I want to follow up on what I shared after our September 2nd City Commission meeting because there have been significant developments since then.
From the very beginning, I have tried to be clear about one thing: the Fluidstack data center was moving forward with or without the City of Harlingen. It was not located in Harlingen. It was not asking Harlingen for permission to build. We did not have the authority to stop it.
The question before us was about drainage.
Fluidstack wanted to connect to a City owned drainage ditch, and in connection with that request, we were discussing approximately $7 million in drainage improvements, including detention and widening the ditch, as well as a proposed $20 million investment in Harlingen infrastructure.
I also told our community that Fluidstack had alternative drainage options. If Harlingen did not approve the connection, they could pursue one of those alternatives and continue with the project.
There was a lot of information circulating on social media saying otherwise. There were people telling our residents that Harlingen could stop the project, or suggesting that what I was telling you was somehow not true.
Some of that information came from people who do not live in Harlingen and have no responsibility for what happens here. Social media pages can generate clicks, shares and revenue from controversy. But the people who actually live here are the ones who have to live with the consequences when the cameras and social media attention move on to the next story.
Today, we are exactly where I said we could end up.
Fluidstack is moving forward without Harlingen.
I have now been informed, and it is being reported, that Cameron County has approved the necessary permit for Fluidstack to move forward and providing them with an alternative drainage option. I also understand that the $20 million that had been proposed for infrastructure improvements in Harlingen will instead go to Cameron County as part of that arrangement.
I have received no communication from Cameron County about this.
But my biggest concern today is not the $20 million.
It is the drainage.
During the presentation to the City Commission, we heard about approximately $7 million in drainage improvements that Fluidstack proposed as part of connecting to Harlingen's system. Those improvements included significant detention and widening the existing ditch.
I specifically asked whether those improvements, had they been in place during the March 2025 flood, could have prevented the flooding we experienced at our airport.
We were told yes. That mattered to me and it should matter to everyone.
After what Harlingen experienced in March 2025, I was looking at this request through one lens: How can we use this opportunity to make our drainage system stronger and better protect our community?
That is why we were asking questions. That is why we were negotiating. That is why I wanted our residents to hear the presentation, ask questions and have a voice before I cast my vote.
Now that Cameron County has apparently allowed Fluidstack to pursue an alternative drainage option, Harlingen no longer has a role in that decision. And that raises a very important question for me: What happens to those drainage improvements?
Will the detention and ditch improvements that our engineers believed would benefit this area still be constructed? If not, what will the impact be on Harlingen, our airport and surrounding properties during the next major rain event?
Those are questions I want answered.
I also believe Cameron County owes our community some answers. If the County was negotiating an alternative drainage arrangement involving a project immediately outside Harlingen while our City was publicly evaluating a drainage proposal that could directly affect our residents and infrastructure, I would have expected communication between our local governments.
I received none.
I said from the beginning that this project was going to move forward. Our responsibility was never to pretend we could stop something outside our jurisdiction. Our responsibility was to determine whether there was an opportunity to protect Harlingen, improve our drainage infrastructure and negotiate something beneficial for the people we represent.
The project is moving forward.
The $20 million may be going somewhere else.
What I care about now is making sure Harlingen is not left with the drainage consequences while someone else receives the benefit. After March 2025, that is not something I am willing to simply shrug off.
I will be asking questions, and I will share the answers with you as I get them.
Editor's Note: The above remarks were delivered by Harlingen Mayor Norma Sepulveda on her social media pages in response to news that the Fluidstack data center projects was going ahead in rural Cameron County, just outside Harlingen.
