[0:00] to order. Determine there's a quorum present. We have Commissioner Sanchez,

[0:03] Commissioner Vasquez, Commissioner Fagan. We do have a quorum. Uh I'll

[0:08] approval of previous minutes. >> Make a motion to approve this.

[0:11] » A motion. Commissioner Vasquez. >> Second.

[0:13] » Second. Commissioner Sanchez. Uh all those in favor.

[0:18] » I. Anybody against? 30 votes. Uh we're going to swear in Mr. Franklin Harrow.

[0:25] Mr. Argo, >> if you want to stand up

[0:29] and I'll go through this with you. Please look at me.

[0:45] » Raise your right hand. I

[0:48] » I >> Franklin Hargo.

[0:50] » Franklin Harrow. Do solemnly swear or affirm

[0:52] » Do solemnly swear or affirm >> that I will faithfully execute the

[0:56] duties >> that I will faithfully execute the

[0:58] duties >> of the office of

[1:00] » the office of >> land use land use

[1:03] » and zone commissioner >> and zone commissioner

[1:05] » for county >> for county

[1:07] » state of Texas >> state of Texas

[1:10] » and that I have not >> and that I have not

[1:12] » directly >> directly

[1:14] » or indirectly paid >> or indirectly paid

[1:16] » offered >> offered

[1:18] » promised to pay contributed >> contributed

[1:21] » or promised to contribute >> or promised to contribute

[1:24] » any money >> any money

[1:26] » or thing of value >> or thing of value

[1:28] » promised any public office >> promised any public office

[1:32] » or employment >> or employment

[1:33] » as a reward >> as a reward

[1:35] » to secure my appointment >> to secure my appointment

[1:38] » or confirmation >> or confirmation

[1:40] » so help me God >> so help me God

[1:42] » congratulations thank Here we [snorts] go. [applause]

[1:53] That's a lot to swear to that you will sign right there.

[2:00] Nice bot. And we will get you copies of this as

[2:05] soon as the meeting is over.

[2:11] By the way, that's an I owe you for $50,000 that [laughter] you owe the

[2:15] county. >> They didn't read the bottom line.

[2:18] [laughter] >> I wasn't allowed to read.

[2:22] » Okay. [snorts]

[2:27] » Okay. Uh we're going to draw for spots uh on the

[2:35] on the board. We have term limits. So, we're going to drop for what right now

[2:39] and who's going to be here for 2 years, 4 years, whatever. You want to come on

[2:42] up.

[2:48] Everybody, the number that's in here is the precinct. How'd you do

[2:53] » here? 1 2 3. >> Okay. So, every commissioner, every

[2:56] member of the court uh appoints somebody uh a voting somebody, a voting person.

[3:04] So, she's going to draw from here. Depending on the number, uh, it'll it'll

[3:08] go back to that individual who's here today. And then we'll figure out the

[3:12] number. You good? There you go. The first one is for how many years?

[3:20] » Four. >> Okay.

[3:23] » What? >> What number? Number four.

[3:25] » Uhhuh. >> Who was appointed by number four?

[3:29] » Um, okay. We're doing we're doing the years.

[3:32] » The years. So, are we going by precinct 1 2 3 and four?

[3:35] » That's the way you want to do it. >> So, precinct one um appointed

[3:41] Franklin Heartrove Warriors.

[3:45] [laughter]

[3:50] » Precinct two appointed one year.

[3:55] » Okay. Congratulations. Precinct three appointed Michelle Ban

[4:04] two years. >> Okay. And last

[4:09] » um reasoning for appointed um commissioner of three years.

[4:16] » Okay. At work and in doing this when your years up the

[4:22] commissioner also has an opportunity to reappoint. Okay. So,

[4:28] all right. We [snorts] have some time. Uh, I don't

[4:33] want to get into the items until we get into the public hearing. So, if y'all

[4:38] don't mind, I'm going to recess right now because we've got about 10 minutes,

[4:40] 11 minutes. So, I'm going to go ahead and recess right now. And at uh 9:15,

[4:45] we'll open up the public hearing because I do not want to go into the items until

[4:49] we have the public hearing first. Uh, I don't want to have discussion on it

[4:52] until we hear from y'all. Okay. So, >> do we need to sign up for public comment

[4:57] or >> No.

[4:58] » No. Because it's a public hearing. >> All right. I'll entertain a motion to

[5:02] recess. >> Motion to recess. Judge.

[5:04] » Commissioner Vasquez. >> Second. Second. Commissioner Sanchez.

[5:07] All those in favor? >> I. Anybody against? Motion carries. 4 Z.

[5:11] If y'all will just give us about 11 minutes because our public hearing was

[5:14] scheduled for 9:15. So, I want to give people an opportunity to show up. Uh,

[5:18] there is some waters back here. If y'all want a water, it's probably going to be

[5:22] an awkward silence, but y'all can go ahead and visit, talk, whatever. Uh, for

[5:26] about 11 minutes. All right.

[5:37] [laughter]

[5:43] » All right.

[5:49] We do have a form from the previous uh session that we recessed at. I'm trying

[5:55] to kill time.

[5:58] All right, it's 9:15. We're going to open up a public hearing of Llama Land

[6:04] Use and Zone Commission. Uh the purpose of this hearing is to

[6:08] allow the public to comment either for or against zoning request to reszone the

[6:13] following addresses below from residential to commercial for the use of

[6:17] a battery storage facility. We have one that is at 645 Lasas. We have another

[6:24] 6,770 Lasas.

[6:28] Uh another one that is uh 5,900 5,982

[6:34] US highway 90 waist west at Lake Ridge and another one is 229 holdup pass.

[6:41] [clears throat] We can um save a little bit of time.

[6:47] If you want to speak on one or speak on all of them, you just come up and talk.

[6:50] Okay? So anybody that wants you're going to have to be real careful.

[6:54] » Okay? >> You were a quorum.

[6:55] » Okay? >> I would rather you didn't. Okay.

