Granbury residents stage walkout during city council meeting amid data center controversy

GRANBURY, Texas - Dozens of Granbury residents walked out of Monday night's city council meeting as city leaders pushed back on petitions for their removal over alleged plans to build a data center in the city.

Granbury data center concept

What we know:

Earlier in 2026, Granbury City Council voted to annex 2,200 acres of land near Meadow Wood Road.

Now, there are plans for a data center to be built on the land. The city says it has received concept plans for the center, which is called Project Patriot.

Project Patriot's website says the data center is being planned as a "self-sufficient campus with on-site power generation and privately funded infrastructure designed to minimize impacts on local utilities, public services, and taxpayers."

Recall petition

Local perspective:

Some Granbury residents believe their city's leaders didn't disclose enough information about the potential data center before the land was annexed.

Those concerns led to 15% of the city's population signing a petition to recall Granbury Mayor Jim Jarratt and four city council members, with over 1,300 signatures on the petition.

"They tend to do this. We speak, they don’t hear what we’re saying," Rachael Jacobson, a resident, tells FOX 4's David Sentendrey. "Maybe they hear it, but they don’t hear what we’re saying — and then the rest of this show goes on and they just do whatever they want."

"The city council, whatever their intentions may be, neglected to listen to the citizens and the citizens have decided they’re not going to tolerate than anymore — to the tune of over 1,300 signatures on multiple recall petitions," said Alex Wolf, a Granbury resident and Granbury City Council-elect.

"A circus"

The other side:

"I will not resign."

At Monday's Granbury City Council meeting, Jarratt and city council members defended themselves. Jarratt said he believes there are procedural issues with the recall petition.

"The petition against me does not explain any substance whatsoever, which makes it impossible for me to defend my public record against a generic accusation that could potentially span over the past five-and-a-half years. That’s how long I’ve been your mayor."

When Granbury City Councilman Skip Overdier began speaking against the recall petition, dozens of Granbury residents walked out of the meeting.

Rachael Jacobson described the meeting as "a circus."

"You could tell they weren’t listening when we spoke during public comment."

What's next:

Petitioners are hoping to get the recall on the November ballot. A court battle over the proposed data center is also looming.

City officials say any official development plans for the data center would go through the city's normal review process, and would need to meet zoning and development standards before approval.

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