In the more than 60-page lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court,\u00a0RCM Hill, LLC argued the moratorium is illegal and unconstitutional and the county commissioners knew so before enacting it.<\/p>\n
The developer asked a judge to declare the moratorium void and block its enforcement, alleging liabilities and damages could total at least $100 million.<\/p>\n
RCM Hill spent nearly a year-and-a-half and $1 million to acquire contractual rights to buy more than 800 acres of land in Hill County at a price tag surpassing $80 million with the intention of developing a 1,235 megawatt data center, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
The company said the moratorium is “causing and will continue to cause immediate and irreparable harm” by either delaying or “sinking” its development known as Project Aquila.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The defendants include Hill County, County Judge Shane\u00a0Brassell, and County Commissioners Jim Holcomb and Larry Crumpton as defendants.<\/p>\n
Brassell, Holcomb and Crumpton voted 3-2 in favor of the moratorium on May 12, despite raising\u00a0questions before the vote of whether county governments have the legal authority to temporarily suspend projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was the first county-level moratorium of its kind in Texas and drew national attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not trying to break the law, I\u2019m not trying to thumb my nose at the governor or the Legislature, but my constituents, my people, are literally begging for help right now, and I have no other mechanism but this,\u201d County Judge Shane Brassell, a Republican who leads the commission and voted for the ban, told Politico<\/a>.<\/p>\n The commissioners and county attorney David Holmes were not immediately available for comment Friday morning as they were in a special-called meeting<\/a>. The meeting agenda included a closed session to “consult with attorney regarding pending or contemplated litigation.”<\/p>\n The developer is represented by Dallas-based attorney Tom Whelan and Waco-based Andy McSwain.\u00a0<\/p>\n