TAYLOR CITY COUNCIL — ONCOR ELECTRIC DELIVERY
The City Council is hoping a pair of veteran Texas congressmen will help convince Oncor Electric Delivery to alter a proposed route for new transmission lines through Taylor.
During Thursday’s meeting, the council approved sending a letter to U.S representatives John Carter, R-Austin, and Pete Sessions, R-Waco, asking for their assistance in keeping a new high-voltage electric transmission line from interfering with future industries and historic areas.
The proposed route is opposed by many council members and residents.
Also during the meeting, city leaders received an annual report from the Police Department on traffic encounters broken down by ethnicity and an update on curb repairs.
Meanwhile, responses from Carter, who represents congressional
District 31, and Sessions, the advocate for District 17, were not available at press time.
The missive asks the congressmen to help push for routing alternatives that avoid the city and its areas of planned growth.
Councilwoman Heather Long suggested the letter and encouraged City Manager Brian LaBorde to include stories from neighbors already affected by Oncor’s earlier expansion.
Oncor replaced many neighborhood utility poles with giant highvoltage poles last year.
“Since the Taylor residents are all constituents of Congressman Sessions and Congressman Carter, I think it’s pertinent to include a little more detail about the personal impact of these lines on their constituency,” Long said.
Oncor Electric Delivery’s proposed new 345-kilovolt transmission line project is expected to extend from the proposed Muscovy Switch northeast of FM 3349 and U.S. 79 to the proposed Voss Lake Switch and then southwest toward the planned Walleye Creek Switch.
Oncor will create several optional routes and the final route will be determined by the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
“The placement of a major transmission corridor through the city or its designated growth areas would have substantial long-term impacts on land-use planning, infrastructure investment and the city’s ability to responsibly manage its growth,” the letter reads.
The city created a map showing its areas of planned expansion, including existing development, areas where development is already in progress, a future industrial corridor and future municipal utility districts.
“It’s not just about development. It’s not just about protecting our growth. It’s also about protecting our citizens and ensuring they are able to enjoy their properties without having to look at those atrocious lines,” Long said.
Police submit profiling report
Taylor received no complaints of racial profiling resulting from traffic stops in 2025. Interim Police Chief Joseph Branson gave the council its annual report at Thursday’s meeting which includes all traffic stops that resulted in an arrest, citation or warning.
The report is required by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
Officers made 4,980 stops in 2025 that resulted in a ticket, arrest or warning. Stops which did not lead to any action were not counted.
As with every year, officers gave many more warnings than citations, Branson said.
“Sometimes, we get messages that this is somehow a revenue stream for the city. You can clearly see that’s not the case,” Branson said.
In 2025, Taylor police handed out 2,951 warnings and 1,978 traffic tickets. Branson said the number of traffic stops was a close reflection of the city’s demographics, with 46.53% of drivers stopped being White, 37.17% Hispanic and 12.21% Black. Asian drivers accounted for 3.71% of vehicles pulled over.
White drivers were given warnings versus citations in 66.4% of stops. Black drivers were given warnings versus citations in 60.3% of stops. Hispanic motorists received more citations than any other ethnicity, and only 52.1% of stops resulted in a warning rather than a citation.
Fifty-one arrests were made during traffic stops. Of those detained, 27 were Hispanic, 15 were White and nine were Black.
There were two cases of physical force used during arrests that resulted in bodily injury to a suspect in 2025. Both cases involved Hispanic persons.
In related news, the council is expected to formally approve the hiring of Joseph D. Chacon, the former chief of the Austin Police Department, as Taylor’s new top cop during the March 26 meeting.
Curb repair to start in April
Lone Star Energy Consultants submitted the lowest price of 14 bidders and will be replacing 2,416 linear feet of curbs and gutters in April, officials said.
Bids ranged from Lone Star’s $132,827 up to $293,000.
Six sections of curb will be replaced along Kirk, Hackberry, Branch and Fowzer streets. The process will also replace driveway sections along the designated routes. After the curbs are replaced, the city will also do road repair along those sections.
The 2025 Curb Replacement Program originally was approved by the council July 12. Bids were opened in January. The project is funded by 2025 certificates of obligation.
The ‘constraints map’ Taylor officials supplied to Oncor Electric Delivery shows color-coded areas where the city would like the utility to avoid routing a transmission line. The area in yellow is considered an employment zone. Green designates development in progress. Courtesy of Taylor
