EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 El Paso City Council took another step toward addressing community concerns about Meta’s planned $10 billion data center in Northeast El Paso.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, City Council voted to move forward with an agreement that could spell out community benefits tied to the project.<\/p>\n
The action does not change the City’s existing Chapter 380 agreement with Meta, which the Council considered ending back on June 9, but ultimately kept, as El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson and other City Reps said ending it would’ve put taxpayers in hot water, legally and financially speaking. <\/p>\n
RELATED: El Paso city council votes to keep Meta data center incentive agreement<\/a><\/p>\n City Rep. Cynthia Boyar Trejo, who represents the area where the data center is under construction, said this new agreement is intended to bring residents and other groups into the process.<\/p>\n “This process is going to bring together residents, community organizations, utility providers, business leaders, labor representatives, environmental advocates and other stakeholders to help shape the framework of an agreement between the city and Meta,” Boyar-Trejo said.<\/p>\n City documents note that this new community benefits agreement could include safeguards tied to water and electric utility resources, ratepayer protections, environmental projects, local hiring commitments and workforce training. <\/p>\n The agenda item also called for additional roundtable discussions with Meta, city leaders, utilities and community representatives.<\/p>\n Ideas listed include water recycling or advanced purification projects, solar and battery storage, support for an advanced training center, and “El Paso First” hiring commitments for the 300 operational jobs connected to the data center.<\/p>\n Council added amendments that include discussion of a possible community investment fund, a formal request for Meta to hold eight public meetings across the city, and language stating the agreement should be structured as legally enforceable under Texas law.<\/p>\n