[6:58] » Yeah. Uh for the record, uh

[7:04] Commissioner Garcia, and I referred to him as commissioner. He's a county

[7:07] commissioner for precinct 3. Uh and he was fixing to to make a statement. As of

[7:15] right now, uh I am the county judge for county and we have another commissioner,

[7:19] Commissioner Vosquez, which is uh precinct 2. We are a quorum right now

[7:26] and we can be but we can't have a conversation amongst ourselves three of

[7:31] us and definitely cannot conduct any business. So that is the reason that

[7:36] I've asked Mr. Garcia not to not to speak. I do believe though that his

[7:40] comments would be that he's uh probably against all four sites to the three that

[7:46] would be reszoned but all four sites for battery storage facility. But I'd rather

[7:50] that we don't get in an issue with a quorum being here and we've actually

[7:56] made a decision. Uh which would be worse. Okay. So, anybody else? Sorry.

[8:02] » If [clears throat] anybody else would like to come speak, please uh stand up,

[8:06] state your name and um your comments. >> Good morning. Uh my name is John Grace.

[8:13] I live on um Holdup Pass and Lasus. So this this is uh going to affect uh

[8:19] myself and [clears throat] um my residents. I'm against all four of them

[8:23] basically. Um the uh first reason is because of the

[8:28] hazard that they um can produce if there's a fire. Um if one of these

[8:34] things decides to uh catch on fire, there's going to be toxic smoke in a

[8:38] residential area. the um there's going to be groundwater contamination when

[8:43] they try to put this fire out because um the runoff is going to have be full of

[8:48] uh heavy metals and things like that. it's going to get into the groundwater

[8:52] there where a lot of us we have wells in our um on our land and um the if we get

[9:00] heavy metals in our well then we're I mean we got to move you know there

[9:05] there's no uh there's uh going to be very difficult to to uh live on that

[9:10] property and the other thing about fires is that

[9:14] [clears throat] they're very hard to extinguish with these um battery storage

[9:17] units because they don't my understanding thing is they don't really

[9:20] need oxygen to burn. They somehow provide their own oxygen. So it is um a

[9:26] bear to put these put out these fires. And um also I just wanted to

[9:32] [clears throat] mention that since we are fighting this whole second bridge

[9:35] debacle, we are very or at least I am very hyper sensitive about any uh

[9:41] section of residentially zone property being changed to commercial because um

[9:49] like I say, we still don't we still don't know where this uh connector route

[9:52] to this bridge is going. If it's going down Loses or not, we don't know. So, um

[9:57] I'm just uh uh against uh all of them, even the one um that's going to be that

[10:04] they want to build on Highway 90 because it is uh currently a commercial zone,

[10:09] but is just too close to other residential areas for uh such a

[10:14] hazardous uh project. And that's it. >> Thank you, sir. Thank anybody else.

[10:23] And we got time, folks. So, >> hi guys.

[10:29] My name is Ramul Ranel. I own a residential property neighboring one of

[10:32] these uh uh properties on Lisa's Boulevard. I'm opposed to reszoning

[10:39] uh for the residential to from residential to commercial for battery

[10:43] storage. I person I purchased my property not too long ago like two three

[10:47] months ago. uh with thinking of more private privacy uh about acreage uh came

[10:53] from Buav Vista and uh the application they're asking

[10:58] for isn't asking for permission to improve like an existing uh an existing

[11:04] uh commercial lot already. Uh they're asking to change the residential to

[11:09] commercial. Right.

[11:16] So before approving this, I would like to

[11:20] the commission to explain at least uh what protection exists for adjacent

[11:24] homeowners. Um mine would be exactly like right next to it. Um what the

[11:29] property lines would look like, stuff like that. Maybe the plans uh uh uh for

[11:35] the fires uh any plans for fires uh for the water like uh he said as well. their

[11:42] emergency evacuation. Um, I have a 3-year-old and a one-year-old. Uh, I

[11:47] really don't want anything like that to happen, right? Or to leave my comfort of

[11:51] my home. Uh, I looked at the one behind the jail.

[11:57] Uh, it makes some noise. So, I the noise at least right at night. I do work

[12:03] midnight sometimes and uh during the day or something. It doesn't matter, right?

[12:08] uh just anything that would be making noise for people around residents,

[12:13] right? [clears throat] Um

[12:18] the effects it could have also on our property values. I don't know if

[12:21] anybody's done like a a study if it would or would it, but if it were to

[12:26] happen, uh uh the people that are actually trying to put this u in place,

[12:31] would they guarantee anything uh that it wouldn't? And if and if they can

[12:35] guarantee it, uh would they put that uh maybe let's say it drops a certain

[12:40] amount of money, would they be willing to give me that or they want me to take

[12:44] the burden for the financial loss as well? Um

[12:48] even after all the stuff that could happen, right? Cuz hopefully it doesn't

[12:52] happen. Um let's say they they do go through with it. Uh nobody's hoping for

[12:57] a fire hazard, but let's say it does, right? Um nobody's ever ready for it.

[13:02] And and if we are, I would like to know at least what what what plans we have.

[13:10] If the application maintains that this project would negatively affect

[13:14] neighboring property values, will the applicant provide adjacent homeowners

[13:18] with a property value gu guarantee like I said? And if not, uh like I said

[13:24] again, uh why would the residents have to bear the financial risk created by

[13:28] commercial reszoning that we did not request?

[13:32] » [snorts] >> and uh I'm against it. So that's it.

[13:36] » Thank you. >> Anybody else?

[13:42] » Morning. My name is Chris Vandicar. I live in Holdup Pass. Uh I'm against the

[13:48] zoning, not so much the battery thing. That's I'm just against zoning the

[13:52] residential area for commercial. I've been blessed with the opportunities over

[13:57] my life to travel around the world. been a lot of places where they don't have

[14:01] any laws. They're not any places you want to live. You know, we want to raise

[14:05] a family there. We want to live there. I've moved out there for peace and

[14:09] quiet. And we start just doing willy-nilly resilient stuff. Next thing

[14:13] you know, you got you got a Smith plant next to an elementary school. You got a

[14:18] dump next to a church. These are not the things why we have zoning laws. So, I I

[14:23] just there's plenty of places in this county for commercial operations. 30

[14:27] zone commercial. We don't need to be going into people's neighborhoods and

[14:31] going, "Oh, we're going to put [clears throat] this here, put this

[14:34] there." Not against development. People that own

[14:38] those property have a right to develop their property, but in the residential

[14:41] zoning area under those rules. So, I'm against that. Thank you.

