Legal actions put halt to city statements on data center petition
Relax, Taylor — unlike the rest of Texas, you don’t need to worry about water shortages for the next three decades.
That was the word from Brad Brunett, chief operations officer of the Brazos River Authority, during a special-called City Council meeting Monday, July 27.
In other business, and as promised, Mayor Jim Buzan deferred any deep discussions on a petition demanding the city put data center zoning controls on the Nov.
3 ballot now that legal action is underway.
“We are 100% committed to transparency, but since the matter is now in active litigation, I will not be able to comment further,” Buzan said.
In addition, water and wastewater plans also received approval to keep pace with the city’s increasing demand, especially with new industries coming to the area — including a data center.
Meanwhile, the council heard a presentation on Taylor’s current and future water sources, which will help the city shape policy, officials said.
BRA supplies water to Taylor, Jonah Water Special Utility District and Lone Star Regional Water Authority, mainly from Lake Granger with some additional input from a Trinity Aquifer well.
“When you look at Lake Granger, its firm yield and the permit that we have combined with the groundwater blending, you know, I think we’ve got plenty of water to supply all customers for the next 30-plus years,” Brunett said.
A lake’s firm yield is the maximum amount of water it can supply during a drought. Brunett said the BRA also has a permit allowing the authority to use up to one-third of the amount of water the lake generally holds.
“Again, nobody can predict the future, and the best we can do is plan with the data that we’ve got and adjust going forward if we need to,” Brunett added.
According to BRA, its water treatment plant can currently provide 14.5 million gallons per day from the lake. The Trinity Aquifer well can produce an additional 3 to 4 million gallons daily, which can be blended in as needed.
Brunett said in 2025 the average use was about 9 million gallons, with about 13 to 14 million gallons used on a summer day and about 5 or 6 million gallons on a winter day.
The authority is working on an expansion project that will be able to eventually provide up to 38 million gallons daily. It is also working on pipeline projects that would add another large water-delivery line between the treatment plant and Circleville, where all three BRA customers connect their own water lines to transport water to their areas.
Water and wastewater plans approved To ensure the city can continue to supply water to Taylor customers, council members approved a new water and wastewater master plan created by HDR Engineering.
It is designed to help Taylor identify future water demands and develop capital-improvement projects to support customers.
Matthew Schorsch of HDR said the plan anticipates adding up to 31,000 new service connections for water and wastewater over the next 25 years. The city has 7,000 connections today.
Data provided by HDR shows Taylor uses about 3 million gallons of water per day. They project that total will increase to 7.6 million gallons per day soon because of “significant industrial demands.”
To increase capacity for Taylor’s growth and ensure current customers have adequate water pressure and firefighting supply, the master plan lists capital improvement projects totaling $300 million to $330 million over the next five to 10 years and another $390 million to $410 million during the following 10-15 years.
Engineers estimate Taylor’s 20-year growth projections will require an additional $580 million in capital investment, as the city will need to bring another wastewater treatment plan online and expand water transmission and distribution lines.
While no specific information was submitted regarding water needs of the two data centers Taylor already has in process, HDR and the BRA officials both spoke confidently about the city’s ability to provide water for incoming industry, including data centers.
Petition stalemate Buzan addressed audience members regarding the status of the data-center petition submitted by Halt Taylor Data Centers coalition, but indicated legal action keeps him from making any further detailed statements.
The agenda had originally called for the city to further explain its decision not to accept or enact the petition, but Buzan said a recent court filing now prevents him from commenting on it.
“Because the issue is now pending before the court, we will not have our attorneys present the legal analysis that was originally planned for tonight’s meeting. The city will instead present its legal position through its position brief, which will be filed with the (3rd) Court of Appeals in accordance with the court’s briefing schedule,” Buzan said.
Enacting the petition, which was submitted in June with 1,400 signatures, would have temporarily halted all data center development and amended the city’s land development code to prohibit data centers in all zoning districts except for a yet-to-becreated district specifically for digital infrastructure uses.
Proponents say that would have kept data centers out of residential areas and protected Taylor’s quality of life.
The city has stated it cannot act on the petition because state law requires certain zoning procedures, such as a Zoning Commission review, that cannot be bypassed through the voter-initiative process.
Instead, city leaders proposed collecting public input and allowing the council to vote on ordinances in September.
That plan is on hold because Halt July 9 filed a writ of mandamus with the 3rd Court of Appeals to order the city to place the matter before voters Nov. 3. No decision has been rendered by the justices.
