Killeen council presses staff on data-center impacts, grant options and transitional housing plans
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Summary
Council members urged proactive planning for data-center growth to avoid water and grid strain, discussed leveraging state/federal grants and military-impact funding, and heard that staff will return in July with a proposal to allocate federal housing grants for transitional housing.
Council members used the workshop to press staff on two forward-looking issues: the local infrastructure implications of data-center growth and the city's plan to use federal grants for transitional housing.
On data centers, Council member Gonzales said the city must think ahead about water and power impacts and how other cities have required developers to secure external water or power when projects exceed local allocations. "I'm not anti data center, but I just wanna make sure that we're protecting the city of Killeen's interest," she said, listing water, electricity and location as the primary concerns.
Staff (Mister Cagle) and council discussed technical and policy options: exploring reclaimed ("purple pipe") water for nonpotable uses, seeking State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) loans or grants for energy projects, and evaluating legislative measures such as contributions by large power users (council referenced Senate Bill 6 in the discussion). Cagle said any defense-impact infrastructure grant tied to Fort Hood would need close alignment with Fort Hood activities and suggested a maximum typical award around $5 million for eligible infrastructure projects.
On homelessness, Miss McNair of community development said staff and partners (Syntex ARC, Families in Crisis and the homeless outreach team) are coordinating to use federal grants (CDBG, HOME) for transitional and permanent housing. She told the council staff expects to return in July with allocation and award recommendations so construction and set-aside funds can be established.
Why it matters: data centers can bring economic activity but also substantial infrastructure demands; council asked staff to evaluate financing and policy options so the city can avoid unplanned service stress. Similarly, transitional housing allocations would move the city from planning toward construction and funding commitments.
Next steps: staff will research policy options and grant opportunities for data-center mitigation and return with recommendations; community development will present a detailed transitional-housing allocation proposal in July for a formal vote.