[14:47] » Thank you. Come on up. You already started moving.

[14:53] [clears throat]

[14:58] Hello, my name is Orlando. I live on 6644 Lresas. Uh my property's uh also

[15:03] adjacent to one of these uh properties going in place. Uh and I'm here to

[15:07] oppose all four. Um uh a little bit about my background. You

[15:13] may or may not care. I'm an industrial engineer by trade. Uh work in everything

[15:17] from renewable energy, solar projects, wind to oil and gas. Uh, I could go into

[15:22] heavy details about the environmental aspects of this, but I'm not going to

[15:25] bore you with a bunch of, you know, uh, nerd talk about environmental. I think

[15:29] you guys, everybody kind of well aware of the environmental hazards, but I will

[15:34] talk to you about something you guys are probably even more familiar, which is

[15:37] business. You guys are all here obviously because you guys are I think

[15:40] it's fair to assume that you guys are all pretty good at business, right? Or

[15:44] very well knowledgeable. So, I'll put I'll take that approach, right? Um, so

[15:51] as uh my uh neighbor here put it, you know, it's going to there's no guarantee

[15:56] that that our uh nobody's going to guarantee us our property values, right?

[16:02] So I want everybody to just [snorts]

[16:07] think critically, right? The average home price in Las Vistas is is about

[16:12] $380,000 on the very very cheap side to well over half a million dollars. Right.

[16:19] Every year I have to go to the uh uh >> appraisal

[16:24] » appraisal district because they keep raising my values, my property values,

[16:28] right? Uh, I've actually had a commissioner, not one of you guys, but

[16:32] one of the previous ones tell me at one of those uh appraisal hearings that, you

[16:36] know, because obviously I contested it. They're like, "Hey, if you can't afford

[16:39] to live here, then you need to move out, right?" So, one one of you guys, not you

[16:44] specifically, not one of you five, but somebody passed that was in one of

[16:48] those. [snorts] Um, so you can't have it both

[16:52] ways. You can't tell me that. You can't keep raising my values every year and

[16:56] then not back me up when my values could potentially go down. Now, why do I bring

[17:01] up the the home price? Like I said, Lakeage is probably the priciest

[17:05] neighborhood in Valbury County or Del Rio, right? You guys love talking the

[17:10] out of us. Pardon my French. >> Um,

[17:14] we appreciate what you pay. >> Yeah, I'm sure you do. I'm [laughter]

[17:17] sure you do. Everybody Everybody gets a lot of stuff fixed.

[17:22] But uh the point I'm trying to make is uh when you have a half a million dollar

[17:26] home as I do, right? And I'm not trying to freaking brag. I work my ass off to

[17:31] get to that point, right? I come from nothing. Uh you might know my family,

[17:34] judge. My my mother lived right across from your father on Galberry Park State,

[17:38] right? I come from very humble beginnings. I worked my ass off to get

[17:42] to where I am. >> [snorts]

[17:44] » Um, and where I'm going with this is if you let this happen,

[17:51] when I try to sell my house at some point in the future, cuz let's be

[17:54] honest, most of our kids are not going to stay and live here. Our kids are

[17:57] going to go on to college. They're going to move out. We're going to die. Our

[18:00] house is there is like generational wealth, especially for those of us that

[18:03] come from households that didn't have a lot of income, right? So, that's how you

[18:06] build generational wealth. Whenever we try to sell that and you have a half a

[18:10] million dollar home at that point by that's time they try to sell it will be

[18:13] worth more potentially and you have people in the market looking for a half

[18:17] a million million dollar home and they have choices right you as you as a

[18:22] business people you have a choice. You're going to spend half a million

[18:24] dollars on a house. Are you going to pick a house next to a monstrosity of of

[18:29] battery storage or are you going to pick somewhere that's nice you don't have to

[18:33] worry about the environmental hazards and you don't have to worry about, you

[18:37] know, the eyesore that's going to be next to you? Where would you choose to

[18:41] spend your hardearned money? Definitely not my house, right? So, this is allowed

[18:47] to happen. Our houses that are in that vicinity will never sell. Not

[18:51] residential, right? That's pretty fair. Um, you could try to bank on the

[18:58] commercial aspect. You don't know if somebody else is going to offer you know

[19:01] commercial business going to offer you. Are they going to want to pay a million

[19:03] dollar half a million million dollars for a property that they're just going

[19:05] to demolish to build a business? Chances are no, right? That's I just ask

[19:11] everybody to think critically. Now, if furthermore, if you allow this to

[19:15] happen, you set a precedent. This meeting is kind of uh like it's

[19:21] kind of messed up for me because I have friends and family here that also live

[19:24] on Lake Bridge. Some of them who are for

[19:28] it, right? Because they want to build businesses, right? And I I feel for

[19:33] them. I honestly do. My heart goes out to them because I think everybody

[19:37] everybody in this world is their goal is to better yourselves, right? And better

[19:43] your family. However, I can't I have to do what's best for me

[19:47] and my family. And although I feel for them, their interest is not in my best

[19:51] interest. Right? I think there's also has to be accountability. Each and every

[19:56] one of us when we purchase a land out of Lakeidge, we got a a list of the deed

[20:00] restrictions. In our deed restrictions, it says you cannot commercialize. You

[20:04] cannot subdivide your property. So, what is the point of a deed restriction?

[20:08] buying property in a deep restricted area. Basically, it's like the poor

[20:12] man's HOA where those are not going to be

[20:16] enforced, right? So, are we going to set here

[20:21] where we're not going to enforce these restrictions and then everybody can do

[20:23] whatever the hell they want? So, if I want to put a junkyard, I can do it,

[20:27] right? If I want to do it, I love You know what? I'm a gun enthusiast. I have

[20:30] probably more guns than most people in this room. Hey, I don't mean that in a

[20:35] in a threatening way. I just mean like it's my hobby, right? I love, you know,

[20:39] I'm a poor Marine. Uh, it's a hobby. I love shooting guns. I'd love to be able

[20:44] to just go in my backyard and shoot my gun. I would love that, right? But

[20:49] there's restrictions against that, right? I have to be a law-abiding

[20:52] assistant, a law-abiding neighbor. I don't want to put anybody at risk,

[20:56] right? I'd love to just go out my backyard and shoot deer and and and

[21:00] [clears throat] flink stuff all day long. That's not

[21:03] possible, right? Cuz I have to follow the rules. So should everybody else.

