By Anton Riecher
A public hearing on potential tax abatements regarding the $500 million Project Cinco data center proposal will be included on the agenda for the March 24 Lytle City Council meeting, City Administrator Zachary Meadows has announced.
The hearing will also address the development agreement for the project, “spelling out various matters including annexation of the property” by the city, Meadow said during a council session Monday.
Mayor Ruben Gonzalez said the public hearing is “an opportunity for an open ended conversation” about the project follows the March 3 opening house conducted by Rowan Digital Infrastructure, developer of the project.
In an email to The News this week, the data center developer clarified that while power line upgrades won’t be needed in Phase 1, they will be needed in future phases. They also clarified that the estimated water usage is “based on current designs” in an effort to be completely transparent.
To be located on a 440-acre site near the Coal Mine neighborhood, Project Cinco is described as a “hyperscaler” project – a large scale built-to-suit data center that will provide data storage and Cloud computing services to millions of users. Medina County commissioners have already approved an 80 percent property tax break covering the initial 10 years of the project.
The project, already included in Lytle’s extra territorial jurisdiction, is expected to be eventually be annexed into the city proper.
Gonzalez said that overall feedback from the open house event has been positive.
“I think it went very, very well,” he said. “I think people got some of their questions answered. But I’m going to be truthful in saying that some people were not happy.”
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