large portion of her family die during the

[22:09] war. They poisoned the salt. Nazis. My grandfather and several of their family

[22:15] lost their lives that way. My mother saw her sister as the bombs were dropping

[22:20] and they were running for the shelters be killed. All I can say is between that

[22:26] and you have flock cameras more than Las Vegas, like twice as much. In fact, from

[22:31] what I understand, your flock cameras that you have brought in are more than

[22:37] most states and cities. And why? We're just a small city here. So why is all

[22:44] this information needed? I'm looking at it from the conspiracy

[22:48] theory situation now because I look at it as you are bringing in this stuff. Is

[22:54] it to spy on everybody? Because you don't know who you're selling this to.

[22:59] You've already admitted that you have to get partners for a certain amount of

[23:04] these. And I'm looking at it from that situation.

[23:08] I am looking at it because I don't want to see Americans die because of

[23:15] information being taken and stored against us so that we can go to

[23:20] concentration camps because that can happen here in the United States. And

[23:24] don't think it can't. Germany didn't think it. Poland didn't think it. Europe

[23:28] didn't think it. Nobody. Most of the people in here, unless they're my age

[23:33] category, which is I'm past past 70, hidden headed toward the mid7s. There's

[23:38] people in here probably in their 80s. We're the ones that remember if we had

[23:43] family that were like my parents in the war. Y'all have no clue otherwise unless

[23:50] you were actually military at some time or another.

[23:56] I've been to Kenya, Africa, watched the people in Kisam and how they've been

[24:00] treated. You know, you have no clue. Just none.

[24:05] So, you're opening the door a can of worms. They've already said AI. Leon

[24:09] Musk and a few others have said this is a scary situation. They have no

[24:13] controls. They said that they do not have the controls that are needed to

[24:20] protect the people. And if Elon Musk say it says it, I have to believe it.

[24:26] Several of the others that have these bigger plans and so forth, they're

[24:31] trying to put the brakes on it. Why aren't you Are you going to put some

[24:35] brakes on this stuff? Are you going to let us all suck it up? Buttercup, thank

[24:40] you. >> Thank you, Margie.

[24:42] Next is um Elena Vitco followed by Jay.

[24:54] It would seem that these seats should be reserved for temple citizens.

[25:09] » [applause]

[25:12] » And I >> Elena,

[25:14] » hi. >> Please address the council.

[25:16] » Mayor and city council, tonight we're tonight you're being asked to make

[25:20] decisions that will shape Temple for decades. This is no longer one data

[25:25] center. When Meta first came here, none of us were here saying anything. But now

[25:31] it's multiple sites, billions in development, major water and water waste

[25:37] commitments, infrastructure agreements, tax abatements, temporary onsite power

[25:42] generators, and agreements that will govern Temple's relationship with this

[25:47] industry for years. On this very day of this vote, the

[25:53] public is now hearing about a $38 million infrastructure investment from

[25:58] Rowan, including $3 million tied to the proposed Salmon's Community Center. I

[26:05] want to be clear, money coming to into this community does not replace

[26:10] transparency. The larger the financial rel

[26:13] relationship between a private developer and our city, the more transparency the

[26:19] public deserves. Before you vote, citizens should be able

[26:24] to answer some basic questions. What is Temple's total financial

[26:29] exposure if these projects do not develop as pro as projected?

[26:34] What infrastructure will taxpayers ultimately be responsible for?

[26:40] What are the commun uh the communive water and wastewater

[26:46] electric demands of all these facilities not just one building at a time?

[26:52] What happens if project pro projected tax revenues don't

[26:59] materialize or if Rowan sells these projects or to another company?

[27:05] and what enforcement mechanisms protect temple residents if promises that are

[27:09] made today aren't kept 10 or 20 years from now. We keep hearing about the

[27:15] benefits, but responsible government also puts the risks on the table. A $3

[27:21] million community center contribute uh contribution may sound impressive, but

[27:27] it shouldn't distract anyone from the scale of tonight's decision. Temple

[27:32] residents are the ones that will be left here if projections are wrong. We will

[27:38] pay our water bill. We will pay the utility bills. We will live with the

[27:42] infrastructure and we will live with the consequences of agreements you approve.

[27:48] My request is simple. Don't measure this deal by how much money Rowan is offering

[27:53] Temple. Measure it by how well you will protect the citizens. Transparency after

[28:00] a contract is signed isn't transparency, it's history. Thank you.

[28:07] » Jay, [applause]

[28:11] Mr. Marquez, you'll follow. Jay,

[28:16] » good evening, Mr. Honorable Mayor and the honorable uh council members. I just

[28:20] wanted to touch bases. I really appreciate got an email about the I'm

[28:24] going to pivot a little bit from a hot topic. I'll come back to the spicy topic

[28:27] later. Uh the farmers market is going to be open on Saturday. It's the first time

[28:31] we're going to be open. I think that's a great idea bringing all the business to

[28:35] that place. Maybe we could do a lot of business. And then I'm going to switch

[28:39] to the gear. That lady did a great job on the last month about the finance. We

[28:45] have a bond rating uh aaa. We had the meeting someone else said our bonds were

[28:50] like sold out within five minutes. And if you could get 38 million from a uh

[28:57] Roman, take it because I want to see my property taxes and water electricity

[29:00] bill are lower compared to my house in Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. So I really

[29:05] appreciate you and your entire staff putting together financial projects from

[29:10] last week telling us where we at. So thank you honorable mayor. Keep up the

[29:15] good job. >> Thank you sir.

[29:16] » Thank you.

[29:22] before we start your three minutes. Impressive beard. That didn't take long.

[29:27] [laughter] >> Thank you. Thank you.

[29:30] » You bet. >> Uh well, my name is Orasio and I however

[29:35] am a resident of Temple and not paid for by Rowan. But here's one thing that um

[29:41] that you guys uh Rowan has done and the one thing you guys have an opportunity

[29:46] to do which Rowan has provided opportunity

[29:50] uh for workers. the American working class for men and women, those that live

[29:55] in lowincome housing. Guess what? There's opportunity out here to go to

[29:59] work, get yourselves up, pull yourselves up for your bootstraps, and go through

[30:04] an apprenticeship program of some sort, whether it be uh plumbing, pipe fitting,

[30:07] electrical, iron work, whatever it may be. This is opportunity, okay? And

[30:14] everybody says about how much money rowing dishes out. It's not about how

[30:17] much money rowing dishes out. It's about who's willing to get up off their butts

[30:21] and get out to work. Okay, there's a a new generation that needs to start

[30:26] pulling their weight around. Okay, other than sitting around playing video games

[30:30] and whatever else. Okay, that's that's that needs to come to an end.

[30:36] You guys have provided that opportunity for this town

[30:41] to provide more American workingclass members to get up, pull themselves up,

[30:47] buy homes in this place. That's why they need to construct new homes so that the

[30:52] younger class can start buying their own homes and get out of mommy and daddy's

[30:56] house. That is a good thing.

[31:00] That is what you guys have done by allowing Rowan and the meta to come out

[31:05] here and uh and build uh these data centers. It is also provide a huge

[31:11] amount of uh uh kids and uh men and women of all sorts, okay, to um to learn

[31:19] a a marketable skill that isn't sitting there on Tik Tok and whatnot.

[31:26] Okay, these people are out here working their butts off in the heat, in the

[31:31] cold, in all weather types and they go to class two nights a week

[31:37] in some areas on top of a 10-hour shift. And people want to call call uh sit

[31:43] there and complain about it's temporary work, temporary work. Yeah, it's

[31:47] temporary work, but guess what? So is people's homes. So is this building. So

[31:52] is every other thing out there. But all that temporary work becomes permanent at

[31:57] some point in time. Then on top of that, you got to service it. HVAC, plumbing,

[32:03] welding, iron work, it all counts.

[32:09] But it's up to you folks to make sure that the people out here in

[32:14] Temple have a job. Rowan has already provided that opportunity.

[32:20] Those contractors are also providing that opportunity. Heck, even uh city

[32:25] councilman Mike has provided that opportunity to a kid that graduated high

[32:29] school and put him to work. Thank you, city councilman Mike. You

[32:34] instead of that kid getting shot out there uh back when they were graduating

[32:38] high school, he was out working for you. That's what matters in this community.

[32:46] » Thank you, Mr. Marquez. [applause]

[32:53] Steve, sorry I didn't call you. And I can't

[32:57] read the name of the person on deck. Maybe it starts with a G.

[33:03] Ed, maybe. I don't know.

[33:10] We'll go to the next one and then if you signed up to speak, you'll be last. Uh,

[33:15] and Carly Bird, you you are on deck after Miss um Miss Eve.

[33:22] It's rain too. Eve rain. >> There you go.

[33:25] » So, good evening, Temple City Council. A Mr. Scott Brooks of Walks a Hatchee

[33:31] has written an op-ed article. My understanding is that one of you on the

[33:35] Temple City Council had reposted it on social media. My comments are based on

[33:40] excerpts addressing that article. Quote, "Nothing in life is to be feared.

[33:47] It is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may

[33:52] fear less. So said Marie Cury as quoted by Mr. Walkahhatchee

[33:58] Temple City Council. We are not sitting in our sad sacks flustered and

[34:04] floundering in our fear funks. We are actively, responsibly, and cognitively

[34:10] pursuing an understanding of the issues regarding mega data centers,

[34:15] participating in the civic process, all to the best of our individual abilities.

[34:21] The default accusation and insult hurled most often toward those of us with

[34:27] legitimate concerns besides communist China paying us is that we are fearful

[34:33] that fear is our master that fear is the driving force stirring up our hysteria

[34:38] over this new technology. Oh contr maybe the tables need to be

[34:44] turned maybe the proverbial mirror needs to be spun around. Now Mr. Walks a

[34:49] Hatchee also says accusatorily, "Skepticism is very different from

[34:54] hysteria." Get over yourself, Mr. Brooks, and anyone else who jumped on

[34:59] his bandwagon. Hysteria? No. More like a healthy concern spurred on by our

[35:05] healthy curiosity undergurtded by yes a sus of fear just a pinch that is

[35:11] measured with a dose of skepticism and stirred with a desire to investigate

[35:18] further to question persistently and to ponder deeply. Here's another excerpt.

[35:25] Data centers are being greeted as though someone were asking permission to build

[35:29] a chemical dump beside an elementary school. Oh well, yeah, because that is

[35:34] an appropriate metaphor. Besides being a gigantic black eye of an eye sore, these

[35:40] mega data centers are being reported as the cause of a myriad of problems by

[35:46] Mama Maria's and Papa Pedros and Aunt Suzies and Uncle Harry's and Grandma

[35:51] Suggies and Grandpa Boogies from states across this nation. Oh, but these

[35:56] citizen reports are anecdotal. They're not from scientifically statistically

[36:01] based entities. Yeah. So why not heed both types of assessments? Both may not

[36:07] be accurate or applicable. Before we frighten ourselves into saying

[36:12] no, this Mr. Walkahhatche said, we should at least know what the heck we're

[36:16] saying no to. Well, aside from Mr. Walkahhatchee's ending with that

[36:20] non-standard grammatical preposition thingy, we know, Mr. Brooks, we do. We

[36:26] know. >> Thank you, Mr. ring. Next up, Carly Bird

[36:31] and followed by Jose Martinez.

[36:43] Hello, my name is Carly Bird. On March 25th, 2014, Matilda Paul ended

[36:49] her recall effort.

[36:54] » Okay. Ended her recall effort to moved the

[36:58] city council falling short of the votes needed. Two weeks later, that same city

[37:03] council adopted a resolution appointing a 27 member charter review committee

[37:09] charged with undertaking a comprehensive review of the city charter and

[37:13] submitting any proposed charter amendments back to the city council for

[37:17] a charter amendment election. After [snorts] three months of meeting and

[37:21] deliberations, lots of articles on it in the Temple Daily Telegram, the committee

[37:26] decided on 20 propositions that were then presented to the very council who

[37:30] elected them. Therefore, a vote to the residents in November. One of these

[37:35] propositions that was put before the council was

[37:38] regarding a charter review amendment. U the agenda language initially was

[37:44] whereas in recent months it has become apparent that a comprehensive review of

[37:48] the city charter is needed as the last comprehensive review was completed in

[37:52] 2000. The proposition language was then shall

[37:56] the city charter be amended to require that the charter be reviewed by the city

[38:00] council for possible amendments not less than every 10 years. The result was

[38:06] seven uh of 7,500 sorry 7,5524 and against was 1,371.

