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Ross residents urge scrutiny of proposed data center over water use and financing
Summary
Three Ross-area residents told the Waco City Council they want closer scrutiny of a proposed data-center development, raising inconsistent water‑use figures and a disclosed $8 million loan they said indicates elevated project risk.
Three residents from Ross addressed the Waco City Council on June 2, urging officials to scrutinize a proposed data-center project and its developer.
Shauna Fen, a Ross resident and organizer, told the council she is part of a "stop the data center" committee and said the group’s Facebook page has grown to "almost 8,000 members." She invited council members to a community meeting on Sunday at 6 p.m. at the Ross Volunteer Fire Department to hear local concerns.
Sarah Manaric Leonard, who gave her address as 2797 Ross Road, told the council she has tracked inconsistent water-demand figures the developer provided to different stakeholders. "Infra stated ... the need for 5 million gallons of water daily, 15 millions at complete buildout," Leonard said, and she said other communications showed amounts between roughly 2 million and 20 million gallons per day. Leonard urged the council not to rely on fluctuating developer numbers when evaluating local water impacts.
Carla Garcia, who lives at 2789 Ross Road, raised financing and due-diligence concerns. She said the project’s parent company borrowed $8 million on March 30 and pledged 526 acres as collateral, and argued that $8 million is small relative to typical hyperscale data-center financing. "Cororeweave only did it because the loan structure gives them step-in rights to the whole project if infra defaults," Garcia said, and she urged officials to be cautious about supporting or partnering with the developer absent clearer financing and partnership disclosures.
The mayor closed the hearing of visitors after the three scheduled speakers. Council members did not debate the public comments at the meeting but staff were asked to follow up on public concerns and contact speakers as needed under the council’s public‑comment procedures.
What happens next: The council’s stated practice is to forward hearing-of-visitors concerns to staff for follow-up; no vote or formal direction on the data-center project was recorded at this meeting.
