Oct. 26, 2026 · Brownsville's 90-day pause on data center applications is scheduled for its final vote Wednesday, Nov. 4, as the city's task force starts its study

City planning October 26, 2026 · Brownsville · Data centers

Brownsville's 90-day pause on data center applications is scheduled for its final vote Wednesday, Nov. 4, as the city's task force starts its study

Tall palm trees line the far bank of a winding lake in Brownsville under a blue sky with white clouds — File photo: a winding lake in Brownsville, March 2014. Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress.

The city's proposed 90-day pause on data center applications, Ordinance 2026-1826, is scheduled for its second and final reading Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, the city says. It needs a three-fourths vote of the City Commission and covers Brownsville and its extraterritorial jurisdiction.

Brownsville's reactivated Environmental and Conservation Task Force held its first meeting Wednesday, Oct. 21. Its 11 members will study power, water, land use, noise, neighborhood effects and economic opportunities tied to data centers, and report to the City Commission. A preliminary report is expected in December, the Brownsville Herald reports. One member works for SpaceX, the Herald reports.

Dates to watch: the city's meeting calendar lists a City Commission special meeting Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026 at 4 p.m. and a task force work session Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026 at 9 a.m. Neither agenda is posted yet.
Background: our Oct. 15 story has the first reading and what the pause would stop.

Next: we'll read the Nov. 4 agenda when the city posts it.

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Sources: City of Brownsville, News Flash, Oct. 7, 2026 (Ordinance 2026-1826 first reading) · City of Brownsville, News Flash, Oct. 23, 2026 (task force) · Brownsville meeting calendar, task force meeting, Oct. 21, 2026 · City Commission special meeting, Nov. 4, 2026 · task force work session, Nov. 5, 2026 · Brownsville Herald (MyRGV), Oct. 22, 2026, Nadia Tamez-Robledo · NASA, "Faster to Science" letter, Oct. 21, 2026 · Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress (public domain)