[38:15] So the charter language ended up being the charter may be reviewed as needed,

[38:18] but the city council must perform on its own or by committee a review of this

[38:23] charter at least once every 10 years. As far as I understand, the last time a

[38:28] charter review committee was created was 12 years ago.

[38:34] The 2014 charter amendments changed the rules governing accountability,

[38:37] conflicts of interest, and municipal municipal decision-making. Those rules

[38:42] determine how citizens can respond when today's government makes decisions that

[38:45] create tomorrow's infrastructure obligation. So, I would like to know

[38:49] when was the city of Temple Charter last formally reviewed pursuant to section

[38:53] 15.1 and where is the documentation of that review?

[38:59] » Just a minute. Are you is that the end of your comments or you want to use the

[39:02] rest? Um, I'll use the rest. Also, I want to know what the council reviewed,

[39:07] who conducted it, what recommendations were made, or whether the council

[39:10] formally conducted that no amendments were necessary.

[39:15] Um, yeah, that's it. [clears throat] Charter review was conducted in 2024.

[39:23] Um, it was conducted at a council meeting and there's a resolution

[39:26] confirming that. >> And is there documents that support

[39:30] that? There's a resolution supporting that.

[39:34] » So that's a no. >> That's a yes. It's a document.

[39:37] » But there was not a committee created. Correct.

[39:39] » There was not a committee. It was conducted by the council.

[39:42] » Right. Okay. >> The council, the city attorney and

[39:45] staff. >> So I just want to point out that it's

[39:50] » way would you please start her time again? [clears throat]

[39:52] The agenda language, I mean the charter language is

[39:57] that the council shall review every 10 years either by a commission or on their

[40:02] own initiative, >> right?

[40:03] » The charter and they reviewed it on their own initiative

[40:07] » without residence or any committee. Correct.

[40:10] » The charter allows them to review either on their own initiative or by commission

[40:15] » which a commission has not been created in 12 years. Is that correct?

[40:21] I can answer with factual statements. >> I mean, it's open records. It's

[40:24] everywhere. So, >> I can answer with factual statements.

[40:28] And my factual statement is that the council did review the charter in 2024

[40:33] and there's a resolution supporting that um action.

[40:36] » Got it. Thank you. >> Thank you, ma'am.

[40:40] Uh Mr. Martinez and then Milton, can you hear me?

[40:44] » You're up after Mr. Martinez. >> Not yet.

[40:47] » Close. They start walking in this way.

[41:03] » Mr. Martinez, let Mr. Easily make it across the room first

[41:11] » or halfway.

[41:14] Come over here. >> Amen.

[41:18] Mr. Martinez.

[41:22] » Okay, Mr. Mayor. >> Sorry, Mr. Martinez.

[41:26] » City Council, I thank each one of y'all for letting me come here tonight. I want

[41:31] to invite all of you and the people that's here to the 18th annual

[41:39] live change that will be held on October the 4th, 2026.

[41:45] The location is on South 31st Street at the Chick-fil-A parking lot. We will

[41:53] start gathering at 2:30 and take our positions along the South

[41:58] 31st Street at 2:00. Recently, I was asked if abortion,

[42:07] the taking of the little newborn baby is murder.

[42:14] You have to answer this question yourself.

[42:17] Each year in America, an average of 1 million

[42:25] 126,000 unborn babies lives are taken each year

[42:31] by abortion.

[42:35] That is 3,452

[42:39] lives taken each day. In comparison, the lives that was taken on 911

[42:48] was 2,977

[42:52] in comparison to 3,452 taken by abortion each state.

[43:00] You answer the question yourself. Is abortion the taking the life of an

[43:04] unborn baby abortion?

[43:10] To me, it is. I don't know what it is to you. To me, it's abortion. And I know

[43:16] one person's going to be there. Thank you, Miss Bridley.

[43:22] There's something else I want to thank you about.

[43:27] I was visiting my wife down at Hillrest and it is amazing.

[43:34] Truly amazing how y'all have maintained Hillrest.

[43:40] It has come from terrible to beautiful. If the cemetery could be

[43:45] beautiful, thank you for taking care of Hillrest.

[43:49] And I look for each one of you at the life chain on October the 4th. Thank

[43:54] you. And I thank everybody that that uh

[44:00] took care of me and helped me up here. I'll take your hat.

[44:05] » Milton. >> It's good to see you again. It's been

[44:07] too long. >> Let him come a little closer.

[44:11] » I'll shake your hand after. >> Yeah, it it's good to see you.

[44:15] » You bet. You take care, [clears throat]

[44:18] » Mr. Martinez. And then uh Miss Lara, you'll follow. Mr. Martinez. Excuse

[44:29] [clears throat] me. Hello. Um, last time before uh this last council meeting, I

[44:36] was kept from talking about what the mayor was talking about

[44:40] and I was referring to the closed loop water system.

[44:44] Colleen already defeated a closed loop data center. In case some

[44:51] of you don't know, this is only two months ago.

[44:55] Last time also a speaker concisely put it by saying that your approval and the

[45:01] councils of a data center are literally literally killing his family.

[45:08] And what that all of you are doing is disgusting, sick, and disturbing.

[45:13] Exactly what he said. Yet the mayor is happy about batting

[45:18] some home run. But no amount of money is more important than a council batting

[45:24] out our lives. Projected are 1,300 deaths attributable

[45:30] to data centers pollution by 2030. Residents will pay 26 billion dollars in

[45:36] health care costs. Hearing loss results from the constant hum temperatures rise

[45:41] 4 to 16 degrees for miles a heat island. Residents will pay for electric rate

[45:47] heights of 267%. Over 90% of new power demand is going to

[45:53] data centers, not us. Look at the transmission lines

[45:58] going up yet resorting to generators. The New York Times reports manufacturers

[46:03] pollution. Don't accept the false claims of data

[46:06] centers. Americans have experienced the problems already. See for yourself.

[46:12] Listen. Listen closely to the hum of your

[46:16] computer and the touch touch the heat of the computer itself all multiply

[46:22] tremendously from a data center.

[46:27] You can see it for yourself. In general, these are the costs to us while Trump

[46:32] resurrects a China boogeyman. China has four times the US population

[46:37] but only 369 data centers in April increased by only one from February

[46:43] while Temple increased more than China 14,000

[46:48] times the population that China has than Temple we're doing more

[46:54] Britain has only 515 data centers Germany 514 US has uh 8,000 current and

[47:02] proposed uh data centers all battling ing each other for billions, costing us

[47:07] our health and resources while they bring uh their PR team here.

[47:13] » Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. Miss Laura.

[47:31] » Good evening. I'm Belinda Lada. and um live in district two. I want to

[47:38] submit a formal objection regarding the sequencing of items on the agenda for

[47:43] this meeting. The council has to vote for final approvals on Rowan's phase one

[47:49] development infrastructure and utility agreements tonight. Simultaneously, you

[47:54] are hearing the final readings of updates to the unified development code

[47:59] designed to regulate data center developments. By executing these votes

[48:04] concurrently, the city is intentionally grandfathering grandfathering a massive

[48:10] industrial project out of the very regulatory oversight and public review

[48:16] process that the staff has acknowledged are necessary to protect Temple's water

[48:20] and power grid. I want to cut through all the drama and

[48:25] get straight to the facts of what and I and other residents have witnessed over

[48:30] the last few months in public meetings. This council and

[48:35] staff have repeatedly denied our requests for caution. You have

[48:38] undermined our knowledge, criticized our intelligence when we brought forward

[48:43] valid concerns. Perhaps the lack of understanding stems

[48:48] from the intentional confusing titles in your agendas. What good is intelligence

[48:54] without the wisdom to do the right thing to keep a community intact and protect

[49:01] our resources. Again, I am not opposed to the evolution of technology, but

[49:07] rather to the outdated codes and protections that have not evolved with

[49:10] it. The main goal here is to preserve our sacred resources.

[49:18] This council has haphazardly allowing companies to take over in a way that you

[49:23] cannot guarantee it. Instead, the count instead

[49:27] sorry you cannot guarantee they will not

[49:31] deplete our resources. You point to the gifted synergy water

[49:36] well. The this is not goodwill. We could see through the manipulation. Rowan

[49:42] handed that well over only because they completely abandoned the original data

[49:47] center plants at the Mariah site, leaving us with zero guarantees.

[49:54] What guarantee does the city actually have that they even have a long-term

[49:59] tenant secured for the project lasso? Mr. Davis, you have expressed your

[50:06] disappointment with our complaints, but we are not the cause of the problem. We

[50:10] are pointing out that there is a problem. We have shared our police

[50:14] solutions, pleaded prevention, and offered ideas.

[50:20] If our complaints are overwhelming, this leadership needs to prepare for the

[50:25] disasters that lie ahead. The UDC codes need to be put in place before Rowan. a

[50:32] table. I I want to demand the community to

[50:38] directly involve in setting letting us set up these new UDC codes.

[50:45] We demand the immediate creation of a citizen advisory panel to ensure the

[50:50] local community has a binding voice in crafting the safety limits, water caps,

[50:54] zoning restrictions for all the future industrial developments. We have already

[50:59] allowed five data centers and that's too many.

[51:02] » Thank you, ma'am. >> Okay, there was the one that I was not

[51:05] able to read. Maybe the last name is Garfield if I've deciphered that

[51:09] correctly. Anybody

[51:14] could someone out there uh maybe ask around if anybody signed up to speak but

[51:21] their name has not been called. >> Okay, Garfield maybe.

[51:29] I don't know. We'll give him just a second.

[51:36] » Based on that autograph, he has a future in the NFL. I think

[51:41] » a doctor >> or a doctor. Yes.

[51:52] » What's your name? >> Okay. you were told you did not have to

[51:57] sign up. You don't have to sign up for a public

[52:01] hearing, which is what we're we're going to get to a couple of items here shortly

[52:04] that are uh public hearings um about specific agenda items, and you don't

[52:09] have to sign up for those, but for general comments like we've had tonight,

[52:14] um you do have to sign up prior. So, as I read through the agenda item shortly,

[52:19] if the comments that you fashioned are around that agenda item, then you're

[52:23] more than welcome to speak then. Oko. All right.

[52:28] Do we ever find any? Nobody. Okay. All right. Well, if somebody comes up

[52:34] and says, "Hey, what happened?" Uh, I'll check his signature and if it

[52:38] matches. Okay. Thank you. All right. Next item is public comment. Citizens

[52:43] who wish to address the council. Uh, nope, that is not. We just did that.

[52:47] Consent agenda. All items under this section are to be considered by the uh,

[52:51] city council and may be enacted in one motion. If discussion is desired by the

[52:56] council, any item may be removed uh from that consent agenda at the request of

[53:00] any council member and will be considered separately. Council, we uh in

[53:04] workshop agreed that we would remove a couple of items. One, two, that we'd

[53:08] remove a few items from uh the consent. Is there anything else that needs to be

[53:14] removed since we've spoke last? Everybody okay?

[53:21] All right. Give me just a second to be sure I'm straight here.

[53:25] I don't know. I don't want to remove it, but I would like to highlight item E.

[53:30] Um, the 24th Street Bridge. I'm glad we're moving forward on that. That's

[53:35] exciting to get that kicked off. I know that a lot of folks have been waiting a

[53:39] long time for that to reopen and um, of course, we're not reopening it right

[53:43] now, but uh, we're in the process of heading that direction. So, good news.

[53:49] Careway, can we confirm that we are going to remove uh item 5 A and 5J

[53:57] » or or A? I'm sorry, my notes up here aren't

[54:02] » okay. I and >> J and J.

[54:04] » Okay.

[54:08] » Okay. Very good. Thank you for that clarification.

[54:13] » All right, council. If there's no discussion, then I'll entertain a motion

[54:16] on item three. Um, less I'm sorry, 3A through 3, less I, and J. Approve items

[54:25] 3A through 30 O minus items I and J. >> I'll second it.

[54:33] » Have a motion by council member Cookington. We have a second by Mayor

[54:35] Pro Tim Walker. Council, please cast your vote.

[54:50] Mayor Davis accidentally did not include member

[54:55] started it. >> Okay.

[54:56] » And so let me close him and then come back.

