During its May 20 meeting, the Hays County Commissioners Court received a presentation by the Homeless Coalition of Hays County (HCHC) regarding the results of the 2025 Point-in-Time (PIT) count.
Nancy Hines, secretary of the board for the HCHC, said the PIT count is an annual count required by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The PIT count, which was conducted on Jan. 23 this year, surveys sheltered and unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness.
“The count tells us approximately how many people were experiencing homelessness on the night of Jan. 23,” Hines said. “It also shows us trends overtime, which is increases or decreases of homelessness.”
According to HCHC’s report, 187 individuals were counted as of Jan. 23, with 179 in San Marcos, two in Kyle, two in Wimberley and four in Buda. That number is lower than 2024’s PIT count, which counted 210 individuals in Hays County.
Commissioner Morgan Hammer said she was shocked to see that San Marcos had 179 individuals experiencing homelessness compared to the much lower numbers in other cities in the county.
“The university presents an interesting factor within housing in this area because our neighbor Kyle has over $100,000 less in their average house price than they do in San Marcos, but [San Marcos’] average household income is $40,000 less than Kyle,” Hammer said. “All of those factors being considered, that’s where that 179, I’m guessing, are coming from, so anything the county can do to support, please let us know.”
Commissioners Court also held a discussion regarding CloudBurst Data Center’s proposed AI data center and power plant to be built in Guadalupe and Hays counties.
During the public comment portion of the discussion, many residents expressed concern about CloudBurst’s potential to use large amount of water, especially as Hays County is experiencing a severe drought.
“The San Marcos River Foundation is very concerned about this water stressed area we are living in,” Virginia Park, the executive director of the San Marcos River Foundation, said. “We would like assurances for a closed loop, non-evaporative cooling system. That could use treated waste water for that water source.”
Cynthia Thompson, cofounder and executive chairperson of CloudBurst, said CloudBurst has to build a natural gas turbine for the proposed data center due to a lack of capacity in the state power grid for the increase in number of data centers.
Thompson also said there was minimal risk of chemical leaks and if they did occur, they would be contained in the facility, instead of outside where it could contaminate local water sources.
CloudBurst was unable to provide an estimate for water consumption during the meeting.
“We’re in the middle of our water study right now, so I can’t give you exact answers on water, we’re working on it,” Thompson said.
According to Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe, counties do not have zoning authority in Texas, which means they are limited on control development, such as how and where CloudBurst can build.
Commissioner Walt Smith elaborated on that point, saying Texas counties have a “mandate for approval” meaning they have to approve any development that meets state regulations.
“There’s questions as to why this isn’t in a municipality,” Smith said. “It’s because two years ago our state government gave every developer the option to exit the extra-territorial jurisdiction and come to the county.”
Smith told people who spoke during public comment to bring their complaints about CloudBurst to state agencies, who may have more authority, such as the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
“The old adage in Texas is ‘if you like the view, buy it,’ because something else is going to be there in 10 years if you don’t,” Smith said. “We can control … conservation easements, but we can’t control private development in a way where we can plan for it and zone for it like cities can.”
Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra also emphasized that the court has no way of denying the project. Becerra blamed the Texas Senate and House of Representatives for denying counties more planning and zoning authority.
“As much as, all five of us would love to say, and I am not being deliberate, I am just saying philosophically here, ‘Hell no we don’t want you here. Get out of the way. Scram. Beat it,’ our hands are absolutely tied,” Becerra said. “We can do nothing about it even if we were 100% lock stepped beside you … State control has us hamstrung.”
The Hays County Commissioners Court 9 a.m. on select Tuesdays each month. For more information, visit its website.