[21:08] Everybody got a copy of the fee restrictions. You should you should hold

[21:11] yourself accountable for not reading those and you weren't informed or you

[21:14] didn't think you could make a business, right? And if now you want to change it,

[21:18] then hey, that's that's not what this neighborhood's about. We want to keep it

[21:23] uh familyfriendly, we want to keep it quiet,

[21:26] the reason a lot of us left there is we wanted to escape the city, right? We

[21:30] wanted peace and quiet. We wanted a little bit more of nature. So now you're

[21:35] going to put all these you know, monstrosity business out there and not

[21:39] to mention the fact that like my neighbors already brought up. Uh there's

[21:44] always that scare about the the whether the bridge is going to happen, right? On

[21:48] a personal level, I think the bridge is good. I mean, that's another another

[21:52] subject. I'm not against the bridge project. I just don't want it going

[21:55] through my neighborhood, right? I think it's it's good economically, but none of

[21:59] us want money going through our neighborhood, right?

[22:03] Uh, [snorts] so anyways, uh, I could go on and on and

[22:10] tell you so many more things, like I said, but I'm not going to sit here and

[22:13] and bore y'all. I think it's pretty pretty obvious that most of us are

[22:17] against it. And and my heart goes out to you guys that want to build businesses

[22:20] out there, but you should hold you should hold yourself accountable for any

[22:23] of the restrictions, right? And if and if I lose friends and family along the

[22:27] way, then so be it. the I have to do what's in the best interest of my kids,

[22:32] my family, just like they're trying to do what's in the best interest of

[22:34] theirs. That's that's all I got to say. >> So, you're against it?

[22:37] » I am definitely against it. >> Anybody else?

[22:48] » I want to make a comment. I sure hope that this does not divide people or

[22:51] families to where I mean, it's all it's just opinions.

[22:55] » Yeah, just opinions. All right. Good morning, all one and all. Thank you.

[22:58] uh LVES I live on Pike Road which is not too far away from one of these

[23:02] locations. I am categorically against all four projects. Uh main reason of

[23:09] course has been brought up safety and everything else. At this point

[23:12] [clears throat] I know the capabilities of the county fire department and the

[23:15] city fire department. They are not capable of handling any kind of fire at

[23:19] any location. I'll give you an example right now. 2024 May Ot Mesa California.

[23:27] A smaller one and I believe this one over here is set for 400 megawatts. A

[23:31] smaller 250 megawatt fire in O Mesa, California battery storage facility

[23:37] consumed an estimated 8 million gallons of water and took 16 days to completely

[23:42] burn out. The county and city do not have the resources and manpower to fight

[23:48] that kind of fire at all. Even with help from Kenny County or the base, it's not

[23:54] going to happen. If the county thinks that they have 8 million gallons of

[23:58] water as an estimate to spare, please show me the plans on how something can

[24:02] be fought as far as a disaster. There's nothing here that the county can do

[24:08] should something go up in flames. These are man-made objects. Man-made objects

[24:12] will fail, okay? They are not perfect. Now, we're not hoping for a fire, but

[24:18] should something really bad happen, disastrous fire, that's it. County fire

[24:23] resources will be stretched to the limit. And also, your other fires that

[24:27] may happen, other emergencies that could happen, they'll be put on hold. It took

[24:32] 16 days for fire crews to put out or wait for this one to burn out or burn

[24:36] out completely in Mesa, California. The county or city don't doesn't have those

[24:41] kind of resources. So, I am against all four projects. Thank you.

[24:46] Thank you. Anybody else?

[24:52] [clears throat]

[24:57] » Uh good morning. My name is Abraham Kadinas. I also live at Lakeidge. Uh I'm

[25:02] against the the reszoning of these properties to be commercialized. Uh

[25:06] mainly because of that reason. It's it's a residential area. Um and we've all

[25:10] agreed before we purchased these properties that we weren't going to

[25:13] commercialize them. for residential use. So, that's that's uh pretty much where I

[25:18] draw the line. Uh as far as the safety aspects, those are all important as

[25:22] well. I'm not against uh battery storagees, just not in my neighborhood.

[25:26] Uh and Mr. Grace said, they are dangerous fires. Uh they fall under

[25:30] class D. I was in the Navy and we we [clears throat] uh trained heavily on

[25:34] firefighting because a fire on board a ship is very very dangerous. And uh

[25:39] assuming I haven't seen what type of batteries these are. I'm assuming

[25:42] lithiums. uh it's going to fall under a class D fire and you can't put those out

[25:46] with water. That's why the gentleman was talking about the millions of gallons of

[25:48] water. It's because you can't put them out with water. It's they they they just

[25:53] continues to burn. Some of them produce their own oxygen. So on the ship, we had

[25:57] to jettison this stuff over over the side of the boat and put it into the

[26:01] ocean. That's the only way you get rid of it. It's going to continue to burn

[26:04] underwater and do its thing. So it it is a danger. Um they mentioned about the

[26:09] hazards of the se uh leakage into the the groundwater. That's also a danger as

[26:15] well. And I'm also opposed to the whole it feels like the whole area is starting

[26:19] to wanting to go industrialized from the bridge that they want to add uh could

[26:25] potentially put a commercial lane right through our neighborhood. Now these

[26:28] storage facilities I have to deal with the uh Camp Alpha flood lights uh

[26:33] shining into my backyard. That's a whole other thing. But it it just doesn't feel

[26:37] like it it did when I first moved out there where we wanted the the peace and

[26:42] quiet. Um enjoy our neighbors. You know, I love my neighbors and um to see it

[26:47] starting to slowly industrialize. I'd like to put a stop to that. So, I'm

[26:51] against uh the reform. >> Thank you.