[55:02] » So are there are there Yes, that's fine. >> Yep. So can I move on while you work on

[55:06] that? Okay. >> Very good. No, no, that's fine. Consent

[55:09] agenda. um passes four votes to zero, five votes to zero, which is 3 A through

[55:17] 3 O minus 3 I in J.

[55:22] Item 3 I is a second reading in a public I'm sorry just the second reading and

[55:27] second and final reading consider adopting an ordinance authorizing the

[55:30] voluntary annexation of 316.13 plus or minus acres located in the

[55:35] maximum Marino survey abstract number 14 located in the city of Temple's extr

[55:39] territorial jurisdiction Bell County Texas identifi identified by Bell County

[55:44] appraisal district parcel ID numbers 7755

[55:49] 24955 and 106 6 228

[55:55] and council. I'll entertain a motion on that item.

[56:01] Make a motion to approve. I three I.

[56:08] » All right. We have a motion by council member Emmens. We have a second by

[56:13] council member Pilington. >> I.

[56:16] » Council, please cast your vote. I >> can I call your name?

[56:24] I >> I

[56:29] » three I passes. Four votes yes, zero votes no, and one abstension.

[56:35] Second and final reading to consider adopting an ordinance um authorizing a

[56:39] reszoning and binding site development plan request from a to plan development

[56:44] light industrial on 316.13 plus or minus acres located in the city

[56:49] of Temple, Bell County, Texas, identified as Bell County Appraisal

[56:52] District Partial ID number 775524955

[56:57] 106228.

[57:07] This item isn't subject to a public hearing. It's a second and final

[57:10] reading. >> So item 3J

[57:15] council, I will entertain a motion. >> I'll make a motion to approve.

[57:20] » Second. We have a motion by Mayor Pro Tim

[57:24] Walker. We have a second by Council Member Emmens. Council, please cast your

[57:28] vote.

[57:35] 3J passes four votes yes, zero votes no, and one abstension.

[57:41] Now, moving on to the regular agenda. Item four is the second and final

[57:46] reading that includes a public hearing to consider adopting an ordinance

[57:50] redesating the boundaries of tax abatement reinvestment zone number 47

[57:54] located generally east of Bob White Road and north of Lorraine Avenue and further

[57:59] currently identified by Bell County Appraisal District with property ID

[58:03] numbers 239-676 3649128947755

[58:11] 24955 and 106 6228 for commercial and

[58:16] industrial tax abatement. [clears throat]

[58:23] » Yes, I'm sorry. >> Yeah, sorry about that. The uh so that

[58:28] was item four. Item five reads the second and final reading in a public

[58:32] hearing to consider adopting an ordinance designating um approximately

[58:35] 303 acres in Synergy Park located generally east of Highway 190 in both

[58:40] north and south of FM 3117. and further currently identified by Bell

[58:45] County Appraisal District property ID numbers 70687376769

[58:51] 7071 209986 209988 and 234587

[58:59] as city of Temple tax abatement reinvestment zone number 50 for

[59:03] commercial and industrial tax abatement Thomas.

[59:06] » Good afternoon mayor and council. Um this is the second reading of uh

[59:11] redesation of tax abatement reinvestment zone number 47 and designation of tax

[59:16] abatement reinvestment zone number 50 um which you heard on first reading at your

[59:22] September 3rd council meeting and conducted a public hearing. will be

[59:27] hearing second reading tonight and conducting a additional public hearing

[59:33] um after some notices were sent to taxing entities.

[59:39] Um tax code section 312.201 2011 permits a council by ordinance to designate a

[59:46] tax abatement reinvestment zone if the um designation is likely to contribute

[59:53] to the retention or expansion of primary employment attract major investment in

[59:57] the tax abatement reinvestment zone that would benefit the property and

[1:00:01] contribute to the economic development of the city. The ordinance must state

[1:00:05] that the boundaries of the TARS and eligibility eligibility for tax

[1:00:10] abatement finding that the improvements sought are feasible and practical and

[1:00:14] would be a benefit to the land and to be included in the zone and to the

[1:00:18] municipality.

[1:00:21] Currently, TAR number 47 includes approximately 554 acres located

[1:00:26] generally east of Bob White Drive and north of Lraine. Uh this was designated

[1:00:31] by council at its October 2nd, 2025 regular council meeting on second

[1:00:36] reading. Um and then a public hearing was conducted on first reading on

[1:00:41] September 18th, 2025. If redesated, the TARS would include an additional

[1:00:47] approximate 316 acres of land adjacent to the initial project site, which was

[1:00:52] acquired by Rowan for phase one after the city purchased land originally

[1:00:56] proposed for the building for building three. um for the proposed landfill

[1:01:01] expansion. The land is located in Synergy

[1:01:05] Industrial Park and is in nearby proximity to the landfill and to Panda

[1:01:09] BKB power plant. Uh you just approved on second reading

[1:01:15] the annexation and um PDLI zoning for this additional land. Um, this PDLI

[1:01:23] zoning can um includes plan development conditions including screening, noise

[1:01:28] mitigation, traffic impact study requirements, and a utility services

[1:01:31] agreement. [snorts]

[1:01:34] TAR number 50, the land is um currently zoned PDLI as of April 16th, 2026. It

[1:01:43] also has plan development conditions including screening, noise mitigation,

[1:01:47] requirements for traffic impact studies, and requirements for a utility service

[1:01:51] agreement. The land proposed for this TARS includes

[1:01:55] approximately 303 acres in Synergy Industrial Park located generally east

[1:02:00] of Highway 190 and both north and south of FM 3117.

[1:02:05] It is also located in the Synergy Industrial Park in nearby vicinity of

[1:02:10] the landfill and Panda BKV power plants adjacent to the BNSF railroad.

[1:02:16] Council can consider designating a tax abatement reinvestment zone and

[1:02:20] authorizing abatement if at least two of the following criteria are met. That the

[1:02:24] project involves a minimum increase of pro in property value of 300% for

[1:02:28] construction of a new facility or 50% for expansion of an existing facility.

[1:02:34] The project makes a substantial contribution to redevelopment efforts or

[1:02:38] strategic economic development programs. The project has high visibility, image

[1:02:42] impact, or is of significantly higher level of development quality. The

[1:02:46] project is in an area that might not otherwise be developed. The project can

[1:02:50] serve as a prototype and catalyst for other developments of a higher standard.

[1:02:54] The project stimulates desired concentrations of employment or

[1:02:57] commercial activity, or the project generates greater employment than would

[1:03:00] otherwise be achieved. [clears throat] Staff believes that this project meets

[1:03:06] Temple's standards for tax abatement and the criteria in chapter 312. The project

[1:03:11] involves a minimum increase in property value of 300% for construction of new

[1:03:14] facilities and makes a substantial contribution to redevelopment efforts or

[1:03:18] strategic economic development programs. The project stimulates desired

[1:03:23] concentration of employment or commercial activity and generates

[1:03:26] greater employment than would otherwise be achieved. and the project will expand

[1:03:30] the employment base, attract major investment, and contribute to economic

[1:03:33] development in the city.

[1:03:38] On October 2nd, 2025, council approved a tax abatement

[1:03:43] agreement with Rowan Temple LLC to abate a percentage of the increases in taxable

[1:03:47] value of property associated with their property in Synergy Industrial Park. The

[1:03:52] agreement contained a provision that the agreement is applicable to future phases

[1:03:55] of development under the same terms and conditions if the next phase of land is

[1:03:59] in a tars. Rowan must invest a minimum of $700

[1:04:04] million and retain 40 full-time employees per phase in order to receive

[1:04:09] the abatement. Today, as I stated, is the second

[1:04:14] reading of the ordinance to redesate the boundaries of TAR 47 and designate TAR

[1:04:20] number 50.

[1:04:23] Staff recommends council redesate the boundaries of tars number 47 and

[1:04:27] designate tars number 50. It's located in in an industrial park appropriate for

[1:04:33] this type of development and subject to plan development zoning conditions and

[1:04:37] it meets the city's economic development policy and tax code criteria for tax

[1:04:42] [clears throat] abatement. Um and I'll be happy to answer any

[1:04:47] questions you have. >> Thank you ma'am. Anything for Miss

[1:04:51] Thomas? Anything?

[1:04:56] Okay. Very good. Then um with that, I will u open the public hearing on both

[1:05:03] items four and five. If you wish to speak on items four and or five, please

[1:05:09] step on the podium and state your name for the record. Do we have anybody

[1:05:14] virtually tonight?

[1:05:20] Hello again, Joe Royer. I'm in District 2. Um, I just want to clarify here, um,

[1:05:27] this is items four and five being combined into a single thing, even

[1:05:30] though these are two separate items that each require public hearing.

[1:05:34] They are non-ontiguous pieces of land, but they are both subject to the same

[1:05:39] applicant or at least parent applicant. >> Joe, are you speaking on item four or

[1:05:44] five or both? >> Um, both apparently. Okay. All right.

[1:05:48] Um, but I'm just pointing out the fact for

[1:05:52] the record that, you know, you're combining two items that each separately

[1:05:55] require public hearing. Um, and they're not contiguous land. So, for for plain

[1:06:02] English benefit, this is to expand the tax abatement zones so that we can give

[1:06:06] additional tax breaks to Rowan for project lasso and then additional

[1:06:10] project uh tax breaks to Rowan for project ranger.

[1:06:15] Um, as the presentation mentioned, each phase is only required to create 40

[1:06:20] jobs. That's an interesting number because as long as you're under 50 jobs

[1:06:23] and the way Rowan is stretch is structuring these as separate companies,

[1:06:27] separate LLC's, if you have less than 50 employees, you don't have to pay

[1:06:31] benefits. And the fact that we would even consider a tax abatement agreement

[1:06:35] for an employer who's who's acting this way is just baffling to me. I've again

[1:06:41] as I've mentioned at previous meetings I've had some experience with tax

[1:06:44] abatements in other counties and other states and typically the threshold is 80

[1:06:48] jobs and the fact that we're considering something under 50 is just surprising to

[1:06:53] me. But my main point here I think is that uh we should not be giving tax

[1:06:58] breaks to billionaires. We should be giving tax breaks to everyone else. We

[1:07:03] should be giving tax breaks to people that can afford these utility rate

[1:07:07] increases that supposedly are not because of the data centers. Like our

[1:07:11] groceries are going up, inflation is going up. I mean, the cost of living,

[1:07:16] our taxes are going up. We've seen several different tax rates uh tax

[1:07:20] increases on just on the city front alone. Like, why are the people of

[1:07:25] Temple having to suffer this cost instead of the billionaires who can

[1:07:29] easily afford it? Like we should not be again we should not be giving tax breaks

[1:07:34] to billionaires. We should be giving tax breaks to everyone else people who

[1:07:37] actually need them. Thank you. Thank you.

[1:07:42] Um couple questions Joe. So under 50 employees

[1:07:50] they don't have to pay for benefits. Is that what they're doing?

[1:07:57] I'm not I'm I don't know if they are or they're not, but they're not legally

[1:08:00] required to. And most companies don't do things that they're not legal legally

[1:08:04] required to do.

[1:08:08] I'm in the health insurance business. Well over half of my clients have less

[1:08:16] than 50 employees. So, we represent

[1:08:21] 60 or 70 local employers right here under 50. and they all have a full suite

[1:08:26] of benefits. >> Good for them. And and that's

[1:08:29] » and I I bet a multi-billion dollar company will do the same.

[1:08:32] » That's an excellent example. A lot of small companies do take much better care

[1:08:36] of their employees than big companies. I mean, we're talking about a$1 13 billion

[1:08:39] dollar company here that has broken themselves into lots of small pieces to

[1:08:42] get around certain rules. Like they don't have a good track record

[1:08:46] for being a responsible employee employer or somebody you you would want

[1:08:50] to do business with. Your opinion is noted. Thank you. You

[1:08:56] bet. >> Yes, ma'am.

[1:09:03] » Hi, I'm Joanne Dudley. I live off of uh 34th Street off of 53. Um my biggest

[1:09:12] question is traffic. A lot of these trucks do not use the

[1:09:17] loop. The loop is atrocious because of all the construction on the loop, all

[1:09:21] the houses, all the businesses. What we're finding

[1:09:26] is these big trucks, these uh tractor trailers coming off of the industrial

[1:09:33] park. a lot of the um trucks, the the

[1:09:40] trucks with the uh all these construction trucks they're

[1:09:46] taking coming down um

[1:09:51] Avenue H coming down 34th Street going on to 53

[1:09:57] going down Adams go to get to 30 to get to 35

[1:10:03] they are not taking the loop to get to 35.

