This week we joined the Sun City Water Matters Group for a tweetalong to learn about the group and to see a day in the life of a Water Matters member in Georgetown.

Water Matters Group is made up of volunteer residents of Sun City focused on water conservation and water-saving education and is a program of the Neighborhood Representative Organization in Sun City. The group was created in 2014 and now has 84 water ambassadors, 26 water evaluators, and 6 leadership team members.

Members meet twice a month and produce newsletters and articles for the “Sun Rays” magazine, maintain a website for the group, and host a Water Matters Town Hall in March.

“We must conserve drinking water, there is no question about that,” Water Matters Group member John Schideler said. “The message must get out to all residents. Neighborhoods must recognize the importance of conservation and then enforce rules and regulations of conservation.”

We joined Water Ambassador John Steele on the morning of July 27 for a few hours to see what a day in the life of a Water Matters ambassador was like. During our time together we helped adjust residents’ irrigation controllers to be set for the right watering days according to the City’s one-day watering schedule. We also helped identify issues with sprinkler heads, found broken irrigation pipes, and helped a neighbor plan for yard maintenance to help with drainage issues.

Steele said he approaches each situation with the goal to educate homeowners about how to properly care for their yards and conserve water while doing so. He said it is important to make sure your home’s irrigation system is set to the correct settings and to check for broken pipes or sprinkler heads, both of which will help you conserve water and decrease your water bills.

“Water Matters isn’t just about sprinkler regulation,” Steele said. “We’re about education and figuring out how best to teach residents about their water use and what’s best for their lawns.”

Steele said the Water Matters Group also takes time to make sure homeowners know about the City’s many water conservation rebates. You can find your watering schedule, information about water rebates, and more at water.georgetown.org.

You can relive the day with us here.

Here are some highlights from our day:

Georgetown residents will vote on a street maintenance sales tax when they go to the polls on Nov. 8. At its regular meeting on Tuesday, City Council approved an ordinance on second and final reading to call an election on Nov. 8 for the 0.25 percent sales tax for street resurfacing and repair.

State law requires that the dedicated sales tax be reauthorized every four years. Georgetown voters initially approved the sales tax for street maintenance in 2002 by 57 percent of the vote. The sales tax was reauthorized in 2006 by 72 percent and in 2010 by 80 percent. In 2014, it was approved by 82 percent of Georgetown voters and in 2018, it was approved by 80 percent.

The November ballot proposition does not increase the sales tax rate. The sales tax for street maintenance is collected from anyone who makes purchases in Georgetown city limits, not just homeowners.

Since April 2003, the quarter-cent sales tax has generated $46 million in revenue dedicated to street maintenance in Georgetown. The sales tax will generate an estimated $6.5 million in 2022.

Early voting in the election is Oct. 24-Nov. 4. Election day is Nov. 8.

The FM 971 roadway expansion and realignment project was dedicated today with officials from the City of Georgetown, Texas Department of Transportation, and Chasco Constructors.

The project involved expanding FM 971 to four lanes from Austin Avenue to Gann Street with turn lanes, sidewalks, and a pedestrian underpass at Austin Avenue. The new roadway aligns FM 971 with Northwest Boulevard, providing a new east-west crossing over I-35.

The $7 million project was managed by the Texas Department of Transportation and funded by the 2008 City of Georgetown road bond. Engineering design was funded by the Georgetown Transportation Enhancement Corporation. RPS was the design engineer on the project, and Chasco Constructors was the contractor.

The road remained open with temporary closures during the construction process.

The City is seeking funding to expand FM 971 to four lanes from Gann Street to the SH 130.

The City of Georgetown is initiating a new platform to receive quick, regular feedback from its residents. Georgetown residents can now sign up for FlashVote, a survey tool that allows residents to have a voice in city government through text, email, or voice responses.

“I encourage all our residents to sign up,” City Manager David Morgan said. “It only takes one minute, about once a month, to help make our city better.”

FlashVote is a public survey research platform used to recruit a panel of residents representative of the entire community to answer short surveys.  Starting today, residents may receive a text message from FlashVote with a chance to sign up.

FlashVote is designed to gather feedback within 48 hours, allowing City government to quickly get useful and statistically valid information from residents. The City plans to continue other outreach and survey efforts, such as community town halls, online surveys, and the biannual resident survey administered by Texas State University.

“FlashVote is a tool the City is using to enhance, not replace, our current public engagement efforts,” said Aly Van Dyke, communications and public engagement director.  “We know folks are busy, and we want to make engaging with the City quick and easy.”

Sign-up takes less than one minute, and survey data is anonymous. Residents can also sign up at flashvote.com/georgetowntx or call 775-235-2240 to participate by phone. Personal or demographic information collected by FlashVote is never shared with the City or anyone else.

When residents sign up, they can determine how they want to participate in surveys with options for text, email, or phone call. They will receive a notification whenever there is a new survey, and they will have 48 hours to participate before voting closes. Once a survey is closed, everyone who participated will automatically receive a summary of the overall results and be able to see how their responses compare to the group.

Responses from FlashVote surveys will be used to inform City decisions on services, programs, and initiatives.

“We’re very excited to use the input collected in these surveys to inform decision making at the City in ways that serve our residents better,” Morgan said.

The first surveys will be sent once the number of people who have signed up is large enough and includes a cross section of the community. Look for the first surveys to start later this year.

Join your friends and neighbors and sign up today at flashvote.com/georgetowntx.

City enacts Stage 2 of Drought Plan due to high water use

Due to sustained high water use nearing system treatment capacity, the City of Georgetown is enacting Stage 2 of the Drought Contingency Plan effective on June 28, 2022. Watering with an irrigation system or hose-end sprinkler will be restricted to one day per week.

Over the past two weeks, water production from the City’s water treatment plants has exceeded 90 percent of capacity on multiple days, triggering the need to move to Stage 2 of the Drought Plan. During the summer months, 75 percent of the water produced each day by water treatment plants is used for lawn and landscape irrigation.

“Given the high water use we have seen in the past few weeks, enacting the one-day watering schedule ensures we have enough water to meet our primary goals to provide water for domestic use inside the home and for fire flow,” Director of Water Utilities Chelsea Solomon said. “Once we have had multiple days of use exceeding 90 percent capacity of our water plants, restricting outdoor water use to once per week is how we ensure in the Drought Contingency Plan that we have water to meet the demands of essential indoor uses and fire suppression.”

The one-day per week irrigation schedule is based on the last digit of the street address.

Watering with an irrigation system is not permitted from noon to 7 p.m. on any day. Watering with a hand-held hose or bucket can be done any day and at any time. Washing a vehicle is only permitted at a commercial car wash.

The City of Georgetown is providing a one-week allowance for water customers to adjust their irrigation systems to comply with this schedule before issuing citations. After the one-week grace period, violations of the irrigation schedule may result in administrative charges on customer bills.

Violations of the irrigation schedule may result in administrative charges on customer bills.

Find more information on rebates, programming your controller how-to videos, and information on our water system at water.georgetown.org. For questions about your utility bills, contact Customer Care at 512-930-3640 or customercare@georgetown.org.