[26:55] » It seems like everybody in here is against it. I mean, every one for

[27:02] » Good morning. >> Morning. I got out of work so I can come

[27:06] talk to you guys and I am against this whole battery deal thing. My name is

[27:13] Berta Huarees. I live on Las Brisas. It is myself, my husband and my dad. And we

[27:19] are totally against all of this. The noise it would make, the property value,

[27:24] what everybody else has said here. This is my retirement home.

[27:30] This is my husband's retirement home. This is my dad's retirement home. We

[27:35] don't want the noise. We want nature to be nature. We still see the blooms of

[27:41] the [snorts] senos out there. It's just so beautiful. It's quiet. Michelle,

[27:46] you're not too far from there. You're not too far from there. I don't know

[27:49] where everybody else lives, but we're not far from there. I mean, we're right

[27:53] on Las Vegas. So, we are totally against this, and I hope and pray that this

[27:59] doesn't go through. Thank you. Thank you.

[28:06] How you doing? My name is Marcela. I live right there on uh on Las Visas and

[28:12] uh um where is it?

[28:16] » Lena. >> Lena Weed right there in the corner. I

[28:18] already sold you guys a piece of my property so you can guys can build that

[28:23] loop. And I'm moved out there so I can be in peace and quiet. And now I got all

[28:28] this stuff going on. Nama against those batteries going on there.

[28:34] » Uh, you've moved twice. Are you gonna get up? [laughter]

[28:39] » Yeah.

[28:44] » I just wanted to make sure everybody else got chickens. Uh, thank you for

[28:47] giving us the opportunity to come out here and talk. We appreciate it. Um, I'm

[28:51] just here to find out more information and see what's going on uh with it

[28:55] because I live in the neighborhood out there. How did y'all decide on those

[28:59] plots of land and what? >> We don't decide. Uh there's individuals

[29:04] that came to us. That's where they wanted to put them and that's how we're

[29:07] here. >> So, is it like a corporation that came

[29:09] and said they want >> to do it? There was a

[29:13] » What's the name of the group? >> It's a business that is trying to um put

[29:18] those battery charges on your properties.

[29:20] » A lot of these also, it isn't [clears throat] the company that will

[29:24] come out and say, "I'm the company. I'm going to put them out." Mhm.

[29:27] » Most of the time you'll have a group, but that's what they do. They go out and

[29:29] look for batteries for places to put them. Then they try to secure the site

[29:33] in order to be able to sell the site to uh to the company.

[29:37] » Gotcha. >> Okay. It's like the data centers. Most

[29:39] time the data center won't come in. It'll be a [clears throat] group come in

[29:42] and that's what they do. They try to develop an area and say, "I've already

[29:46] I've already got the permits. I've already got this. I've already got that.

[29:49] Here's a package. Do you want to buy?" >> Sure.

[29:51] » Okay. Okay. I'm not saying that that's what happens here, but I would assume

[29:54] that with all four of them coming in, they're hope hope hoping one of them

[29:58] will hit. >> Gotcha. So, this isn't y'all as the

[30:01] county saying we want to [clears throat] go and put this battery storage.

[30:04] » No, I don't. We wouldn't bring it up. >> Okay.

[30:07] » I will give you a little bit of history. The battery storage facility that is out

[30:10] at uh on Old Hamilton behind the jail, >> they came and asked for incentives and

[30:15] indictments. County said no. We had no zoning authority over there and could

[30:19] not tell them. uh not filled. >> Gotcha.

[30:23] » Uh but they didn't build within with any incentives from the county or any

[30:27] absence. As a matter of fact, we were against it couldn't stop it.

[30:32] » Gotcha. The concerns that that all of y'all had uh every one of the concerns

[30:38] that y'all spoke about, Commissioner's Court, uh when that other battery

[30:43] facility came had all the concerns. We don't have uh

[30:49] we don't have uh the capability to put it out if it goes boom. Okay. Uh just

[30:56] don't uh they you know their assurance was that uh it's not going to go boom or

[31:02] hell [laughter] you know and and and and then when we looked at it right we were

[31:08] right next to a prison. >> Mhm.

[31:11] » Uh I've got 1,400 people there. What am I going to do with them? 1,400 people

[31:17] basically just throwing throw away. >> Yeah.

[31:19] » Right. And now with these, we've got people uh just as close.

[31:28] » Yeah. >> Not uh not as many people in such a

[31:31] confined environment, but again, what are y'all going to go do? So, uh what

[31:37] the way this works is we have people that come in, want to put something

[31:41] there, change the zoning, we have to bring it here. the Thomas zoning because

[31:45] that is one of the few places. [clears throat] Well, we have some

[31:49] authority around the base, but this is probably the place the only place that

[31:55] the county actually has zoning authorities around around the lake. So,

[31:59] if you want to change it, needs to come to come to this uh group here. This

[32:04] group here will make a recommendation yes or no. And then it'll be put uh Did

[32:09] y'all put it in the month? >> It's going well today. So it'll be put

[32:14] whatever recommendation from this uh board whatever that recommendation is

[32:19] these agenda items will be put on September 9th next Wednesday for the

[32:23] commissioner's court to vote. Okay. [clears throat]

[32:25] I don't know how the rest of commissioner is going to vote but I will

[32:29] tell you that the last one that came uh we didn't have the authority to stop it.

[32:34] These right here the court has the authority to stop it because it's within

[32:38] our stock zone. stop it or or or let it continue

[32:42] » based on what the constituents the feedback

[32:45] » it be the feedback and the opinion of the commissioners and the members of the

[32:48] court. >> I I I don't want to to say something

[32:51] that I'm shutting that I'm I'm talking for the other members of the court.

[32:55] » Sure. >> Okay.

[32:56] » Uh but I will tell you that in the past there was no insinus no abatements and

[33:00] if we could have uh stopped it that court would not have allowed it the one

[33:05] that came in uh behind the jail. Okay. >> Uh that is a strong u [clears throat]

[33:13] strong message. Uh but again uh it this board will make recommendations

[33:21] for or against today. >> Mhm.

[33:23] » It'll go September 9th next Wednesday to commissioner's court. The items will be

[33:27] on commissioner's court and then the court will vote uh for or against. Okay.