[1:10:08] So, you're having all of this um you're now rebuilding

[1:10:14] more more businesses on off of 53,

[1:10:20] but no way for them to get onto anything other than going

[1:10:27] down Adams to get to 35.

[1:10:35] And if you go if you take 35 take take 53 down to into

[1:10:43] town, you get in front of Cody's, there's a big bump in the road. These

[1:10:49] trucks are going boom boom boom boom [clears throat] in front of Cody's.

[1:10:53] So you hear these trucks going boom in front of Cody's. These trucks are going

[1:10:57] down 35 uh uh 34th Street and they're coming to the stop sign and they're

[1:11:04] waiting and they're waiting and there's a there's a bottleneck in

[1:11:10] front of the stop sign and then they're going down East Central which is a dead

[1:11:14] end off at 35 34th Street to try to turn around and you're getting these tractor

[1:11:19] trailers trying to turn around down the culde-sac down east central.

[1:11:27] There's got to be a different way, a different way to I'm not against the

[1:11:32] construction. By all means, I'm not against the

[1:11:35] construction. I'm against There's got to be a way to manipulate to maneuver this

[1:11:42] construction. There's got to be a different way to figure out a lot of

[1:11:46] this. Um, and the sidewalks on 34th Street are

[1:11:51] atrocious. You've seen them. We cannot get the city to come and fix the

[1:11:55] sidewalks. There's handicapped people using these sidewalks, but they have to

[1:11:59] use the street because just nobody comes to fix the sidewalk because I call the

[1:12:03] city and the city sits there and goes, "Sorry, call somebody else." I've gone

[1:12:08] » to the city council woman. You you wandered off the topic of the actual

[1:12:13] agenda items, >> but construction was fine. Sidewalks,

[1:12:17] » but the but the whole thing is is the trucks are using 34th Street,

[1:12:21] » but the s handicapped people and the kids are using the street

[1:12:26] because there's no sidewalk on 34th Street because the sidewalk on 34th

[1:12:30] Street is all broken down. There's big holes in the sidewalk.

[1:12:34] » Understood. So you've got the sidewalks that are busted out and there's the kids

[1:12:39] and the and the handicap people are using the sidewalk

[1:12:43] and I mean where the east side you're throwing the construction trucks.

[1:12:49] You could throwing the big trucks. You're throwing all all of the all these

[1:12:53] people down these east side streets.

[1:13:00] I'm sorry. I love the construction. I'm glad this it's finally happening on the

[1:13:04] east side, but don't kill us before you before you

[1:13:09] before you >> [clears throat]

[1:13:09] » uh finally get it done. >> Understood. Thank you, ma'am.

[1:13:13] » Thank you. >> You bet. Who else would like to speak?

[1:13:16] Miss Brenley. >> Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Brenley.

[1:13:20] » No, no, no.

[1:13:27] » Talking about the audience four and five, right? Taxment.

[1:13:30] » Yes, sir. Yeah, great presentation and uh about the jobs about 40 jobs in the

[1:13:35] state of Texas they the department of labor has a form they had it filled out

[1:13:39] they normally check every year so regardless what jobs you get economic

[1:13:44] impact on these data centers for our municipality I think our budget covers

[1:13:48] like 15 to 18% uh from our $325 million budget we get

[1:13:54] about 40 40 million and other economic impact we have as my neighbor I live in

[1:14:00] Martin Luther the King Road in 1405 next door neighbor who's rented out two month

[1:14:05] two years of lease for the guy coming from Houston to build the data center

[1:14:10] here. So those are economic impact we have here. So overall I appreciate doing

[1:14:15] this. I really appreciate the entire team. The state of Texas are a $2.9

[1:14:20] billion trillion dollar economy. We get 900 over 990 billion dollars in uh

[1:14:26] economic impact from a data center. So, I just want to let you know again, thank

[1:14:30] you very much. We need everybody here. I want to keep my taxes lower. So, that's

[1:14:34] my bottom line. I don't want my water billow, electric bill to go to high.

[1:14:39] Thank you very much. What do you guys do? Appreciate

[1:14:42] » Miss Brenley, >> Neil Brinley.

[1:14:46] I'm in Mr. Emmen's district. I never can remember what number it is. Um, I can't

[1:14:53] for the life of me understand why this council would give massive tax

[1:14:58] abatements to a foreign investor to come in and use our water, our grid, uh,

[1:15:06] cause the division that they've caused in this city. I've never seen it like

[1:15:10] this. I really haven't. I mean, I'm sure there there have been divisions in the

[1:15:15] past, but I can't imagine why you would do that.

[1:15:19] Um, you you don't have to give them a tax abatement. I mean, they're already

[1:15:25] here. [snorts] They're not going anywhere.

[1:15:28] You've already let them in. You don't have to give them every single thing

[1:15:32] they ask you for. Would you please give the citizens of Temple a plum and vote

[1:15:38] no to this? and show us in good faith that you really do care about the

[1:15:44] citizens of Temple, that you really do care that the cost of diesel is 65.99 on

[1:15:50] 31st Street. That you really do care that people can't even afford ground

[1:15:54] beef, much less a t-bone steak. take care of the people of Temple, not a

[1:16:02] a foreign investor from Australia who wants to come in and take our water and

[1:16:09] our electric grid. Show that you care about the people of

[1:16:13] Temple. And the fact that you would invite workers to come in so that

[1:16:20] citizens don't can't even get in the room and and can't I mean, I barely

[1:16:25] found a place to park. There were so many out of state pickup trucks parked

[1:16:29] outside from the workers that were here. So much for allowing senior citizens to

[1:16:36] to come in. Show us that you care. Please vote no.

[1:16:43] » Who else?

[1:16:52] If you know that you want to speak on this item, I'd appreciate if you'd queue

[1:16:56] up if you could.

[1:17:03] » This has to do with the debt and the tax abatements

[1:17:08] or fiscal debt. The Temple, Texas data center was the last draw. Let me point

[1:17:13] out a few of the facts and give our city council credit. Fiscal debt in 2019 was

[1:17:18] 3 21 million. Now in 26 it is 818 million. I don't know with all these tax

[1:17:26] abatements how you going to pay all this but we we we'll find it out somehow. 15

[1:17:31] million of that went to buying the agricultural a acres on Bob White to

[1:17:36] reszone it industrial for rowing. All this is money out the door is what I

[1:17:42] call it. They get a 10year tax evatement. You lost a million dollars on

[1:17:47] last year's Tangle Wood music event and you took 18 million out of the tourist

[1:17:53] funds. All of this is the tip of the iceberg. Okay. The truth will come out

[1:17:59] always. You know, God will reveal. His hand is slow in our minds sometimes, but

[1:18:05] he does reveal the problems. You guys are raking up debt. You're not getting

[1:18:11] enough money back. You're going to go after the taxpayer in the end because

[1:18:15] that's what's going to happen. We see it. We know it.

[1:18:20] But you're racking up debt. You're supposed to be paying off debt.

[1:18:25] So, how you going to pay it off with all these tax abatements you keep giving

[1:18:28] these people in commercial industrial tax abatements to people that are going

[1:18:34] to provide how many jobs? Not enough for anybody. A lot of them

[1:18:39] are coming in from out of town. They'll be living here, I'm sure. Maybe because

[1:18:43] a lot of this >> last week whenever we talked about this

[1:18:46] I encouraged folks >> probably two weeks ago not last week

[1:18:49] were >> whatever Margie last time last time I

[1:18:52] saw you >> I know

[1:18:54] » I encourage I encourage folks to go out on the bellcad

[1:18:58] » and see what these properties paid two years ago versus what they'll be paying

[1:19:03] in tax now. >> I know.

[1:19:05] » So we're not we are not abating current income.

[1:19:09] We're abating future income. Well, you need to take care of what you owe now. I

[1:19:15] mean, you owe millions. I mean, you're almost up to the billion dollar mark

[1:19:18] now. And this is what size town. I can understand Odessa Midland area because

[1:19:24] they got the money rolling in because they are gas, they are oil, you know,

[1:19:29] they don't have this kind of debt. >> Thank you, Margie.

[1:19:32] » You're welcome. But >> who's next?

[1:19:34] » Think about your house because it's your city.

[1:19:44] So, how you doing? Um, so first things first is with with the abatements,

[1:19:48] right? [snorts] The abatements from my understanding is that that's supposed to

[1:19:54] be a way for them to help out with future um future work or any

[1:20:01] infrastructure that needs to get done, anything that needs to get fixed. That's

[1:20:04] what the abatement is for. Would you say that'd be correct?

[1:20:08] It's just an understanding. >> Um the abatement is used as an incentive

[1:20:15] to bring a large economic development project to town,

[1:20:18] » right? But with that abatement, like let's say for example, we're going to

[1:20:23] need uh Encore, you know, more power grid. That's a way for them to also put

[1:20:28] uh money towards that because that is poss something that has been talked

[1:20:31] about uh in the past. >> Separate buckets, but go ahead.

[1:20:35] » Okay. So, um, so yeah. So, I don't see an issue with this because on top of

[1:20:40] that whole abatement situation, like I said, the workers on those jobs get paid

[1:20:46] very well. They get paid top dollar. On top of that, to sit there and throw

[1:20:51] shade at the workers that are showing up, the same people that are not part of

[1:20:56] the community are also showing up. And the workers that are showing up are just

[1:21:00] as much citizens, okay? and working from this area even

[1:21:04] though they got work trucks because they have been promoted.

[1:21:09] So enough with uh throwing shade at the workers because let's not forget it's

[1:21:15] those hard American workh working men and women that helped build the country

[1:21:20] to what it is today. So let's stop throwing shade down their way.

[1:21:23] » Thank you, sir. Who else? Yes, Miss Laura.

[1:21:27] » Hi. Um, I'm going to ask a not so intelligent question. I'm a little lost.

[1:21:34] Um, I'm sitting outside so it's a little hard to hear. Um, so we're under four

[1:21:39] and five ordinances. Did everything else before that is no

[1:21:45] longer on the table or is moved or like I JK consent agenda has already been

[1:21:53] approved. >> That will be moved on.

[1:21:55] » Item four and five. Um the agenda was approved

[1:22:02] for which ones? >> All of the items before items four and

[1:22:07] five. Item three was the consent agenda. It's already been approved.

[1:22:11] » So the UDC codes have been approved because that considers light and

[1:22:16] industrial heavy for like J. >> Yes. The second reading was on consent

[1:22:23] agenda and the consent agenda has been approved. So, does this apply for this

[1:22:28] uh six data center since the UDC codes have been approved?

[1:22:34] What exactly are those codes because they're not listed here? So, how do we

[1:22:38] know what was approved or what was created?

[1:22:42] » Same ones that we discussed in public hearing last week. They've now been um

[1:22:47] voted on a second time and approved uh sorry, Marie, two weeks ago. Uh they

[1:22:54] are now being approved this week. >> They have been approved. They have been

[1:22:59] » They've already been approved. >> They've already been approved.

[1:23:02] » Correct. >> Okay.

[1:23:06] » Thank you. Who else? >> Anyone else from the audience?

[1:23:15] » Is it on items four and five? >> Yep.

[1:23:19] about creation of the tax abatement reinvestment zones number 47 and 50.

[1:23:25] » Cool. >> This is just the zones.

[1:23:28] » Um well, I'm just going to come up here and say that basically the same exact

[1:23:32] thing that everyone else has been saying. I oppose all of it, including

[1:23:36] these tax abatements. Um

[1:23:40] obviously you guys seem pretty dead set on bringing in these data centers

[1:23:44] regardless of what we have to say. Would you mind stating your name again for the

[1:23:48] » My name is Adam. >> Okay.

[1:23:49] » Yeah. Um, so

[1:23:55] I mean you're already going against us and bringing them in and now you're

[1:23:58] you're talking about we're about to pass a tax abatement which I think a lot of

[1:24:01] us already knew that this was coming this these tax abatements and um

[1:24:07] I I just don't earlier you were saying that you know we could you know you

[1:24:13] encouraged us to look at Bellcad and how much those properties were bringing in

[1:24:17] for the city. Okay, but that's regardless of the point. These companies

[1:24:22] can afford to pay full taxes, right? The entire reason that they're even bringing

[1:24:26] them in here is because we provide the infrastructure for internet, water, all

[1:24:31] the stuff, electricity, everything that they need to run these. All right, but

[1:24:35] that puts them in the middle of populated areas. They shouldn't even be

[1:24:38] anywhere near populations. I'm not even against AI data centers, by the way. I

[1:24:42] think we we should be the leaders in them, but they need to be nowhere near

[1:24:46] anyone. All these people are doing is using us to save money and you have all

[1:24:54] fell for it hookline and sinker.

