Fighting a power plant and data center, Part 2: Disaster or bump in the road to local control at the Bastrop Commissioners Court
Updated: Aug 25
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We hope you good people across the state dealing with this problem can learn something from the mistakes made along the road to local control. This morning, the Bastrop Commissioners Court passed this data center resolution, something we at LIV supported along with the Commissioners Court. But it was, well, just weird with the Court taking one step forward and two steps back today. I believe it was their attempt to limit public comments, triggering some in the audience to get rowdy and surly. Both "sides" missed the point.
The point was a friendly amendment to the resolution offered by Elgin resident and attorney Nick Lealos, and Cedar Creek resident Merrie Santana and some of the leading organizers of the recent Pacifico Town Hall, along with.many other fine residents of Cedar Creek.
They asked the court to reach the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on their behalf and ask TCEQ to pull Pacifico’s pending minor air quality permit application and convert it to a major air permit application. The latter permit process would invoke a more robust TCEQ review with the possibility of stronger pollution controls, a public hearing, and the opportunity to contest the permit before an independent administrative law judge. (We wrote about that last Friday, Are you fighting a power plant and data center like Bastrop?)
Bottom line, making this request is clearly something the Court -- either the County Judge or three commissioners -- can still do. In other words, we need to find out if this was just a bump in the road to local control by hanging in there!
Since they didn't pass the amendment today, the Judge or any three of the four commissioners may call a special meeting with 72 hours notice and pass a resolution to send to TCEQ. If you want them to do this, send them a polite and respectful email. Remember, it's not a time to get angry (though we understand people, including the court, are human). But, please for the love of god, don't get angry, get organized. In fact, if you were one of the people who got sideways with the court today, we suggest you reach them, apologize and try to have a real conversation. If they refuse, at least you tried.
We will have a few additional thoughts to share during tonight’s members-only meeting about how LIV missed a beat in this process too.
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LIV's comments today that we had to file instead of speak today -- just like the last meeting, as the Court limited options to speak to our elected officials.