[33:33] » Okay. But uh I don't think we've ever had uh the court go against what this

[33:40] board has said. >> Okay.

[33:42] » Okay. >> What you guys say?

[33:44] » Don't I will say uh y'all showed up today. I think some of

[33:49] y'all need to show up on the 9th. >> Okay.

[33:52] » Same place here. >> What time?

[33:56] » All right. >> Do you know what time it is on the

[33:57] night? >> We It'll be at 9:00. And if we have as

[34:00] many people as we have here, his agenda items are later on in the in the agenda.

[34:05] Carlos, uh his agenda items are later on in

[34:09] commissioner's court. But if we have this many people show up for an item,

[34:12] then we'll go through the pledge of allegiance. Uh go through about three or

[34:16] four items that we needed just to just to get started and then we'll move this

[34:19] item up front. Uh if we have people show up, if there's not a whole lot of

[34:23] people, then we'll go through our regular agenda items and when we get to

[34:25] the item, we'll get to it. Uh, but if we have people show up that are concerned,

[34:30] we will push it up front >> and get it over with.

[34:33] » Great. >> Thank you very much. And thank you.

[34:36] » For the record, I'm against it.

[34:40] » Uh, are y'all okay if we go to the item? >> She was about It was a young lady about

[34:46] to get up. >> Okay.

[34:50] » Hello. My name is Joselyn Morales Vardosio. Uh, I do represent the company

[34:56] that has put these items on the agenda. Our name is MU Group. I do apologize if

[35:04] this is the first time that we're meeting, but thank you so much for

[35:07] coming today. I do hear you and hear your concerns. Um,

[35:14] just a basic overview, I suppose. Uh, I am for the zoning of the four

[35:19] properties. I do see that there's [clears throat] an overwhelming amount

[35:23] of people against it. Um, and I do believe, um,

[35:30] we do like being transparent. So, I'm sorry if maybe you didn't have all the

[35:34] information on hand since this is more of the pre-permitting steps where we

[35:40] don't actually supply the entire permitting package, but if you do want

[35:44] more information, we'd be happy to supply it and everything.

[35:48] The project that we were looking to do at the four locations are one megawatt

[35:52] each. So that is one of the smaller projects that you'll come across with

[35:57] battery energy storage. They are unmanned. So far we do have a clean

[36:02] safety record which I know with the news it might not be the most

[36:07] uh forthcoming with all the other things going on with the country and other bus

[36:12] systems. This does look like a typical shipping

[36:16] container. So, it's only 40 ft by 10 ft. Um, I do hear that people were concerned

[36:22] about the noise and the fire as well. We do work closely with different fire

[36:26] departments, fire marshals, volunteer fire departments as well. We do have an

[36:32] emergency operations plan that was approved in February by the PUCT. So, we

[36:38] do renew that every single year with them. We do have double containment

[36:43] within the system. So, there aren't any leaks as such. people were mentioning

[36:47] where it would cause any type of toxicity or contamination to water or to

[36:52] soil in the surrounding areas. We do also have a fire suppression system with

[36:58] aerosol. And then there are several triggers within the system itself that

[37:02] would stop anything before it were to happen. For example, there's smoke, gas,

[37:08] heat detectors, and everything. And it is monitored remotely by a Texas company

[37:14] 24/7 365. >> Where are they at?

[37:18] » The where they at? You're saying they're it's being uh monitored, but where are

[37:22] they at? >> Uh it would be within Texas. Um they're

[37:25] usually had >> 5 miles 10 miles 100 miles.

[37:28] » It's usually in Dallas or Houston. And if there were something to happen where

[37:33] someone needs to come in person, someone would be sent within a day or two just

[37:37] depending on who's the closest Awesome. >> A day or two.

[37:41] » A day or two. >> Yes. But if anything serious were to

[37:45] happen, they do shut off the system before they would deploy someone.

[37:52] » Yes. And I do understand, you know, you have to listen to your constituents.

[37:58] Whatever your recommendation or your decision is, we do understand it. We

[38:02] respect it. Um, I do want to thank you for your time. I know it maybe was a lot

[38:08] to come with four projects. We do have a prospection team that looks at

[38:14] proposed sites that would be a good selection for doing it. They

[38:18] unfortunately don't always look at the permitting aspect of things. Um, so

[38:22] that's where I come in to do more of the footwork and see what can be done or

[38:27] what the whole permitting process is. So if you do find any information that you

[38:32] would want to learn more about um I do have for you to contact me

[38:40] um and I can share other documentation with you guys [clears throat]

[38:45] um in case you'd like to learn more and it

[38:49] is unfortunately a lot of material like paperwork to read through um

[38:57] and additionally I know it takes time. I know you mentioned September 9th for the

[39:02] commissioner's court. >> So from here to then whatever the

[39:06] » I have a question if you don't mind. >> Can we ask questions as well?

[39:09] » Of course. >> And you go first.

[39:11] » You can go first. >> Uh why don't we build these things out

[39:15] further away from everybody? >> Well,

[39:18] » and when we asked the company uh when they came and built this one right next

[39:22] to prison or jail, >> I mean, basically all you need is power

[39:27] line, right? you're hooking in uh to a power line and and I'll give you my

[39:33] opinion and they might not like it, but if you were to build it somewhere away

[39:36] from everything, pick a power line out there in the middle of nowhere, if it

[39:39] goes boom and catches everything on the fire, all I got to worry about is grass

[39:42] and then I can I can wait for the for the facility to burn out. I just put the

[39:47] grass out around it. Uh it really concerns me and and I'm not a voting

[39:52] member here, but I will be on Wednesday. Uh it really concerns me where where

[39:58] where everybody's picking to put them. Okay. Uh this the data center,

[40:03] everything else, you just I don't understand why, right? If you if

[40:08] you were to put them out in the middle of nowhere because they're not going to

[40:11] be manned. You don't need anything. Uh they're just throwing power.

[40:16] » Why would you put them in the middle of of a community? And again, I'm not

[40:20] throwing rocks. I'm just trying to get it under that you you showed up. So, I'm

[40:25] trying to understand [laughter] uh again, all you need is is the big

[40:30] power lines, right? Uh in order to hook up to But but we're not doing that.