[1:24:58] If you're going to be so dead set I'm bringing them in here, at least charge

[1:25:02] them full tax rates because there are so many other industries that you could

[1:25:06] bring in here that from other states where taxes are higher, where they might

[1:25:11] want to move into a place like this, where taxes are actually cheaper in

[1:25:15] Texas. All right. Without any abatements, just

[1:25:18] paying full taxes where we're cheaper than other states. Other industries

[1:25:21] might want to come in here instead of these data centers who are only going to

[1:25:26] be giving what 40 jobs per, you know, data center that we have. And I don't

[1:25:31] even know how many now. We have like about a dozen I think is what we're

[1:25:35] talking about, right? So, I mean, I don't even get it. I don't

[1:25:41] even get why you guys are even doing all this because it's,

[1:25:45] you know, everyone hates you guys for this. You know, you're not going to win

[1:25:49] your re-elections. Like, this is it for you guys. No one's going to vote for

[1:25:52] you. >> I mean, no one even voted for you, Tim,

[1:25:55] the last election. Y'all canled the election because

[1:25:59] somehow suspiciously you ran unopposed >> out in a city of almost 100,000 people,

[1:26:05] you know, and then when we come up with thousands of signatures to recall you.

[1:26:10] Oh, no. We don't we don't meet the threshold. That's not a democracy.

[1:26:14] That's dictatorship. >> Adam,

[1:26:15] » I oppose I oppose all of this. >> Okay, you're way off topic.

[1:26:18] » I don't care. This is way on topic. This is way on topic.

[1:26:22] » You have to stay on topic. It's okay. >> This is on topic. I'm talking about the

[1:26:26] tax abatements and how we ended up in this freaking mess that we're in.

[1:26:29] » You're talking about my election, >> the open.

[1:26:31] » That's great because it's related, right? You're voting in favor of this,

[1:26:34] right? >> It's not related at all.

[1:26:36] » It's it's very it's very very relevant because when you

[1:26:39] » the posted item, >> listen,

[1:26:43] you're trying to violate my first amendment and I'm not I'm not going to

[1:26:45] stand for it. >> The Open Meetings Act.

[1:26:47] » The Open Meetings Act requires that we stay on topic.

[1:26:49] » Okay, fine. I will stay on topic. No, just give him let's let's give him

[1:26:54] the opportunity one more time to stay on top.

[1:26:57] » All right, fine. Regardless of that, obviously nobody even wants these data

[1:27:01] centers here, >> but then you're furthering by giving

[1:27:05] them these major tax write offs. Charge them the full amount. They're not even

[1:27:11] American.

[1:27:14] » Anyways, that's it. >> Thank you. Just um just as an

[1:27:18] interesting point, uh Texas is a great place as an

[1:27:23] individual [clears throat] um to live because taxes are our individual taxes

[1:27:28] are low. Texas ranks 47th out of 50 um when uh among all the states regarding

[1:27:37] corporate taxation. So Texas is not at all a friendly state

[1:27:42] when it comes to corporate taxation. So whenever whenever it said that you

[1:27:48] could bring u you know that there's plenty of other industries in plenty of

[1:27:52] other states that you could bring in to do business right here in Temple. Simply

[1:27:55] not true. >> Okay.

[1:27:57] » Okay. Thank you. >> Uh yes ma'am.

[1:28:00] » Hi. I'm Carly Bird. >> Um I just think it's interesting that

[1:28:04] you put the word consider in the verbiage

[1:28:08] because words are important. I mean when you consider something you contemplate

[1:28:12] it. So, what should be in there is that you are going to vote because you rarely

[1:28:18] vote against each other. I've noticed like you don't disagree on stuff. I

[1:28:22] noticed that. And it seems like the main people supporting the data centers are

[1:28:27] directly benefiting from the data centers or the government of the city of

[1:28:31] Temple. is obvious right now by the influx of upper class individuals that

[1:28:36] seem to have filled the seats whether directly asked or unspok an unspoken

[1:28:41] contract exchanged financially or through fake ad agilation like

[1:28:47] bootlicking that's it

[1:28:50] » thank you ma'am who's next

[1:28:56] [clears throat] >> hello Sarah Royer um okay so we're

[1:29:00] talking about tax abatements. And the issue we have with tax abatements right

[1:29:04] now is they don't get to play by the same rules as we do. Um like Meta, it

[1:29:09] was just in the newspaper that look at this beautiful $1.4 billion facility.

[1:29:14] That's great, right? Um and but we valuated them uh Bell County uh valuated

[1:29:21] them at $28 million. Um which is interesting. And uh but we've seen this

[1:29:27] the Rowan properties we've seen if you go through Bellcad and I've got all of

[1:29:32] the property numbers. We've seen it go from 1.4 million re-evaluated to $70,000

[1:29:38] and then they're handed to them and they only have to increase it by 300% to get

[1:29:43] their tax abatements and spend so much money. They're spending this money on

[1:29:47] themselves. That's what they're spending it on. So I don't know why we're giving

[1:29:50] them tax abatements and then also not appraising it. If I got to have my house

[1:29:56] to be appraised at what, one% of what I put into it, that would be

[1:30:01] amazing. And if that's what you guys are looking to do, I would love to

[1:30:05] participate in that program. Um, but a company that has 1.4 billion in a piece

[1:30:11] of land being evaluated for 28 million and then you're still giving these tax

[1:30:15] breaks and you know, I can't speak to Rowan because it hasn't come out yet,

[1:30:19] but I can see what you've done. I can see the same thing you've done and

[1:30:23] what's happening. In fact, they held up all of Bell County um appraisal district

[1:30:28] because they were fighting to get this 28 million dollar evaluation on Petta,

[1:30:32] which is really interesting. Um and you're shaking your head, no, but go to

[1:30:36] Bellcad. That's what it's evaluated at. It's that's what's that's what's in the

[1:30:40] records. So, if you know something we don't, why isn't it in the records? Mr.

[1:30:45] Pilington, >> it's not a city.

[1:30:48] » It's not a city. >> Oh, it's not a city thing. But you know,

[1:30:50] you get to work with the same guy who says yes to that. You guys are all

[1:30:54] related. So you're RT Schneider is voting on that. So you guys are given

[1:31:00] huge tax abatements and RT Schneider saying, "Oh, it's only worth 28

[1:31:04] million." I mean, this is a pretty good old good old boys network. All these

[1:31:07] people are good old boys. We are the citizens of Temple and we're saying this

[1:31:12] isn't cool. This is not fair. What you're doing isn't fair. It's not fair

[1:31:16] for your citizens. It's not fair for the people who live here.

[1:31:19] How's that for being on topic? >> Here's here's something uh that's on

[1:31:24] topic. You are correct. The metadata center, the operating data center was

[1:31:29] valued at $28 million via Bellcad. Bellcad's uh industrial

[1:31:36] appraiser was called on the carpet about that and I was in the meeting when that

[1:31:41] appraiser was fired and then and then no, that's not true. And then um the uh

[1:31:48] tax appraisal district along with the city of Temple along with Bell County

[1:31:53] worked with Meta to correct their um appraisal and that went up to

[1:32:02] what?

[1:32:07] » Yes. Uh Mayor, their uh appraised value and it was what was on the ground as of

[1:32:14] one 2026.

[1:32:16] » Correct. >> It did go up to u

[1:32:20] see

[1:32:23] » it's projected the full value of the building will be 563.7

[1:32:28] million. The 28.8 million is what the land was appraised for.

[1:32:33] » Okay. >> Then they they had personal property

[1:32:36] that was that was appraised at

[1:32:46] It was nearly 400 something million too. >> When the certified roll first came out,

[1:32:52] » right, >> they had it appraised at $25.6

[1:32:56] million >> and that was land and buildings.

[1:33:00] » What what what buildings were completed as of January 1 of 2026?

[1:33:06] » Y >> that's when we got heavily involved in

[1:33:10] and met her work the valuation was as of1 2026. Though I know there were other

[1:33:17] communities that stopped their budgeting process because the uh valuation they

[1:33:21] were expecting more income and uh based upon the valuations and all taxing

[1:33:28] entities worked very closely with Meta who worked

[1:33:33] with the taxing entities voluntarily worked hard to get corrected valuations

[1:33:38] to the tax appraisal district and paid the additional tax

[1:33:45] and uh volunteered to help and were happy to

[1:33:49] do it and they did. They could have they could have they this if you would like

[1:33:55] to speak and do public hearing, but they could have they could have drugged their

[1:33:59] feet until everyone had to get their budgets done. They didn't do that. They

[1:34:04] worked very quick. I think we were down to maybe two weeks or so uh before we

[1:34:09] all had to get our budgets turned in. and Metal worked very closely with um

[1:34:13] with all taxing entities to uh shore up and pay the proper amount of tax based

[1:34:18] upon what should have been the real valuation as of 1126.

[1:34:23] It was the appraisal district's uh industrial appraiser that dropped the

[1:34:28] ball and um Meta worked very hard to fix that with the taxing entities. Tax

[1:34:34] appraisal district fired the appraiser who had been with them 20 plus years.

[1:34:38] So, what are they appraised at now? Because it's not public record that we

[1:34:41] can find. >> You're just looking at the land value

[1:34:46] when you look at at probably if you're going on to Bellcad, there's different

[1:34:50] um tax IDs and typically land has a certain ID. Uh building improvement has

[1:34:56] a different one, personal property can have a different one. Those records are

[1:35:00] kept by the Bell County Appraisal District. So, you can always call or um

[1:35:04] request information from them. But according um to Tracy's records, can you

[1:35:10] » full build out that will be as of F what will be on the

[1:35:16] roll as of 111 2027 is over$1.2 billion and that's personal and real property

[1:35:22] » and after the updates are we able to confirm what 1126

[1:35:27] » when you look at the cash system you don't always see the values on it

[1:35:35] » so as of 2026 it was what 11 126 570 million is that what you said I'm just

[1:35:40] trying to get my numbers >> let me grab the the spreadsheet with the

[1:35:44] exact number

[1:35:48] » has it listed $28 million just for land. There's no improvement. It says zero

[1:35:52] dollars for improvement. >> Tracy, while you're looking that up, why

[1:35:54] don't we move on to Margie Sarah? We'll get back next.

[1:35:58] » And in 2025, it was 1.6 million. So, it went up by 20 27.1 million in one year

[1:36:05] on land value only. >> You have land value. Margie Fraser is

[1:36:09] going to read this right now. Temple, Texas projected to lose approximately 14

[1:36:14] million annually to tax revenue due to t data center tax abatements over a

[1:36:20] 10-year period. This is part of a broader trend in Texas where the state

[1:36:24] is losing over one billion each year in tax breaks for data centers and they are

[1:36:29] going to be bringing up in their legislator legislation session coming up

[1:36:34] that they will not have any more d tax abatements. So, they're going to get

[1:36:37] very low because these were all meant for small data centers, not AI data

[1:36:43] centers. These AI data centers are taking advantage of you. They're taking

[1:36:48] advantage of your land. I've seen how it's backed up to that new residential

[1:36:52] area and how those trucks are still going. And I have complained to Greg

[1:36:56] Abbott and he might lose this election over this.

[1:37:01] The loss is exper Technical Texas experienced significant financial

[1:37:07] impacts due to tax abatements granted to data centers. These abatements are

[1:37:13] designed to attract investment but come at a cost to local revenue. So

[1:37:20] how are they helping us? The city of Temple I know I buy a lot of stuff

[1:37:24] around here. I guarantee it. prices keep going up to lose approximately of course

[1:37:29] $14 million annually in tax revenue. This loss is part I've already told you

[1:37:36] that. So while they can stimulate economic development, the loss of

[1:37:42] revenue poses challenges for funding essential city services and

[1:37:48] infrastructures. So, you're going to have to learn how to

[1:37:51] balance your attracting of new businesses with the need to maintain

[1:37:55] financial stability for your residences, which doesn't seem to be happening. I

[1:38:01] haven't seen how it's happening. So, if y'all can explain that to me, I'd

[1:38:06] appreciate it. And I'm bet every resident that lives here, actually lives

[1:38:09] here, would appreciate it. Everybody in Bell County would

[1:38:14] appreciate to knowing that. Okay? Because

[1:38:19] » if I go buy a new suit, >> you're going to pay taxes

[1:38:23] » for a thousand bucks >> and they instead put it on sale for 800,

[1:38:29] » but all it cost them was 500. >> Did they lose money?

