GRIMES COUNTY, Texas (KBTX) – Grimes County residents packed commissioners court Tuesday morning to voice concerns about a proposed SpaceX TerraFab facility near Gibbons Creek Reservoir, with 14 of 15 speakers expressing frustration over what they described as a lack of transparency in the process.
The meeting came one day before commissioners could grant a tax abatement to SpaceX for the facility. The company, which plans to go public, has said it could invest more than a hundred billion dollars in Grimes County.
Commissioners gathered Tuesday to discuss the project, with residents having another chance for public comment. The meeting had no other public agenda.
“We’ve been blindsided for too long. We need to know how this is going to impact our lives because I didn’t plan to leave this county. I plan to, in my time on this earth here, and I don’t really want to move. I don’t want to have to be forced to move,” Grimes County resident and rancher, Joseph Reznicek said.
Transparency concerns dominate public comment
Of the 15 speakers, 14 took issue with the prospect of granting a tax abatement to a company that could soon be worth more than a trillion dollars.
“How can you grant a tax abatement when we don’t even know the nature of the investment, nor do we know where it’s going to actually occur?” fellow Grimes County resident, Daniel Weaver said.
Reznicek questioned the ability to make an informed decision.
“You’re talking about a $50 billion to $119 billion project or more because now they’re talking about other avenues that could be incorporated into this facility. No, you can’t make an educated guess. You got to have information to base this on,” Reznicek said.
“I’m concerned that I feel like the Commissioners Court has failed to disclose. What is going to be going on at this TerraFab facility that’s going to be owned and controlled initially by SpaceX, I guess, and XAI?” Weaver said.
Reznicek said the timeline has been too rushed for proper review.
“It just doesn’t seem like there’s enough time to research to be able to do any of the due diligence. So This all leads to a lot of concerns, worry,” he said.
Only one speaker expressed complete support for the proposal.
“We are in a fight for our lives, for our grandchildren’s lives. If we do not allow somebody like Elon Musk to build this chip center and to win the war against China and AI, all of our children are going to be owned by China. I am completely in favor of Elon Musk building this data center, this chip center,” Nancy Perry said.
Reznicek said meaningful dialogue requires more information.
“You can’t have a good quality dialogue and sit down and map out the future of this county and its 35 plus thousand residents without answers and we don’t have answers,” he said.
Grimes County Judge Joe Fauth said action will be taken on the tax abatement at Wednesday’s meeting, which starts at 9 a.m. at the Grimes County Justice Center.
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