GRIMES COUNTY, Texas (KRHD) —
SpaceX Terafab representatives answer residents' questions at Grimes County Commissioners Court
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SpaceX Terafab representatives appeared before Grimes County Commissioners Court Wednesday, fielding questions from commissioners and residents who have spent months waiting for direct answers about the proposed facility near Roans Prairie.
The meeting drew a standing-room-only crowd at the Grimes County Justice Center. During a called recess, SpaceX representatives spoke one-on-one with residents in attendance.
Bobbie Jo Swafford said the meeting marked a turning point in communication between the company and the community.
"I think this is the first time that we've had any like real contact with them and got any real answers from them," Swafford said.
The biggest headline from Wednesday's meeting: the JETI agreements are done. Both local school districts, SpaceX, and the governor have officially signed the agreements, and they are now active.
For Phase 1 alone, SpaceX is committing to 3,000 permanent jobs at the Terafab facility.
SpaceX attorney Buck Brannon said the actual tax abatement agreement with Grimes County is approximately 78%, and SpaceX's payment to Grimes County will be set at $20 million per year for 35 years, for a total of $710 million.
SpaceX committed that Terafab will not raise electric bills for ratepayers, will not deplete local water resources, and will not dry up the Navasota River. The company will build its own natural gas-fired power plants to power the facility, meaning SpaceX will not draw from the ERCOT grid in a way that increases costs for other ratepayers.
The facility uses closed-loop systems that reuse and recycle water, and any waste generated will be handled in full compliance with the law and sent to certified facilities.
The water storage capacity of the Gibbons Creek Reservoir was a major reason for the selection of that site for the project.
Despite answers on several fronts, some residents left with lingering questions. Swafford said she is still uncertain about the full scope of what will be built on the property.
"How many facilities are we actually gonna have out there on that property? So, I, I think it's gonna turn into more like a campus, um, is what I'm picturing in my mind now," Swafford said.
Local resident Jude Stuckey raised questions about how the chips manufactured at the facility would be used.
"Are they going to sell those chips to other manufacturers to put in those appliances and technologies to use those, uh, chips, or are they going to keep them all to their selves just for their sole benefit for their products?" Stuckey said.
Robert Raley, who lives next to a proposed data center near Roans Prairie, said he still wants to know why SpaceX is trying to acquire property around that site outside of the reinvestment zone.
"I'm wanting to know why are they trying to buy the land around us and find out what's going on. I didn't get a clear answer to that today. I was given a, a vague answer of, well, we want to protect a resource that we think is good for us," Raley said.
While Raley said he appreciated the interaction, he believes the communication should have come sooner.
"The speed of everything has happened incredibly fast and the involvement for citizens to get in their opportunity to speak about it and find out about it has been very difficult," Raley said.
Raley said he does not oppose SpaceX's presence in the area outright.
"I personally don't have anything against SpaceX and them coming in and creating a building in a place where there it was already an industrial area," Raley said.
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