[1:38:34] » No. >> That's That's a tax abatement right

[1:38:36] there. >> Well, we're losing money. And we're not

[1:38:40] saying that. >> Do we have those? Uh,

[1:38:46] » Mr. Roy, I think we're addressing Are we ready to

[1:38:51] » 1 bill235,16,671

[1:38:57] is Meta's total valuation 126.

[1:39:04] » That's full that's completed full build >> as of 26. That's what they'll pay taxes

[1:39:10] on real and personal property.

[1:39:15] » Yes, ma'am. >> We just

[1:39:18] » Who's next? >> Anybody else?

[1:39:25] » Going once. >> Milton.

[1:39:33] » Yeah, let's let's take you in the mic. coming to you.

[1:39:38] » We're coming to you. >> Okay. I appreciate that, Mr. Mayor.

[1:39:43] » Yes, sir. >> We'll talk about tax abatement.

[1:39:48] What is percent of the tax abatement that it's going to be given?

[1:39:51] » Uh on that one is 25%. 50%. >> 50%.

[1:39:57] » How about 50%. >> 50%.

[1:40:01] Okay. It's valued at a million dollars. We give them 50%.

[1:40:08] We make 50%. Correct? >> Yes, sir.

[1:40:12] » When do we start making 50%.

[1:40:16] » When the when their building's 100%. >> When I

[1:40:20] » when when their building is 100% complete or their improvements

[1:40:25] as as of January one of that the year that we're going to catch the revenue.

[1:40:31] So, the certificate of uh occupancy when given on the building and also they have

[1:40:37] dispiled some various reports. That's when we'll start receiving the

[1:40:43] » when when are we going to start making money?

[1:40:47] » When? >> We've already started making money.

[1:40:49] » Okay. >> Whenever they pay their 2026 tax bill

[1:40:52] and their 2025 tax bill.

[1:40:57] » So they have to pay the tax bill by April the 1st.

[1:41:01] » It it is levied October one. >> Okay. October one

[1:41:05] » and then it's due it's due. >> So we are looking at at 50% of

[1:41:12] what evaluation >> well 50% of the tax paid on the 1.23 two

[1:41:18] billion. >> Are we talking about meta or

[1:41:21] » I think we're talking about meta. I'm not sure.

[1:41:24] » Have we? >> This is off topic. I see.

[1:41:27] » We have not received any money yet. >> We have. Yes, sir. We have.

[1:41:31] » We have. >> Yes.

[1:41:35] Huh?

[1:41:42] » Thank you. >> You bet. Thank you,

[1:41:43] » I guess. >> All right.

[1:41:45] » I don't know.

[1:41:51] We need to assign someone to go pick Milton up before every council meeting.

[1:41:56] It's been a while since he's been here. It's because he doesn't have

[1:41:58] transportation. Somebody go get him. Who else?

[1:42:02] Going once? Everybody good?

[1:42:09] » Outside. They'll holler at the folks outside,

[1:42:12] please.

[1:42:19] We're good. Nobody out. Nobody back there. Okay.

[1:42:24] Going once, going twice. I will now close the public hearing on

[1:42:28] items four and five. And council, I'll entertain a motion on item four.

[1:42:36] » I will make a motion to approve item four, although I can't seem to get

[1:42:43] » I'll second. We have a motion by Mayor Pro Tim

[1:42:46] Walker. We have a second by Council Member Emmens. Council, please cast your

[1:42:50] vote. I can you switch over?

[1:42:57] I saw there. Here we go. Item four passes. Four votes yes, one uh zero

[1:43:02] votes no, and one abstension. Council, entertain a motion on item five.

[1:43:08] » Five as presented. >> Second.

[1:43:11] » Have a motion by council member Pilington. We have a second by council

[1:43:14] member Emmens. Council, please cast your vote.

[1:43:26] » Hi, >> yes.

[1:43:31] Item five passes, four votes yes, zero votes no, and one abstension.

[1:43:37] Item six is to consider approving an amendment of the tax abatement agreement

[1:43:41] with Rowan LLC which abated a a percentage of the increase in the

[1:43:45] taxable value of certain real and personal property located in Synergy

[1:43:49] Park. Miss Thomas,

[1:43:53] » mayor and council members, um before you for consideration is an

[1:43:59] amendment to the tax statement agreement with Rowan Temple LLC.

[1:44:04] As a reminder, on October 2, 25. Um, you approved a chapter 312 tax abatement

[1:44:10] agreement with Rowan Temple LLC in accordance with chapter 312 of the Texas

[1:44:15] Tax Code. The agreement abated a percentage of the

[1:44:19] increase of taxable value of certain real and personal property for a project

[1:44:23] located in Synergy Industrial Park to develop one or more data centers.

[1:44:28] The project is permitted to develop in multiple phases. To be eligible for

[1:44:32] abatement, Rowan is required to invest at least $700 million and employ at

[1:44:37] least 40 full-time employees per phase. The agreement contains a provision that

[1:44:42] includes future phases under the same terms and conditions if the land

[1:44:46] acquired for that phase is included in a tax abatement reinvestment zone.

[1:44:53] This amendment um amends and adds certain definitions, adds provisions

[1:44:58] regarding permanent connection to the grid and further defines elig

[1:45:02] eligibility for abatement for personal property.

[1:45:07] It strengthens the agreement in three key ways. It prevents companies or

[1:45:12] affiliates that already have their own tax abatement agreement from also

[1:45:15] benefiting under another company's agreement.

[1:45:18] It clarifies that temporary on-site electrical generation does not count

[1:45:22] towards the company's required investment and is not eligible for tax

[1:45:26] abatement. And it provides that a company can lose its abatement benefits

[1:45:30] if it continues relying on temporary generators for long-term power needs

[1:45:34] instead of transitioning to permanent grid service.

[1:45:38] It does not reduce the company's investment commitment, extend the

[1:45:42] abatement period, or grant any new incentives.

[1:45:48] the tax abatement criteria. Per the city's economic development policy, to

[1:45:52] be eligible for tax abatement, at least two criteria must be met. Staff still

[1:45:57] believes um the project meets these criteria. It involves a minimum increase

[1:46:02] in property value of 300% for construction of new facilities and a

[1:46:05] substantial contribution to redevelopment efforts or strategic

[1:46:08] economic development. It stimulates desired concentration of employment or

[1:46:13] commercial activity and generates greater employment than would otherwise

[1:46:16] be achieved. It will also expand the employment base, attract major

[1:46:20] investment and contribute to economic development in the city as required by

[1:46:23] chapter 312 of the tax code. And um as you did on the last two items,

[1:46:30] the council may designate a TARS if the designation is likely to contribute to

[1:46:34] retention or expansion of primary employment or attract major investment

[1:46:38] in the zone. that would be a benefit to the property and contribute to the

[1:46:41] economic development of the city.

[1:46:45] Um, you've created three separate TARS that

[1:46:49] are subject to this tax abatement agreement. Uh, TAR number 47 designated

[1:46:55] by council October 2nd, 2025. TAR 49 designated by council on April

[1:47:00] 2nd, 2026 for a subsequent phase. TAR 50 um which was approved today. All

[1:47:08] properties are subject to planned development light industrial zoning

[1:47:12] regulations located in Synergy Industrial Park near the landfill BKB

[1:47:18] Panda Power Plant and the railroad. [clears throat]

[1:47:23] As a reminder, the projected revenue during the abatement period is 40

[1:47:28] approximately $42 million annually, whereas the abatement will be just under

[1:47:34] 14 million. I'm happy to answer any questions you

[1:47:38] may have. Anything for Miss Thomas?

[1:47:47] » All right. And with that, council, I will entertain a motion.

[1:47:54] Make a motion to approve item six. >> Second it.

[1:47:57] » Have a motion by council member Emmens. We have a second by Mayor Pro Tim

[1:48:01] Walker. Council, please cast your vote.

[1:48:09] Item six passes. Four votes yes, zero votes no. One abstension.

[1:48:16] Item seven is to consider adopting a resolution authorizing the following

[1:48:20] agreements. Item A, a development agreement with

[1:48:24] Rowan Lasso LLC for the development of approximately 316 acres associated with

[1:48:30] project Lasso which is phase 1B establishing development coordination of

[1:48:34] phase permitting process, transportation planning, utility coordination and other

[1:48:39] development related requirements for the project. Item B reads, "An

[1:48:44] infrastructure agreement with Rowan Stampede LLC related to the

[1:48:47] approximately 1,443 acres comprising project uh Temple and

[1:48:53] Lasso, which is phase one, project stampede phase two, project ranger phase

[1:48:58] three, establishing responsibilities for the funding, design, construction,

[1:49:02] dedication, and timing of the water and wastewater infrastructure necessary to

[1:49:06] serve these projects together with certain community benefit contributions.

[1:49:12] 7C is an is uh an amended and restated

[1:49:17] utility services agreement with Rowan Temple LLC for project temple lasso

[1:49:21] phase one establishing the amount timing conditions and limitations associated

[1:49:26] with water and wastewater service for the project

[1:49:29] 7D is a utility services agreement with Rowan Stampede LLC for project stampede

[1:49:34] phase 2 establishing the amount timing conditions and limitations associated

[1:49:38] with the water and wastewater service for the project. And item 7E is utility

[1:49:44] services agreement with Rowan Ranger LLC for project ranger, which is phase

[1:49:47] three, establishing the amount, timing, conditions, and limitations associated

[1:49:51] with water and wastewater service for the project.

[1:49:56] » Thank you, Mayor. Uh we've had several action items on this uh topic tonight,

[1:50:01] so I'll I'll be brief. Um just a a quick project overview. This is three campus

[1:50:06] phases with six plan data centers. As Charlotte said, all of them are located

[1:50:10] in the Synergy Southeast Industrial Park. They um have a capital investment

[1:50:15] commitment of $700 million per abatement phase and 40 full-time jobs. Again,

[1:50:21] these uh these are all located in our indust in our synergy um south

[1:50:25] industrial park area. You can see there the map. Um they're located uh generally

[1:50:31] in in the same uh park that we have our regional landfill and where BKB power

[1:50:37] plant is located. On the agenda tonight, mayor, as you

[1:50:41] read, there's five um uh different agreements uh for your consideration.

[1:50:47] The first item is a development agreement for the project lasso or phase

[1:50:52] 1B um of their campus. This covers approximately 316 additional acres that

[1:50:59] will be added to phase one as a replacement for the property um that we

[1:51:03] purchased, the city of Temple purchased for the landfill expansion. Um the

[1:51:07] agreement addresses comprehensive plan coordination, thoroughfare plan

[1:51:10] alignment, phase permitting, noise mitigation, utility coordination, and

[1:51:16] relocation of city infrastructure at Rowan's expense. Again, this is for um

[1:51:21] project uh land that was um added to uh their original phase one when the

[1:51:26] company um assigned the contract that they had to purchase this property that

[1:51:33] had been identified as the only viable location for the city of Temple to

[1:51:37] expand our current landfill and added um up to 50 years of additional capacity uh

[1:51:43] life to our uh current landfill facility.

[1:51:47] Um the next agreement is the infrastructure agreement. This creates

[1:51:51] one coordinated infrastructure program for all three Rowan phases. Um there's a

[1:51:56] series of core infrastructure improvement um that support Rowan's

[1:52:00] requested capacity but also provide um significant um water resources to the

[1:52:06] broader south and southeast Temple water system and help um ensure reliability

[1:52:11] and resiliency of our uh water system as a whole. Rowan will fund a total of 38

[1:52:17] million point uh 38.5 million for infrastructure and projects. Um this

[1:52:22] includes um the uh 25 approximately 25 million that they will um contribute to

[1:52:28] the core infrastructure program. Um as well as a $10 million contribution

[1:52:33] towards the aquifer storage and recovery program and $3 million for the Salmon's

[1:52:39] Community Center if approved by voters in November.

