Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at the opening of Gigafactory Texas in April. In shareholders meetings, he expressed confidence in his tunneling company’s progress and capabilities.KYLE — After spending $50,000 and entering into an agreement that was shrouded in secrecy, the Hays County city of Kyle has scrapped itsunderneath a set of railroad tracks that would have been built by the Elon Musk-owned Boring Company.
City Councilwoman Yvonne Flores-Cale said the council was collectively informed of the city’s decision not to move forward with the project on Friday morning, after the Express-News inquired about the project and was informed of its cancellation Thursday afternoon.Flores-Cale said city staff’s stated reason was that Union Pacific, the company that owns the railroad under which the tunnel would have been built, declined the city’s request to dig the tunnel.
The Boring Co. appears to be starting its tunneling mission in Central Texas. The company has a manufacturing plant in the small city of Bastrop, southeast of Austin, and its former business development lead, Brian Gettinger, began meeting with city officials in the region last year. In emails between City Attorney Paige Saenz and representatives for The Boring Co. discussing amendments to the PSA, Saenz recommended deletion of that sentence — which originally included the phrase “public statements” as well — on the grounds that the city “can’t comply with this sentence under OMA and PIA laws.”
The clause — effectively a gag order to keep the city from publicly discussing most of its taxpayer-funded endeavors with The Boring Co. — remained in the final PSA.
I knew an Austin to San Antonio tunnel was too good to be true.