[40:37] We're got a room full of people. And I guarantee you that if I was if I lived

[40:42] out there, uh I'd have been one of the first ones to talk uh and probably he

[40:48] used some words that I use and I'd have used some other ones. Uh but but it's

[40:53] really difficult. Uh you know I think we all come from the same background that

[40:58] we all work for what we have and again not throwing rocks but

[41:03] why would you pick a spot like this? Why wouldn't we pick something out to where

[41:07] when you bring it for one I wouldn't have zoning authority if it does go if

[41:10] it does catch fire there's nothing around it. I can tell you that that we

[41:14] visited with people from the base. We we visited with the city uh uh our our

[41:20] county fire department when this thing came in.

[41:23] » What are we going to do, you know, if something happens? And again, I mean,

[41:27] you're what you're doing and and the areas, you know, you're going to set it

[41:31] down, you're going to do this, you can do that, but we're going to plan for the

[41:33] worst case scenario. We don't have the capability uh and and

[41:38] we'd be out there just trying to keep the smoke down and and and keep

[41:43] everything else from from burning. Uh but we had a we had a u

[41:51] train the other day that that hit and and it wasn't leaking, but if it had

[41:57] just begun to leak, then you you put the thing in the computer and it tells you

[42:02] you you put in the wind and everything. I had to evacuate

[42:06] » Mhm. >> a big part of town, right? And in a

[42:09] hurry. And that's my concern. And again, I'm not I'm glad you showed up because

[42:15] it takes a lot to show up to something like this and I appreciate it, but it is

[42:20] a concern for me. Again, we just went through this thing with the train,

[42:24] » did not leak, went out there, saw it, looked at it, they unloaded it and

[42:29] everything, but if it had been dripping, it had caused a nightmare for us and for

[42:34] all the citizens in that area. depending which way the wind was blowing then you

[42:38] know and we all have our little orange books and our little yellow books that

[42:42] tells us what type of hazard is this is what you're supposed to do put put it in

[42:45] the system then we're supposed to evacuate I'd rather not be put in that

[42:49] position okay sir >> so just say that everybody in here was

[42:54] for these projects who does it benefit how are these benefiting our community

[43:01] how do your how does your company who secures these sites what is the end goal

[43:05] of these storage facilities. Is it getting put back into our grid or is it

[43:10] being bought cheap and then wholesaliled later?

[43:14] » So, I'll combine kind of what both of you were saying. Um, it really depends

[43:19] based on the company. Our company specifically, we only work with the

[43:24] landowner and the local electrical company. So, we don't work with other

[43:29] solar wind data centers and stuff. And we're not an asset flipper either. So if

[43:34] we have that project, it will always be owned by us. And one of the reasons a

[43:40] lot of people are very close to kind of the towns and everything, depending on

[43:44] how many megawatts you have, you have to be a certain range within the local

[43:49] substation or transmission lines that you're connecting to. So we connect to

[43:54] the distribution lines, which are the normal lines that you see on the road

[43:57] that are smaller than the transmission ones. Um, so for us, the limit that we

[44:03] look at is 5 miles from the substation. For larger projects, it may be further

[44:08] away or closer depending on what they need. Um, so one of our main goals is to

[44:15] of course support the landowner cuz we would be paying them a yearly amount for

[44:20] leasing that property. We're not really looking to own property just because

[44:25] that's an added expense and we'd rather support someone local. And then also one

[44:31] of the reasons we do look at these types of projects is to release energy into

[44:36] the grid. So a lot of times the substations that we choose maybe have

[44:41] some upgrades that they need or some type of deficit of performance or they

[44:46] have energy left over that you know you could connect into. So, for example,

[44:51] when we do a contract with the electrical company, they'll usually come

[44:55] back with a list and it'll have all the upgrades that a substation needs because

[45:00] maybe it hasn't been, you know, given its halflife refit of electronics and

[45:07] all of that. So, we would pay for all of that. Technically, your substation would

[45:12] be at a better performance level. And then us being there would give the

[45:16] capacity to the substation to load and unload the energy as you were saying.

[45:22] And then it does go back to there is a profit in it of course. So when we have

[45:27] the energy it is stored in times of need. It gets released and it's sold

[45:34] onto the grid essentially but just with the electrical company that we work for.

[45:40] So, it does differ with different companies, especially if they have 10 or

[45:47] 100 [clears throat] batteries. This is a little more simpler because it's just

[45:51] one, so it's more straightforward. But I do understand, you know, your concerns

[45:55] with safety and everything as well.

[46:00] » So, have you already paid the land down? Uh we typically start with an agreement

[46:09] that's called a lease to option agreement. So we have paid them but we

[46:13] haven't started the rental portion of it. We start the rental portion when we

[46:17] actually start to make an improvement on the property. So for example, I didn't

[46:23] mention this before but it does take about 15 months from permitting to the

[46:28] actual like oh it's done kind of situation. And so we are still in the

[46:33] beginning stages. It's not happening tomorrow or anything. Um and then of

[46:38] course hearing all of you taking that into account. We do want to respect our

[46:43] neighbors especially because if we do jump into the rental agreement, we have

[46:49] an option to do 10, 20, 30 or 40 years. So of course we want to be connected

[46:56] with the community, discuss it. We don't want to make our neighbors upset, which

[47:00] I do see that there's a lot of opposition, of course. Um, but it's

[47:05] mostly just having a connection. We want to follow the rules. We, you know,

[47:10] aren't going to go against the will of the constituents or the county or the

[47:13] city. So, >> So, did you bring the date before

[47:17] commercial? Did you bother to bring that?

[47:19] » We were given information from the owner and the title company as well.

[47:25] Unfortunately, that falls into more of a prospection side. So, someone in our

[47:30] company should have read it. I am just curious if anything.

[47:36] » Uh, and how did you choose these particular locations?

[47:41] » Uh, some of the things that we look at are the electrical capacity. We do

[47:46] sometimes do the distance to housing which I think in the situation we didn't

[47:51] realize the deed that everyone has mentioned about residential and not

[47:56] doing the commercial. Uh we also look at water being away from like water

[48:01] pipelines, gas pipelines. Uh we don't connect to water or sewer. So just

[48:07] really looking for for that. >> So real quick, would you book one of

[48:11] these on your property? Can we put a comics in your backyard?

