GRIMES COUNTY, Texas (KRHD) — More than 210 residents packed the Justice Center for Wednesday's Commissioners Court meeting to learn what comes next for the SpaceX Terafab project at Gibbons Creek.
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Residents began arriving as early as 7:30 a.m. to find seats and sign up to speak on the proposed reinvestment zone and tax abatement for the project. Many said they were frustrated by what they described as a lack of information from county officials.
Betty Moore, a local resident, said, "I'm not against growth. I'm against having something shoved down my throat without information."
Delaney Baysinger, a local resident, said, "I think the reality here is that we just have not had the transparency that we need provided to be making these kinds of big decisions."
Ben Schultz, a local resident, said, "The information that anybody knows is just from Facebook comments at this point. The communication from the county has been minimal, and I assume that that information is coming at some point, but I think that it probably would have been best if it had come out before this meeting."
The court voted 4-1 to approve the SpaceX reinvestment zone and 4-1 to approve the tax abatement. Not all residents opposed the tax break.
Lee Dillonbeck, a local resident, said, "Things are going to change. I understand that. But there needs to be controls and measures and something to keep it under reasonable limits."
Michele Gremillion, a local resident, said, "I was originally against tax abatements for anybody. I didn't care who it was for until I understood that the county, that's really the only thing the county has to leverage and make sure and control a private property initiative."
Neighbors said they would like a town hall with SpaceX and elected leaders to get answers to their questions.
Baysinger said, "How is my property going to be affected by this, not just environmentally, but economically? What are we facing here? We have no idea."
With county approval secured, SpaceX is expected to begin construction soon. I reached out to the company for a statement but have not heard back. This story will be updated when new information is available.
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