Brandon Herrera, a Republican congressional candidate for the Texas 23rd District, and Wes Virdell, representing District 53 in the Texas House of Representatives, face local participants in a town hall meeting May 13 at the Devine VFW to discuss the controversial Howard-Solstice power line project. (Photo by Anton Riecher)
By Anton Riecher Concern about land rights, health issues and cost of a proposed 370-mile power transmission line project to connect San Antonio to the Permian Basin in West Texas monopolized the discussion during a town hall meeting May 13 at the Devine Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. Brandon Herrera, a Republican congressional candidate for the Texas 23rd District, urged those tracking efforts to win regulatory approval for the 765-kilovolt Howard-Solstice transmission line project to contact not one, but all their elected representatives able to bring influence to bear. “Everyone should be hearing about this from you because they need to know that this is an issue that they should be advocating for as well,” Herrera said. “That might be enough to push them over the edge, that maybe they make a phone call and maybe that call has a little bit of influence to push things down the line.” Wes Virdell, representing District 53 in the Texas House of Representatives, and members of the Hill Country Preservation Coalition were also on hand. Only a few transmission…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
Citizens packed the town hall meeting to hear information and voice concerns about the proposed “El Camino” AI data center and possible annexation to City of Devine. (Photo by Anton Riecher)
By Kayleen Holder Editor In a packed house, the Devine City council, zoning commission, as well as two of our local county representatives took time to listen to the concerns, questions, and thoughts of local citizens in regards to impending and ongoing data center development in the Devine area and Medina County in general–and there were a lot. A total of about 60 people signed up to speak, most of them local city and county residents. “We are here to look at both the opportunity and the risk based on facts,” Mayor Butch Cook said before opening up the podium. The co-founder of Texas Energy Group, Ryan Nuckolls, gave a presentation on the facility’s projected plans. He discussed water use, and plans to produce half of the power the site will use by building a gas-powered power plant on site. So the 800 Megawatt site (which is the largest in Medina County), will rely half on the electric grid, and half on power produced by its own power plant using natural gas. The City has two major things to decide on: Will it annex? And will it offer tax abatements? Nuckolls declined to provide his contact information for additional questions, but stated the company wants to be part of the community and answer the community’s questions. He stated that there would be 8-9 buildings on the site including an electrical substation and a power plant. When asked if they owned the property or leased the property, he said his company has the “developer rights” and he was unsure who the actual customer coming into the site would be. “Who owns it? Who will run it? Who are we going to be dealing with for the rest of our lives?” local resident Heather Yanta asked. “A hyperscaler data center operator will eventually come in and own the property,” Nuckolls said, noting they had several reputable clients. TX Energy Group’s presentation stated that the entire facility is projected to use the 1.7 million gallons for the initial fill, though it will be staggered, and that won’t need to be replaced for approximately 15 years–except for a 2% evaporation rate which is an annual evaporation rate according to Nuckolls. The developer stated the closest building on the site will be about “5,000 feet away from the closest community in Devine”. The site is a half mile from Devine City limits on Hwy 132 near the intersection of I-35. Developers stated they would try to route traffic down I-35, and not through downtown Devine. TJ Richardson was one of many residents who spoke. “They are going to ask a lot of us, and so we need to ask a lot of them,” Richardson said. Former County Commissioner Jerry Beck suggested that the center use “effluent water (treated water) that’s spit out of the sewer plant”. There are in fact, some data centers that do use effluent water so this appears to be a viable option if council pursued it. Some speakers suggested that local leaders…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
The Lytle Pirates baseball squad took down Poth in a two game series sweep to secure the Area Championship and advance to the Regional semi-final round!
The 2026 Lytle Pirate baseball team: Weston Jackson, Chase Guevara, Damien Barco, Easton Burely, Easton Davila, Toby Davila, Piercen Moreno, Patrick Guillen, Travis Norton, Jayson Fuentes, Lee Mills, Juan Patlan, Maddox Moreno, Ethan Elizondo, Seth Pierce, Mason Hill, Devin Cordova.
The twins Margaret and Marjorie on the front porch of their house in the country with their mother, Annie Mullins Halliburton.
