SUBSCRIBE NOW

Enjoy all your local news and sports for less than 6¢ per day.

Subscribe Now

BURNET — The Highland Lake’s state representative said Tuesday he will fight to keep a controversial proposed high-voltage line from being built along the eastern border of Lake Buchanan.

“It will affect so many Burnet County residents in a very, very bad way,” said Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen.

Aycock said he plans to write a letter opposing the route to the state Public Utilities Commission, which will soon hold hearings on the Lower Colorado River Authority project.

LCRA says the line will transfer wind-generated power from West Texas while crossing Burnet County and going north to Lampasas County.

The hearing is 9:30 a.m. April 15 in Austin at the William B. Travis Building, 1701 N. Congress Ave.

The Burnet County Commissioners Court, which also opposes the line’s route, urged residents to show up at the hearing.

The commissioners met Tuesday.

Also, Burnet resident Jo Karr Tedder said a chartered bus will bring concerned locals to the hearing. Passengers can board at 7 a.m. that day at the Galloway-Hammond Recreation Center, 1601 S. Water St., which is also U.S. 281.

“I think it is very important that all members of the Commissioners Court go to that meeting,” said Precinct 1 Commissioner Bill Neve.

The commissioners plan to attend the PUC hearing as a workshop, added County Judge Donna Klaeger said.

There will only be space for about 50 people in the hearing room, Neve said.

“We need to there early,” he added.

Each Burnet attendee can wear a sticker to show their opposition to the proposed line, Neve said.

“We will not be allowed to say anything (at the meeting), but they (the PUC commissioners) will know why we are there,” he added.

Only the “original interveners” in the matter may address the PUC commissioners, Neve said.

The controversy began several months ago, when the LCRA Transmission Services Corp. discussed building a new line from Gillespie County to Lampasas County at the proposed Newton station in Kempner.

LCRA said the $162 million line would connect wind-powered electricity generators in West Texas to competitive renewable energy zones to the Hill Country.

Also, the route proposed by LCRA would run through Burnet County on lattice towers along the eastern border of Lake Buchanan.

However, commissioners and local residents cited several environmental concerns and voiced objections to the eastern route.

Last January, PUC staff recommended another route that would go through Llano and San Saba counties below Colorado Bend State Park without touching any part of the lake in Burnet County.

Part of the route recommended by PUC would run across the northern part of the county through FM 1478, U.S. 281 and U.S. 183 to Kempner, officials said.

The commissioners applauded that recommendation.

However, State Administrative Law Judge Wendy Harvel recently issued a proposal that recommends the line run east of Lake Buchanan.

Extension of the line east of the lake “is the better choice” because it would extend along existing right of way, cost less money and would have less of an environmental impact, Harvel said in her proposal March 18.

North of Lake Buchanan, the line would run mostly through rural, sparsely populated land.

On the other hand, the route favored by commissioners and others would run without existing right of way and threaten the golden-cheeked warbler and the black-capped vireo, two endangered bird species, Harvel said.

However, the proposed line along east Lake Buchanan would be set on a lattice tower structure 18 stories tall, Neve countered.

“It would be the tallest structure in Burnet County,” Neve added. “There would not be a place along the lake where it would not be intrusive to the scenic beauty of the area.”

If accepted by PUC, the proposed line will thwart many residents who want the Legislature to declare Texas 29 as a scenic route, Neve said.

In addition, the line would increase the risk of an accident for pilots landing at the Cassie Volunteer Fire Department heliport, the commissioners said.

As the representative of several residents who own land near the proposed line, Austin attorney Jim Boyle recently filed several exceptions to Harvel, Neve said.

The proposed line along the east side of Lake Buchanan may affect 164 “habitable structures” compared to no more than 48 structures along the proposed northern route. Also, “certain businesses and residences” near the east side of the lake may have to be condemned to make way for the line, including the popular Danny’s Country Diner near Buchanan Dam, 16082 Texas 29 East, according to the brief filed by Boyle.

Much of the support in Precinct 1 for the proposed eastern route may come from the Goodrich Ranch in northwest Burnet County, Neve said.

“I do not want to divide my constituency, but I do not believe (acceptance of the eastern route) is the right thing to do,” Neve added.

PUC is expected to make a final decision April 26.

raymond@thepicayune.com