[48:16] » No. Okay, [laughter] let's let's wait. Okay. I I will tell

[48:20] y'all that I really do appreciate her coming because it takes a lot to get up

[48:24] here and she knew she was going to have questions. All right.

[48:27] » Uh if you don't mind, I have the commissioners have some questions. I

[48:30] have one that has a question. >> And then if y'all don't mind, we'll

[48:34] we'll get to the item as soon as she gets done. If y'all are okay with that,

[48:37] that way we can we can move on. Are y'all okay?

[48:41] » Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to be transparent for one thing and for all my

[48:45] neighbors. I said I'm an engineer, so I know a

[48:48] little bit. I'm not trying to like toot my own horn, but I also need you to be

[48:51] transparent with everybody. You're not putting power in the grid. You're you're

[48:55] storing excess power that's not being utilized at any given point. You're

[49:00] going to store it in times of demand. You're going to put it back in the grid

[49:03] to supplement and try to meet that demand. But I also need you to be

[49:08] transparent with people because some people might be thinking that, hey,

[49:12] well, this might be good because what if we have another winter storm like we did

[49:15] a few years ago? They can they can keep up with the demand when the power goes

[49:19] out. That's not how it happens. It's a battery storage. They're only good for a

[49:23] few hours. They're not going to give you power for days. They're there to

[49:27] supplement heat demands. That is it. So if you guys are thinking that their

[49:32] storage system is going to supplement when the brick goes out, you're

[49:36] mistaken. If if if the break goes down, we go on this battery and everybody is

[49:41] putting demand, that thing's not even going to last enough. Probably not even

[49:45] minutes. You cannot you cannot store enough power to power our neighborhood.

[49:52] » And the size that she gave you, >> it's so small.

[49:54] » Yes, we agree. If y'all don't mind, uh, I have the commissioner to have a couple

[49:59] more questions and then we'll go through. Are you good? Yes, sir.

[50:01] » I just wanted my name and >> I get it. But again, I will say that I

[50:05] appreciate all of y'all coming. It means a lot for y'all to come, but for her to

[50:10] come up here also, right? Uh, and I understand they're going to make money,

[50:15] but it's still to come up here and and face us takes a lot. Okay.

[50:20] » Well, the company [clears throat] needs to know how we feel. Of course,

[50:23] » she needs to take that message back to her company.

[50:26] » And I think during the [clears throat] during the hearing part, during the

[50:28] hearing, she understood that and whatever action we take here, she's

[50:32] going to understand how we feel. >> Yeah, cuz I was offered and I had so

[50:36] many questions. This was maybe a year or two ago. I was offered by a letter. I

[50:41] don't know how they got my address, but they like Las

[50:45] uh and I had so many questions and then they never bothered me again. and

[50:50] she will probably understand exactly how we feel.

[50:57] If we can get to the questions that that the members of the court have, we'll get

[51:01] to the items and then we can

[51:08] [clears throat] >> uh yeah, judge, for transparent reasons,

[51:12] I'd like to find out who who are the owners of the properties. Uh uh Mr.

[51:17] I can >> who owns the properties that

[51:19] » so so we have four different applications commissioner the 14645

[51:23] lasas it's under G url properties LLC 6770 las breezes underigo ranel and

[51:31] Maria 229 holder pass is under Samuel Frank Jr. and the one next to highway 90

[51:39] 5982 highway 90 is under Orlando Kario Jr.

[51:44] » Okay, you good? I'm good. >> Commissioners, any other comments?

[51:49] We good? Are you good? All right. If you'll wait a minute, you'll have our

[51:54] recommendation here. >> All right.

[51:56] » We're going to move on to item six for discussion, possible action to recommend

[52:00] approval or disapproval for the commissioner to the commissioner's court

[52:04] on zoning request to reszone 645 Las Boulevard, Lake Ridge Estate, phase 2,

[52:10] lot 27B to commercial for the use of the battery storage facility. Do I have a

[52:14] motion? Judge, I'll make a motion uh to deny uh recommendation to deny request

[52:20] uh uh for a commercial better. >> Motion, Commissioner Voski. Second,

[52:24] Commissioner Fagan. >> All in favor?

[52:28] » I motion carries. 40 Z item 7 for

[52:32] discussion, possible action to recommend approval or disapproval to the

[52:35] commissioner's court on zoning request to reszone 6770

[52:40] Las. >> I'll make a motion judge to deny request

[52:43] for item number seven. I second. >> You second it. Yes. I have a motion,

[52:48] Commissioner Vosquez, Commissioner Sanchez. All those in favor of denying

[52:52] I. And I I'm sorry I don't vote. [laughter]

[52:56] You're so used to it. Uh all those against. Motion carries to deny 4 Z.

[53:02] Item eight for discussion of possible action to recommend approval or

[53:06] disprove. >> Same motion, judge, to deny request for

[53:09] commercial. [snorts]

[53:12] » Everybody. Yeah. Uh, I have a motion, Commissioner Vosquez,

[53:17] and >> second.

[53:18] » I will let Franklin Mr. Hardro do it since

[53:22] y'all have already seconded the other ones. Uh, [clears throat]

[53:26] Mr. Hardro gave the second. All those in favor? I, anybody against? Motion

[53:32] carries 40, item nine for discussion, interaction to recommend approval or

[53:37] » recommendation to deny J item number nine.

[53:41] » And I'll second. >> Okay. and Miss Fagen the second. Um,

[53:47] all those in favor I >> I. Anybody against? Motion carries. 4 Z.

[53:52] Uh, commissioner's comments. I hear any none. I'll entertain a motion to

[53:58] adjourn. >> Motion.

[54:00] » Second. >> Second. M. Commissioner Sanchez.

[54:04] Um, all in favor? >> I. Anybody against? Motion carries. 4 Z.

[54:11] Thank y'all for coming, ma'am. Thank you also for coming. Uh we'll have another

[54:15] meeting on September 9th in the same building.

September 02, 2026 Amistad Land Use and Zone Meeting

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