The data center being built in Cameron County will take up more than 1,100 acres along FM 106 near Rio Hondo.

Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño said there are potential benefits, but for many people, including one man who's lived in Cameron County since he was a child, he said he's looking beyond what the county could gain right now.

Isaac Newman knows there's money being talked about as Fluidstack moves forward. But he said that's not how he's measuring what this project could mean for his community.

"I think in the long run it's actually going to harm residents more than it's going to help. On paper, $20 million, it is a lot of money," Newman said.

And there's another resource Newman said he's thinking about — water.

"You have to understand that water is limited and the long term impact of having limited water — if the water gets corrupted our entire town would have to move," Newman said.

That's a concern Cameron County has raised too.

In a resolution passed earlier this year addressing data center concerns, county leaders pointed to water supply and electric grid reliability as issues they wanted to address before any data center development.

RELATED STORY: Fluidstack breaks ground on $4 billion data center project in Cameron County

The resolution explains how the county supports economic growth, but is against using large amounts of water for cooling systems.

Fluidstack said its cooling system will be closed-loop. That means their tank would be filled once and water would be recycled indefinitely.

The company says the tank's volume is less than an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The water would be supplied by the East Rio Hondo Water Supply Corporation.

The company says its daily water use after that would primarily be for employee needs like kitchens and bathrooms.

When it comes to power, Fluidstack says it will buy electricity from AEP Texas, pay for the infrastructure needed to serve the site and develop on-site generation to reduce its demand on the ERCOT grid.

Treviño said those are the types of commitments county leaders wanted to see from the company.

"We wanted to make sure that they had the water situation taken care of. A closed-loop system is the absolute best situation we can hope for with regards to a potential data center. The energy situation they're also making themselves responsible to make sure that they're going to take care of their own energy," Treviño said

Channel 5 News asked how much say the county actually has over whether a project like this moves forward.

Fluidstack's property is in an unincorporated area of Cameron County. Treviño said counties don't have the same zoning authority cities do.

"If they meet the requirements with regards to the engineering and the model rules, or what have you, we're bound to approve that application or that permit," Treviño said.

The county says Fluidstack met the requirements for its worksite permit. That permit allows site work, including clearing, grading, utilities and drainage.

Fluidstack will need more permits before construction can begin on the actual data center buildings.

After Harlingen commissioners tabled an agreement that would have allowed Fluidstack to use the city's drainage system in exchange for funding, the company will now pump that money to the county.

Treviño said the county is now looking at a potential investment of $20 million or more from Fluidstack,  but the amount is not set in stone and the county hasn't decided which projects the money could fund.

For Newman, the numbers and promises don't end the conversation. He said what happens with this project now is something people should remember later.

"We are definitely going to remember how this plays out," Newman said. "I highly encourage our local citizens, remember this for this next election."

Another concern many people have is the potential noise from the data center.

Fluidstack said they're voluntarily committing to keeping operations at or below 60 decibels, which is about the sound of a normal conversation.

Watch the video above for the full story.