Brownwood Approves Downtown Easements for Underground Utilities
Brownwood council approved Oncor easements on four city properties so Downtown Plan Phase I can move power lines underground, the Chronicle reported after the Nov. 10 meeting.
The Brownwood City Council has approved easements that will let Oncor Electric Delivery move power lines underground as the city proceeds with Phase I of its Downtown Plan streetscape work, the Brownwood Chronicle reported after the council’s Tuesday morning meeting.
The item was on the official Nov. 10 agenda as a regular called meeting at 9 a.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall, 501 Center Avenue. Item 9.A asked the council to consider granting easements to Oncor “for electric utility relocations related to establishing underground utilities in conjunction with the Downtown Plan Phase I projects.” Official minutes from that meeting had not been posted on the city’s Agenda Center as of this report; the account of what the council approved comes from the Chronicle.
According to that report, the Downtown Plan Phase I work includes installing underground utilities and requires new easements on portions of city-owned and privately owned property. City staff has been coordinating with Oncor and engineering firm Freese and Nichols to redesign the power-line system for the project.
Four city properties, and more easements still ahead
The Chronicle said the council approved easements on city property at four locations: 508 E. Baker; 200 Carnegie/521 E. Baker; 201 E. Anderson; and 406 Fisk Street. Those addresses are from the newspaper account, not from the one-page posted agenda. The paper also reported that the underground installation is expected to require additional easements in other locations involving both public and private property.
A $7,500 application for highway safety money
The same agenda listed, as item 9.B, a professional-services letter of agreement for preparation of a 2027 Highway Safety Improvement Program grant application, and asked the council to authorize the city manager to sign it. The Chronicle reported that the council approved the agreement with Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc.
The city was notified of an opportunity to apply through TxDOT’s Traffic Safety Division, the paper said. The proposed application would seek improvements at signalized intersections, with Coggin and 3rd and Indian Creek and 4th identified as the two possible focus areas in the fiscal year 2026-27 capital budget. The intersections could qualify based on safety data. The TxDOT Brownwood District has $750,000 available each year for off-system Highway Safety Improvement Program projects, the Chronicle reported. Preparing the application through Kimley-Horn will cost $7,500.
Budget amendments on first reading, and a fourth accreditation
The council also had before it, as agenda item 10.A, an ordinance on first reading amending the fiscal year 2025-26 year-end budget. The Chronicle said the council approved, on first reading, an ordinance making eight year-end amendments totaling $693,428. That ordinance will return for a second and third, or final, reading; it is not yet adopted. The easements and the grant-application agreement are separate actions from this first-reading ordinance.
The posted agenda included a recognition of the Police Department’s accredited status. Police Chief James Fuller told the council the department had received accreditation from the Texas Police Chiefs Association for the fourth time, the paper reported. Brownwood is among 235 of the state’s 2,800 police departments to receive the recognition, and the department previously received accreditation in 2013, 2018 and 2022. The Chronicle also reported that Debbie Childs was recognized on her final day as general manager of the Brownwood Event Center after five years in the position.
City Hall is at 501 Center Ave., Brownwood, Texas 76801, according to the city’s official facilities listing, phone 325-646-5775. The same page lists a mailing address of P.O. Box 1389, Brownwood, Texas 76804.
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