With a lifetime of shared memories, twin sisters Margaret Billebault and Marjorie Burris will celebrate their 90th birthday on May 21, 2026. The sisters were born in Waelder, Texas on May 21, 1936—Marjorie arriving first, followed just 15 minutes later by Margaret, much to their parents’ surprise. The youngest of six children, the twins were raised in the country outside of Devine on land gifted to their family by their great-aunt, Emma Dubose Taylor, a cattle baron. In exchange…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
Texas can continue to be a leader in innovation with “the right guardrails” in place
A report issued by the Edward’s Aquifer Alliance doesn’t water down the reality of the strain data centers have put on water, one of our most valuable resources. The group decided it was time “to dive into the exploding phenomenon of data centers and their impact on our water supplies,” said Executive Director Annalisa Peace in her opening remarks. After sifting through what she describes as an “avalanche of new information”, the report was issued this April. Authors describe the advancements of artificial intelligence as “both scary and wonderful” in various ways as real researched facts and figures leave little room for watering down the dire need for regulation, and fast. The authors also acknowledged that Texas can continue to be a leader in innovation with “the right guardrails” in place, and hope this research will help as officials in the Texas House and Senate “have both pledged to study data center issues in preparation for the 90th Legislative Session in 2027.” Some of the highlights of the report…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
UIL- Congratulations to Luke Brown, who placed 1st overall in Current Issues & Events and Maverick Beaty, who placed 6th in Copy Editing at the UIL Regional contest! Both students have qualified for the UIL State Meet. Luke, a sophomore at Devine High School, was also the Current Issues & Events District champion in 2025, his first year ever competing. This year, he not only takes district again, but he won the Sweepstakes at District, won first place individual at Regionals and placed third as a team. Luke loves politics and has big plans to be President one day! When asked about his UIL experience and major achievement, Luke had the following to say…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
The proposed data center site sits on a 525 acre ranch about a half-mile south of Devine’s city limits on Hwy 132 (just a little ways past Burnt Boot and San Francisco Perez Creeks). The sale of the property is out of local leader’s hands. However, some of the things the City of Devine has power to decide include: #1- Will Devine annex the property and provide water/sewer to the site?
#2-If annexed, will the city offer tax breaks/ incentives, and for what in return? #3- What ordinances or policies would Devine put in place for developments of this type? Photo by KK Calame
City of Devine to consider annex providing water/sewer, tax breaks in future
By Kayleen Holder Editor The proposed data center coming in just south of the City of Devine near I-35 will be an 800 MegaWatt, with half of that power generated by natural gas and half of the power coming from its own on-site power plant. (It’s a good thing as that’s enough electricity to power as many as 200,000 homes by comparison at any given moment). In an interview this Monday, we learned a few interesting things about this project, which is rather unique in a few ways. “There is a lot that we don’t know ourselves,” Mayor Cook said. “We have some of the same questions you do.” Developer representatives (who haven’t disclosed the company’s name) have stated “this is going to be the largest one, the largest private investment in South Texas”, not in size, but money-wise. Mayor Cook and City Administrator David Jordan emphasized that the city wants to get the information out to the public as soon as they can. They also acknowledge that the City has no say on deciding if a data center gets built here, or not. The land is in Medina County and it was sold to a data center company by a private individual. “It’s not in the city. They want to be annexed for the water and the sewer, and they asked if we have the capacity to provide it,” Jordan said. “They are asking for a 2 inch meter [compared to another large business which has an 8” meter].” “By the time the company came to us, they already knew they had a gas line running through the property and a transfer station on the property. They came to us to ask if we can provide water/sewer.” The City of Devine is allotted 911 acre-feet of water from the Edward’s Aquifer. Last year, the city of Devine used about 183 million gallons of water out of its 296 million gallons normally allotted by the Edward’s Aquifer during non-drought times. However, the City has been under Stage 4 pumping restrictions all summer…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
Findings from a financial audit of the Devine Volunteer Fire Department for fiscal year 2023-2024 were forwarded to Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown following its presentation to the Medina County Emergency Services District No. 2 board of commissioners during the board’s April 21 meeting.
