HILLSBORO, Texas (KXXV) — Hill County Commissioners lifted the pause on data centers in our community, sparking frustration among some of our neighbors.
- “If they kept the moratorium in place, I would almost have a little bit of relief," said Victoria Cartagena.
- The next Hill County Commissioners meeting will take place Tuesday, June 9th at 8:30 a.m.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"I would hope that they would vote not to waive the moratorium," said local resident Victoria Cartagena.
Victoria Cartagena waited almost five hours, holding on to hope that the Hill County Commissioners would not waive the moratorium that was put in place on May 12th.
Cartagena talked to our 25 News reporter before the commissioners made their decision.
“If they kept the moratorium in place, I would almost have a little bit of relief, where I could feel like I can breathe and not be stressed out all the time," said Cartagena.
Cartagena said she used to live just outside of Hubbard and moved because of the wind turbines. But her new home is just five miles away from the Abbott Holding Data Center. She attended the meeting in hopes of hearing good news.
But Cartagena and many others left disappointed.
“In order to protect the citizens of Hill County going forward, for further liability, which there is a significant amount, I vote yes," said one commissioner.
As 25 News first reported last month, Hill County was recently sued for $100m by data center RCM Hill for placing a one-year moratorium on data centers. The data center that reached out to me directly stated:
"The lawsuit argues the moratorium is illegal under state law — and argues that officials who voted for it knew it before they cast their votes."
The president of one local fire department in Abbott spoke during the meeting, expressing her fears and concerns about the Abbott Holding Data Center being built.
“This data center is one mile and a quarter from the school; it’s a mile from the residents downtown; it’s a mile and a half from the I-35 corridor. That means we are shutting down I-35 for the fire," said Addilee Strickland, president of Abbott Volunteer Fire Department.
Strickland said with a staff of 20 volunteer firefighters in Abbott, safety is the biggest concern.
"We’ve had them this year. They happen all the time. Now, have they been contained? Yes, but these have also been in major cities where they have the capabilities to contain them," said Strickland.
"I think they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. I understand it’s not the decision I hoped or what a lot of people in the county hoped for, but we’ll just move on from here," said Cartagena.
