Scurry County designates 1,975‑acre Cavender Road reinvestment zone after public hearing on proposed AI/data center

Scurry County commissioners on July 21 approved a preliminary designation of about 1,975 acres in the county’s southwest as Cavender Road Reinvestment Zone No. 1, a first procedural step for a proposed multi‑building AI/data center campus put forward by SP Energy.

The court opened a public hearing on the designation and heard more than two hours of questions and public comment about water use, wastewater handling, noise, traffic and local economic benefits. JP, identified as SP Energy’s director of development, said the company plans a campus made up of large warehouse‑style data center buildings, intends to use closed‑loop (air‑cooled) cooling rather than traditional evaporative systems, and estimated domestic water needs at roughly 15,000–20,000 gallons per day for the initial campus. He said a phased initial fill for cooling systems could require up to about 1,000,000 gallons overall and that any fluid flushed from closed‑loop chillers would be hauled to permitted wastewater treatment facilities and handled under TCEQ oversight.

Residents and landowners pressed for specifics. Concerns included whether construction and operational water would come from local wells, trucking impacts on county roads, the potential for continuous noise from mechanical chillers and the proximity of residences and livestock. One resident told the court she had followed water‑hauling trucks on county roads and raised safety and language‑barrier concerns about drivers. SP Energy representatives said they will vet contractors, perform traffic analyses during contractor selection and hold follow‑up town halls and site‑characterization studies; they also said electrical interconnection studies and ERCOT screening for system reliability have been completed for the proposed location.

Commissioners and company representatives said job and local‑contracting commitments would be negotiated in a later tax‑abatement agreement if the designation proceeds. JP said tax‑abatement contracts typically include specific requirements for local hiring and contractor priorities and that the company intends to work with local colleges and workforce programs; he did not give a binding job count in the hearing but suggested the campus could support several hundred full‑time operations jobs once built and a larger number of construction jobs during build‑out.

Judge Hicks said the reinvestment‑zone designation is only step one and does not itself grant tax abatements or construction approvals. After public comment and follow‑up discussion, the court moved to designate the Cavender Road Reinvestment Zone; the motion was seconded and carried on a voice vote. No roll‑call tally was recorded in the transcript; commissioners emphasized abatement terms, environmental permitting, noise mitigation and other conditions would be detailed in later hearings and in any contract.

Next steps identified by the court and company include additional community meetings (SP Energy said it would hold multiple town halls), site characterization and environmental permitting, and any tax‑abatement public hearing should the county and company proceed to negotiate specific concessions or community benefits.

The court’s action does not authorize construction or tax relief; it formally allows the county to pursue the next steps in the reinvestment‑zone and abatement process.