By Anton Riecher Findings from a financial audit of the Devine Volunteer Fire Department for fiscal year 2023-2024 were forwarded to Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown following its presentation to the Medina County Emergency Services District No. 2 board of commissioners during the board’s April 21 meeting. Board president Todd Summers said the intent is to give the sheriff the most complete information available in the aftermath of substantial fraud uncovered in late 2024. “Let the DA tell us if they believe we need to go further or not,” Summers said. “Is this going to be enough to prosecute the case to the fullest?” In other business, the board voted unanimously to
…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
On a drive down FM 1343 between Devine and Castroville, a large plot of land sticks out with a tall commercial chain link fence amidst the green rolling hills. It is the site of the 9th data center in Medina County. Data centers now account for roughly 2,673 acres in our county that we know of.
However, there is a large amount of land, over 12,000 acres, which has been taken out of Ag/wildlife exemption and it is unknown what it will be used for. Photo by Angelica Arriza.
By Kayleen Holder Editor
Medina County has long been known for its rural landscape, farms and ranches. On a drive through the green rolling hills on FM 1343 between Devine and Castroville, a large plot of land sticks out. A tall commercial chain link fence has now replaced the old farm fencing on a long stretch of property. It’s one of the newest data center sites. Over 41,000 acres once used for agriculture, has now either been developed or awaits its fate. To be exact, the county has lost 41,111 acres of farm and ranch land since 2013.
With this decrease in ag land, about 23,300 acres of land is now considered “vacant”, a designation given to recently purchased properties for which the use has not yet been determined. About half of that (11,464 acres) will most likely be subdivisions, according to the county, and it is unknown what is to come of the other 12,134 acres or so of land whose owners have let go of the ag and wildlife on it. Land use classified as “Industrial” has seen a 999% boom in Medina County since 2013, now accounting for 7,023 acres across Medina County while “residential” has seen over 10,200 acres of homes and subdivisions added in the past 13 years. According to officials, some companies have kept large amounts of acreage in Ag or wildlife exemption for years until construction began. So land that has been purchased but not yet developed, may still be classified as agriculture currently.
LAND USE
2026 Residential acres- 50,409 acres total (including 11,464.62 acres coded as Vacant residential acres which will most likely be used for residential at some point) Agricultural acres – 746,379.29 Open Land– 12,134.94 (not qualified for open-space ag & wildlife) Commercial acres – 2,070.37 Industrial acres – 7,023.10 (approximately are attributed to 2,673.53 data centers so far, with the majority of other industrial being quarries and large manufacturing sites) *The above figures for 2026 show a more accurate picture of what development is in progress or projected, by breaking down and detailing the predicted use of newly vacant land that was lumped in the residential category due to state codes a couple years ago.
2025: Agricultural acres – 749,385.49 Residential acres – 73,410.38 (figures included some vacant lands per new state code) Commercial acres – 1,933.60 Industrial acres – 4,189.74
2024: Agricultural acres – 753,514.84 Residential acres – 69,467.36 (figures included some vacant lands per new state code) Commercial acres – 1,874.08 Industrial acres – 4,216.17
2013: Agricultural acres – 787,490.67 Residential acres – 40,140.79 Commercial acres – 1,577 Industrial acres – 639.51 Have a news tip? Submit your photos and stories to us on Facebook or to devinereporter@devinenews.com …LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $36 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!
By Kayleen Holder Editor The numbers are now 28,980 homes in Medina County, up from 18,791 homes in 2017. It’s an increase of just over 10,000 new homes in 10 years, with just under 1/3 of those new homes popping up in the past two years alone. The appraised value of Medina County properties has nearly tripled from $2.8 million to over $8.1 million in ten years as well (2017 to 2026).
Total appraised values in Medina County :
2017: $2,857,428,102 2018: $3,007,626,516 2019: $3,476,214,251 2020: $3,832,984,245 2021: $4,374,084,631 2022: $5,232,813,305 2023: $6,240,126,321 2024: $6,994,751,873 2025: $7,693,299,977 2026: $8,173,758,160 Preliminary will certify values in July
