Sunland Park requests delay on Project Jupiter vote

SUNLAND PARK, New Mexico (KVIA) -- The City of Sunland Park requested a delay on the vote for Project Jupiter, the $165 billion data center that is proposed to be built near Santa Teresa.

"It's prudent to get answers to those very simple but yet very important questions out to the community," said Mario Juarez-Infante, city manger for Sunland Park.

Juarez-Infante says the city isn't taking a stance for or against the project because they understand the benefits it can bring to the community. If built, the project would bring over 700 high-paying jobs to the area and insert millions into the economy. However, the city is concerned about the massive amount of water that is needed for the project.

"There's some legitimate questions regarding the impacts of the data center with respect to quality of life, housing, transportation, water, which has been forefront in this this region for a number of years," said Juarez-Infante.

Shannon Reynolds, Doña Ana County Commissioner for District 3, says that water won't be an issue, and that if built the project would give $40 million to the area for water infrastructure.

"we're going to end up getting about $12 million a year for the whole 30 year project," he said. "With that money, we're going to invest some of the money in the schools, a Boys and Girls Club. We're also going to have money to do a water project, an additional 40 million or so to fix all the water problems in Santa Teresa that are in the county."

The vote is scheduled to take place tomorrow morning at 9 at the Board of County Commissioners Chambers in Las Cruces. ABC-7 will have full coverage of the meeting both on air and online.