[1:52:42] » Miss um Myers. Absolutely. >> The uh $10 million for the ASR, does

[1:52:48] that give them access to the ASR? >> No. And I do have some additional slides

[1:52:51] about that in a second. If I didn't cover it uh sufficiently in my slides,

[1:52:56] uh will you remind me to come back? Okay. Thank you.

[1:52:59] » Um the next three agreements are related to the specific utility agreements for

[1:53:03] each phase. Each phase will have its own contractual water and wastewater limits.

[1:53:08] The agreements do not provide unlimited access to city water. Uh permanent

[1:53:13] service is tied to completion of infrastructure and satisi uh

[1:53:17] satisfaction of their payment obligations that are outlined in the

[1:53:21] infrastructure agreement. The agreements uh require that the company use closed

[1:53:26] loop cooling technology. Um and the initial charging water has to be staged

[1:53:30] and coordinated with the city and used over a period of uh days. uh uh in times

[1:53:36] that uh the city uh has indicated uh the system will be able to um uh to safely

[1:53:43] uh provide that amount of water. Um water use is monitored and may be

[1:53:48] controlled through um physical or SCADA uh restrictions if necessary. Uh the

[1:53:54] company cannot pay a fee or penalty um to exceed its contractual limits. The

[1:53:59] the contract limits are uh are binding and cannot be exceeded. um by just

[1:54:05] paying a fee to exceed those amounts.

[1:54:10] Temple's long-term water position, we have um as council knows, we have over

[1:54:15] 44,000 acre feet of um water uh uh rights um in uh in primarily surface

[1:54:23] water rights. The majority of those rights are state adjudicated and many

[1:54:27] are senior to um are very senior in the state including to um other rights uh

[1:54:33] owned by bar. Of course, senior rights means that there's stronger legal

[1:54:38] protections for the city's rights and stronger reliability of our water.

[1:54:42] Today, we currently use an average um we have an average demand of water of 18

[1:54:48] million gallons a day. That peaks in the summer at 33 million gallons a day. Our

[1:54:53] current treatment capacity uh at our two water treatment plants is 54 million

[1:54:58] gallons. Uh the council, as you know, re you recently funded and and added and

[1:55:03] completed a project that added 13 million gallons a day to our membrane

[1:55:07] treatment plant. And that expansion included a modular uh the ability to

[1:55:11] modularly expand that plant with another 4 million gallons a day by adding an

[1:55:16] additional membrane rack. Um so it the uh system is built to handle growth with

[1:55:21] a large buffer between our peak usage and our treatment capacity. We've also

[1:55:27] uh through your leadership invested in our future water supply um namely

[1:55:31] through our um aquafer storage and recovery uh system which can add up to

[1:55:37] 15 million gallons a day of uh water capacity to our system. Again, for these

[1:55:43] uh specific projects, uh the contracts require that a closed loop cooling

[1:55:48] system be used. Uh the initial charge for each building is 1.5 million

[1:55:53] gallons, but that amount of water is recirculated for at least 10 years. Um

[1:55:59] and that water is phased over uh a number of days, and the timing of that

[1:56:04] is planned with the city on a day-to-day basis. Um each project

[1:56:09] also has contractual daily limits for both water and wastewater. You can see

[1:56:14] on the screen there the uh the limits uh for each phase with a total average

[1:56:19] daily um water consumption at 32,000 gallons, an annual use of 11.7 million

[1:56:27] gallons, and a peak daily use of 78,000 gallons. for scale. Um the total campus,

[1:56:34] all three phases will use less than 1% of the total daily water used today by

[1:56:39] City of Temple customers. Each building will use what less than what a uh

[1:56:45] restaurant uh typically uses per day and each building will use less than a what

[1:56:50] a 150 lot residential subdivision would use um on average. Again, we've

[1:56:55] mentioned this before, but the water use will be monitored through remote meters,

[1:57:00] and physical or automated controls can limit the use to the approved amounts.

[1:57:04] The company can't pay a fee or penalty to exceed um their contractual amounts.

[1:57:09] The um company has committed to um significant um contribution to the South

[1:57:15] Temple Water Infrastructure Capital Program. This is a series of 10 projects

[1:57:19] that will bring significant additional water capacity to the south and

[1:57:23] southeast portions of our community. Uh these projects total $71.1 million and

[1:57:29] uh Rowan has committed to fund 45% of the total infrastructure cost. Um they

[1:57:35] also built um the first part of our ASR program which was the synergy well. It's

[1:57:41] uh been built uh originally as a production well in the Synergy Park

[1:57:45] area. Um it has a uh capacity of 3.8 million gallons a day and was

[1:57:52] constructed and designed uh in such a way that it's intended to be converted

[1:57:56] to an injection well uh to support the first piece of the ASR program.

[1:58:02] Uh for those who who may be uh unfamiliar with ASR, ASR stands for

[1:58:07] aquifer storage and recovery. It allows us to store treated water underground in

[1:58:12] the aquifer. Water is injected when supply is available and then can be

[1:58:17] recovered during times of drought or peak demand or other emergency

[1:58:20] conditions. The reason that uh this is pursued is

[1:58:25] because it um it uh allows us to store water underground instead of in above

[1:58:30] ground reservoirs uh that are subject to significant evaporation and significant

[1:58:36] land acquisition.

[1:58:40] ASR helps make uh helps temple make u better use of the water that we rights

[1:58:46] that we already have. It helps us capture water during lower demand

[1:58:49] periods, store that water underground for later use. It reduces our reliance

[1:58:54] on surface water availability, creates a drought and peak demand reserve, and

[1:58:59] help support future growth needs. [clears throat]

[1:59:02] The city of Temple owns and controls the Synergy well. As I mentioned, it was

[1:59:06] built by Rowan as part of a previous economic development agreement where

[1:59:10] Rowan constructed and paid for the well on behalf of the city of Temple. But the

[1:59:15] but Rowan does not have ownership of the well. uh the water rights from that

[1:59:19] well, the aquafer. Um the project that was contemplated by the original

[1:59:24] economic development agreement um that had us um that that had Rowan uh

[1:59:29] constructing this was cancelled and the conditions required to trigger the

[1:59:33] city's reimbursement obligations were not satisfied. As a result, the city

[1:59:37] won't be re reimbursing the company for those costs as was originally

[1:59:41] contemplated in the in the agreement. However, the company still completed um

[1:59:46] the infrastructure which included more than the well. Um they built water

[1:59:50] infrastructure, wastewater infrastructure, and some roadway

[1:59:53] infrastructure as along with the synergy well. And then they dedicated those to

[1:59:57] the city as was originally contemplated by the agreement even though the full

[2:00:01] project didn't move forward. The water rights that are associated with that

[2:00:05] original agreement are very specific. I say water rights, the water usage um

[2:00:10] water availability uh to them was very specific to the original project. Um it

[2:00:15] was tied to the specific parcel of property and the specific um the the

[2:00:20] specific project and it can't be transferred to their current projects or

[2:00:24] any other project. So, um because that project was cancelled, all of the

[2:00:28] obligations in that agreement um are um no longer um applicable, including um

[2:00:35] the uh their ability to use water from the synergy well. It was limited only to

[2:00:40] that specific project, and there's no ability for them to transfer those um

[2:00:45] those agreement terms to any of the phases that we're talking about today.

[2:00:49] Instead, um the three agreements that are on your agenda today would govern

[2:00:54] these projects. Um the water use would be granted expressly through those three

[2:00:59] agreements. Um it does have limits for the domestic water use and limits for uh

[2:01:04] the um cooling water uh for the controlled co uh closed loop cooling. Uh

[2:01:10] the agreements do not allow unlimited access to city water. Um they do not

[2:01:15] allow a provision for a rowin to exceed the contractual limits. They do not

[2:01:19] provide um ownership interest to Rowan in any of our water infrastructure

[2:01:24] including the ASR system or the well and they don't allow Rowan to charge to

[2:01:29] discharge their waste water to the aquafer.

[2:01:32] Um as part of uh Rowan's agreement to uh fund infrastructure, it allows us to uh

[2:01:39] free up uh funds for other important projects um including uh the relocation

[2:01:45] of Fire Station 7. Um, as council knows, you've made a significant commitment to

[2:01:50] um, building new fire stations in the six-year plan, including the relocation

[2:01:54] of seven. Um, the addition of nine, the relocation of six. Um, you have future

[2:02:00] uh, fire stations planned as well. Um, 10, 11, um, and, um, and then in future,

[2:02:07] uh, parts of the master plan address, uh, stations 12, 13, and 14.

[2:02:14] um already mentioned tonight, but again, Sammon's Community Center um is part of

[2:02:18] Rowan's commitment. They um have committed to a total of $3 million

[2:02:23] towards the total $15 million project cost. This will lower um the amount of

[2:02:29] the bond uh of uh bonds that will have to be issued um if this project is

[2:02:34] approved by the voters in November and thus will lower the tax rate impact of

[2:02:38] this project for our community. As Charlotte mentioned in her presentation,

[2:02:43] there is a phased in project revenue during the um abatement period. Um the

[2:02:49] project will generate $42 million per year to the city. Um and then uh

[2:02:55] postabatement uh conservatively estimated at $56 million per year. Um,

[2:03:01] that's an annual um, uh, revenue and that is in addition to the over $38

[2:03:06] million in infrastructure and other project contributions that I just went

[2:03:10] over with you tonight, as well as additional revenue to other taxing

[2:03:14] entities um, that Rowan will also u pay taxes to, including Temple and Rogers

[2:03:19] ISD, Bell County, and Temple College. Um, that is a brief summary of the five

[2:03:24] agreements that are before you tonight, Mayor. All right. Um, if I didn't

[2:03:28] address your ASR question, please allow me to go back to that, but that's all I

[2:03:31] had prepared. >> I just I think it's it's worth noting

[2:03:34] and emphasizing that um,

[2:03:39] Rowan was contractually obligated to build the

[2:03:43] well. And in that same contract, they knew all along they were going to hand

[2:03:47] that well over to the city of Temple. And as you mentioned that any water that

[2:03:52] was generated by that well that Rowan would use was specific to Project

[2:03:57] Mariah. >> Correct.

[2:03:59] » That's right. >> Which is the old Bitcoin mining

[2:04:01] operation that is defunct. >> And so um at at no time did they own it.

[2:04:06] Did they have um unilateral access to it?

[2:04:10] » In fact, as we've said before, that well has never been operational on a on a

[2:04:16] large basis. we get water out of the ground to test it right now, but as far

[2:04:20] as any infrastructure to then distribute that anywhere else simply doesn't exist

[2:04:24] yet in in a large format, >> right? They had the they had the option

[2:04:30] in their original economic development agreement to construct the well on our

[2:04:34] behalf. It was permitted. It it was always under our ownership. It was never

[2:04:38] permission that they were given to construct a well for their own um

[2:04:42] ownership. um if they constructed the well, then

[2:04:46] the city of Temple would have sold them water from the well, but only

[2:04:50] specifically for that project. And so they uh they completed the

[2:04:56] construction of the well even though they were not no longer going to

[2:04:59] continue with the project. Um they've invested over $6 million in that well

[2:05:05] and uh that you know the city would have otherwise had to fund in order to um

[2:05:09] establish our ASR program. And again, that was in addition to um I

[2:05:15] believe that the um the uh engineers um opinion of probable

[2:05:22] cost for the other infrastructure that they were building on behalf of the

[2:05:26] city. Um the water and wastewater lines and lift station that was um believe the

[2:05:33] OPC was 4.8 million for that. They also completed those improvements and

[2:05:38] dedicated those to the city. related to that that uh there were three

[2:05:44] payments in the reinvestment zone financing plan of 1.6 million a year. It

[2:05:50] was to be paid over three years and since they didn't their investment

[2:05:55] commitment wasn't made that money was not paid out will not be paid out and

[2:06:00] it's been reprogrammed >> with an economic development agreement.

[2:06:03] City of Temple was going to pay about over three years about $5 million. If

[2:06:07] they um performed what they were required to do, they did not perform.

[2:06:13] Therefore, the city of Temple kept that $5 million.

[2:06:17] » Roughly. >> Roughly. Yes, sir.

[2:06:18] » Yep. And still has full ownership of the well.

[2:06:20] » Yes, sir. >> And that well when operational will

[2:06:23] increase the city of Temple's water capacity roughly by 15 10 to 15%.

