College Station residents gathered at City Hall July 23 to debate the use of Flock automatic license plate recognition cameras.

What you need to know: CSPD Chief Billy Couch presented to the council regarding the cameras, what they do, how they’ve helped police officers and statistics on crime reduction since 2025. A Flock representative was also available for questions.

Couch clarified the department does not share its data with Flock and the cameras do not use:

• Facial recognition

• Vehicle occupant identification

• Audio recording

What the public is saying: Public comment on the item was mixed, with some in favor and others opposed.

One A&M student said the issue has brought everyone together regardless of their beliefs: “You’re supporting something so universally hated that it has united the far-left, far-right, moderates, independents and non-citizen residents. No one wants this."

Meanwhile, one community partner said removing the cameras could put missing persons at risk.

What’s next: The council took no action, but the issue will be presented in the future, according to Mayor John Nichols.

The Range, a 10,000-square-foot all-purpose entertainment center, is set to open in south College Station soon.

What The Range offers: The Range will offer indoor and outdoor golf, pickleball, games and a bar with craft drinks. It will be among the many new businesses in Bryan-College Station to offer the ever-growing sport of pickleball.

Pickleball Junction is also under construction in Bryan, as previously reported by Community Impact.

About the project: According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the project was projected to cost $900,000 and to be completed in April. The company’s social media has documented the process of building the facility, along with updating the community on its progress, delaying its opening multiple times according to comments from The Range.

What’s next: The Range currently has job applications on its website. The business promotes itself as fun for the whole family.

• To open late summer
• 3001 Graham Road North, College Station

Need to catch up on news from the past week in the Bryan-College Station area? Check out these five stories.

1. Widening, improvements, drainage rehabilitation: 4 Bryan-College Station road updates to follow

2. Design updates: New-build Bryan ISD campus expected to open in fall 2029

3. Filing period for mayor, 2 College Station City Council seats open

4. Bryan mayor, 2 City Council seats open for November election

5. College Station ISD begins 5-year improvement plan following curriculum audit
    

As more data centers are being built in Texas, the state’s water planning agency warns that limited information is available about the booming industry and its impact on water supplies.

The overview: The Texas Water Development Board adopted its initial 2027 State Water Plan on July 23, with a “more robust” version of the plan expected later this year. The plan consists of 3,000 water management projects and 6,700 strategies that experts say are needed to prepare for future severe droughts.

It will cost about $174 billion to complete the projects, according to the TWDB. However, if they are not implemented, a severe drought could cost the state $91 billion in economic damages as soon as 2030 and lead to $177 billion in annual losses by 2080.

The context: These projections do not account for the amount of water that data centers—which largely purchase their water from public systems—may use or how the large facilities could contribute to overall water availability. Right now, the board said it did not have enough information to do so.