[2:06:30] through the reclaimed water >> and the reimbursement to Rowan was was

[2:06:36] uh which again they they completed the infrastructure even though they weren't

[2:06:41] completing the rest of the project and just weren't reimbursed for it. But the

[2:06:44] reimbursement amount which was capped at I believe 4.8 was based on the opinion

[2:06:49] of probable cost for the other infrastructure the roadway um water line

[2:06:54] wastewater line and lift station. it didn't include the cost, the estimated

[2:06:59] cost of the well. If they spent less than the $4.8 million on that other

[2:07:04] infrastructure, then they could have used um their portions of their

[2:07:10] investment for the well um to against that 4.8, but it was capped at 4.8. And

[2:07:15] so really the reimbursement that was contemplated in the in the original

[2:07:19] economic development agreement was for the other infrastructure, not the well.

[2:07:24] Um but the agreement was structured as so that if those costs came in under

[2:07:28] budget that they could apply um some of that $4.8 million cap towards the cost

[2:07:34] that they um spent um for the synergy well. Again, they ended up doing all of

[2:07:39] the infrastructure dedicating it to the city and the city um but they didn't

[2:07:44] meet they didn't they didn't meet the other obligations of the agreement. So,

[2:07:48] um, the other portions of that agreement are no longer in effect, including our

[2:07:52] obligation to reimburse for the infrastructure or the obligation to

[2:07:57] provide water um or wastewater uh service for that project because that

[2:08:02] was tied to that specific project. Very clear in the agreement.

[2:08:09] » Very good. um you know there there is so much misinformation, disinformation or

[2:08:13] simply misunderstanding about that well specifically and um I I just I think it

[2:08:18] I think it is is worth going over like you've done tonight again around the

[2:08:24] parameters of that well um because it is uh the ASR well is the first of its kind

[2:08:31] for Temple. Um, in fact, you know, we the city of Temple um partnered with

[2:08:36] Bell County and others, Department of Defense included, to find uh proper

[2:08:42] areas along the aquifer that could uh um that that could um what's the right

[2:08:49] word that could take on the water for through the ASR process. Not every

[2:08:56] aquifer is um is ideal for that, but in this case, one on Fort Hood was found

[2:09:02] and one on out in Synergy Park was found. And we're just simply taking

[2:09:06] advantage of a geological structure that is perfect for ASR use. So, it's it's a

[2:09:14] blessing that we have that and it's a blessing now that we know about it and

[2:09:17] are able to take advantage of it and frankly take advantage of on somebody

[2:09:22] else's D. That is nice. The one other thing that I

[2:09:26] would mention is that um outside city limits, the city of Temple

[2:09:33] does not have the ability to con to um let me say it differently.

[2:09:42] Property owners are required to get the city of Temple's consent for wells

[2:09:47] drilled inside the city limits. They are not required to do that outside the city

[2:09:52] limits. There still of course is the underwater underground conservation

[2:09:56] district process that they would have to go through, but that you know there

[2:10:00] there are groundwater rights that um that property owners in Texas have and

[2:10:05] if they meet the requirements then they're going to get um the ability to

[2:10:10] um drill um to to use groundwater. And so the both the Mariah project as well

[2:10:16] as um all of um project temple phase one um uh Lasso phase 1B and um

[2:10:28] most of Ranger were outside the city limits. And so um the uh if those

[2:10:36] projects had stayed outside the city limits then rowing could have drilled

[2:10:40] that well which they wanted to drill on their own.

[2:10:45] Um but um through those negotiations we didn't grant them authorization to drill

[2:10:52] the well for their ownership. We granted them authorization to drill the well for

[2:10:57] public ownership. Um, and that's only available because they voluntarily that

[2:11:03] that control is only was only available to the city because they voluntarily

[2:11:08] annexed into the into the city limits.

[2:11:14] We've explored buying water and um the cost of the cost of the water

[2:11:20] is um is very high. The cost of getting the water from where it is to where we

[2:11:26] would need it in temple is um that number starts with the B. And to know

[2:11:31] that we have water available right under our feet and to be able to take

[2:11:36] advantage of that will uh will will pay the city of Temple will be

[2:11:43] an advantage to the city of Temple for decades.

[2:11:46] Fair statement. Okay.

[2:11:51] Council, any questions for Miss Myers? Okay. All right. We are going to take uh

[2:11:56] each of these items separately. So, council um item 7A, which is um and I'll

[2:12:01] read them in since it's been a while. I'll read quickly. Uh 7A is a

[2:12:06] development agreement with Rowan Lasso LLC for the development of the

[2:12:09] approximately 316 acres associated with project lasso which is phase 1B

[2:12:14] establishing development coordination a phasing per a phase permitting process

[2:12:19] transportation planning utility coordination and other

[2:12:22] development related requirements. Council entertain a motion on item 7A.

[2:12:27] » Motion to approve. >> Second.

[2:12:30] » Have a motion by council member Walker. We have a second by council member

[2:12:34] Bington. Council, please cast your vote.

[2:12:46] » Not Not this one, Milton. Not this one.

[2:12:51] Item 7 A passes. Four votes yes. Zero votes no. One abstension. Item 7B is an

[2:12:58] infrastructure agreement with Rowan Stampede LLC related to the approximate

[2:13:01] 1,443 acres comprising project temple lasso phase 1, project stampede phase 2,

[2:13:08] project ranger phase three, establishing responsibilities for the funding,

[2:13:12] design, construction, dedication, and timing of water and wastewater

[2:13:15] infrastructure necessary to serve the projects together with certain community

[2:13:19] benefit contributions. Council and I'll entertain a motion on 7B.

[2:13:25] Move to approve 7B as presented. >> Second. We have a motion by um council

[2:13:31] member Pilington. We have a second by council member Emmens. Council, please

[2:13:34] cast your vote.

[2:13:38] 7B passes. Four votes yes, zero votes no, one abstension.

[2:13:43] 7 C is an amended and restated utility services agreement with Rowan LLC for

[2:13:48] project temple lasso which is phase one establishing the amount timing

[2:13:52] conditions limitations associated with water and wastewater service for the

[2:13:56] project council entertain a motion >> approve

[2:14:04] have a motion by Mayor pro Tim Walker we have a second by council member

[2:14:07] Pilington council cast your vote

[2:14:13] 7 C passes. Four votes yes, zero votes, no, one abstension. D is a utility

[2:14:19] services agreement with Rowan Stampede LLC for project Stampede phase 2

[2:14:24] establishing the amount, timing, conditions, and limitations associated

[2:14:27] with water and wastewater service for the project. Council entertain a motion.

[2:14:32] » Make a motion to approve 7D. >> Second. You have a motion by council

[2:14:37] member Emmens, a second by Mayor Pro Tim Walker. Please cast your vote.

[2:14:46] 7D passes four votes yes, zero votes, no, one abstension. 7E is utility

[2:14:51] services agreement with Rowan Ranger LLC for project ranger phase three

[2:14:55] establishing the amount, timing, conditions, and limitations associated

[2:14:59] with water and wastewater service for the project. Council, I'll entertain a

[2:15:04] motion. >> Motion to approve. 7E.

[2:15:08] » We have a motion by council member Emmens. We have a second by council

[2:15:12] member Pilington.

[2:15:16] 7E passes. Four votes yes. Zero votes no. One abstension.

[2:15:23] » Before you go to the next, can I say something, please?

[2:15:25] » Yes, ma'am.

[2:15:32] when you first read these and

[2:15:37] there's only so much we can take from individuals.

[2:15:42] So I was called to my face a b- word from Sarah Royer who was left the

[2:15:48] building. I wish she was in here because that's not my name nor it's who I

[2:15:53] represent. Okay? So, please tell your wife that

[2:15:58] we're going to only take so much from you. And I'm going to probably get in

[2:16:00] trouble for this, but we're only going to take so much from you. None of these

[2:16:05] women up here deserve to be called a b- word. None of these women in this

[2:16:10] council needs to be called a B- word. We've been called a

[2:16:16] We've been said that we need to not be alive.

[2:16:21] And there's only so much we can take. But I will not allow you to do that in

[2:16:27] my face. You can do it on Instagram or wherever you want to be and

[2:16:32] hide Facebook. Not in my face. Not in any of our faces.

[2:16:39] Would you call your mother that?

[2:16:44] Well, somebody did. And it's disrespectful

[2:16:48] and it's intolerable. We will not take any more of this.

[2:16:55] So if there's legal rights for us, you know, we've been quiet and we've

[2:17:00] said we're not going to do this. We're not going to press charges because we

[2:17:03] don't want to ruin that person's life. You're ruining our our lives.

[2:17:08] So stop, please. Because I love every single one of you

[2:17:14] regardless. And there's nothing you can do about that.

[2:17:19] But I am not nor are they a beat. Thank you.

[2:17:25] » [applause]

[2:17:33] [applause]

[2:17:35] » It's against my nature not to say anything, but I'm not going to follow

[2:17:38] that. Thank you for that. Moving on to item eight is consider adopting a

[2:17:43] resolution appointing members to various city boards and commissions.

[2:17:48] Y'all think I've read a lot tonight. Here you go. Um,

[2:17:53] for the airport advisory board, we're going to reappoint Tony Hell and Jeremy

[2:17:57] Walters to fill expired terms ending September 30, 2029 and appoint Lisa

[2:18:02] Carile to fill an expired term ending September

[2:18:06] 30, 2029. On the Animal Services Advisory Board, we're going to reappoint

[2:18:10] Amy Strunk and Zo Grant to fill expired terms ending September 30, 2029 and

[2:18:15] appoint Dr. Ashley Winkler to fill an expired term ending September 30, 2029.

[2:18:22] On the Citizens Police Advisory Commission, we're going to reappoint

[2:18:25] Roland Carneahan.

[2:18:31] We're going to reappoint uh Roland Carneahan, Gary Smith, and Lydia Alanise

[2:18:36] to fill expired terms ending September 30, 2029, and appoint Richard Rwood and

[2:18:41] Elizabeth Roth to fill unexpired terms ending September 30, 2027. On the Civil

[2:18:47] Service Commission, reappoint Brent Walker to fill an expired term ending

[2:18:52] September 30, 2029. On the emergency services advisory board, we're going to

[2:18:56] reappoint Maria Aristi and Steven Fischer to fill expired terms ending

[2:19:02] September 30, 2029. Library Advisory Board, we're going to appoint Jordan

[2:19:06] Valentin to fill an an unexpired term ending March 31, 2028.

[2:19:13] Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, appoint Louis Phillips to fill an

[2:19:18] unexpired term ending March 31, 2029. Planning and Zoning Commission reappoint

[2:19:24] Judy Morales, Jeremy Jerasic, and Caleb Blino to fill expiring terms ending

[2:19:30] September 30, 2029. And on the tax increment financing reinvestment zone

[2:19:35] number one board of directors, reappoint Rob Marshall, Tyler Johnson, Thomas

[2:19:39] Cloud, Lacy Wagner, Lester Fedic, John Keela, and Gary Schmidt to fill expired

[2:19:45] terms ending September 30, 2028.

[2:19:51] I'll entertain a motion on filling our board and commission seats.

[2:19:55] » Move to approve filling our board and commission seats as the mayor read.

[2:19:59] » Did you memorize all those? >> You got to repeat it. You got to repeat

[2:20:03] it for me. >> That's right. We have a motion by

[2:20:06] council member Pilington. >> Second.

[2:20:08] » Have a second by council member Grant. Council, please cast your vote.

[2:20:15] Item eight passes. Five votes to zero. Item nine is um the Temple Economic

[2:20:22] Development Corporation Board of Directors. We're going to reappoint Tony

[2:20:25] Hail and Perry Cloud to fill expired terms ending September 30, 2029.

[2:20:30] Council, um if there's no discussion, I'll obtain a motion.

[2:20:34] » Approve item N. >> Second.

[2:20:39] Have a motion by Council Member Grant. We have a second by Council Member

[2:20:42] Emmens.

[2:20:47] Item nine passes five votes to zero. I personally on um I want to thank

[2:20:51] everybody that uh volunteers with the city both um on the various boards and

[2:20:56] TEEDC. We appreciate your time. We appreciate your involvement and we

[2:21:00] appreciate your guidance. And it is now 7:23.

[2:21:05] Thank you all for attending and this meeting is adjourned.

City of Temple - City Council Meeting | September 17, 2026

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