The City of Georgetown is accepting applications to serve on one of the City’s advisory boards or commissions. City Council depends on citizen board members to assist in evaluating local issues to enrich and promote the community. There are several vacancies and terms expiring Feb. 28, 2022.

For more information regarding the variety of boards and commissions and their roles in City government, visit government.georgetown.org/boards-and-commissions. An online application, with instructions, is available.

Those interested in serving should complete an application. A resume must be attached before submitting.

The deadline to apply is Dec. 15, 2021. Board and commission appointments are made in February. Per Chapter 2.36 of the Municipal Code, the mayor recommends the appointments of new members and the council approves the recommendations. New members begin serving in March.

Please contact the City Secretary’s Office at 512-930-3651 with any questions.

Final unofficial Election Day results (includes Early Voting) from the Williamson County Elections Department for the City of Georgetown Nov. 2 election with 51 of 51 polling locations reporting.

To see complete Nov. 2 election results, go to wilco.org/elections.

Votes will be canvassed at a special City Council meeting at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15. During that meeting, the newly elected District 6 City Council member will be sworn in.

After a nationwide recruitment search conducted by Affion Public, City Manager David Morgan has appointed Nick Woolery and Police Chief Wayne Nero as assistant city managers. Their first day will be Dec. 6.

Nero has served as interim assistant city manager since June 14. Assistant Police Chief Cory Tchida will continue to serve as interim police chief until this position is permanently filled.

“It has been an honor to serve Georgetown as the chief of police for the last decade,” Nero said. “The future of our police department is bright and in very capable hands. Georgetown is a special community, and I am excited to continue serving my community in a new role.”

Nero has served as Georgetown’s chief of police for the past 11 years. During that time, Nero and his executive team rebranded and successfully established an organizational culture that is vision-inspired, mission-driven, people-focused, and performance-based. Under his leadership, Georgetown has become the 153rd Texas law enforcement agency to achieve recognized status through the Texas Police Chief’s Best Practice Recognition Program. Nero holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Columbia College and a Master of Professional Studies degree in Homeland Security Leadership from the University of Connecticut, a program offered in partnership with the Naval Postgraduate School.

As assistant city manager, Nero will oversee several City departments, including police, fire, information technology, community services, and human resources and organizational development.

“Wayne Nero has been a key leader making a significant impact in our community and organization,” Morgan said. “I’m excited about his service in this new role.”

Woolery has served as assistant city manager for the City of Baytown, Texas, since 2019. He started with the City of Baytown in 2010 as assistant to the city manager. In 2014, he was promoted to interim public works director, and in 2015 became the City’s director of strategy and innovation, where he oversaw the City’s 5-year strategic plan. Woolery developed and oversaw the implementation of a $636 million comprehensive capital improvement program, launched a significant public engagement program, and implemented a process improvement and people empowerment program leading to more than $1 million in savings. He also has significant development experience executing agreements for residential, commercial, industrial, and hotel/convention projects. He holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Kansas and a Bachelor of Public Administration degree from Washburn University.

“I couldn’t be more excited to join an already talented team and help positively impact the City’s future,” Woolery said.  “My family and I are looking forward to calling Georgetown home and being a part of such a special community.”

Woolery will shepherd development across Georgetown, overseeing the City’s planning, inspections, systems engineering, public works, special districts, and communications departments.

“Nick provided significant value in Baytown and will be a tremendous asset to Georgetown,” Morgan said. “His experience in organizational development and process improvement will be critical as we meet the ongoing demands of growth.”

The Georgetown City Council is starting the process to rebalance the population in the city’s seven council districts, which is known as redistricting or reapportionment. The redistricting process happens after every decennial census.

At its Oct. 26 workshop, City Council will review 2020 Census information by district presented by Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta, a law firm hired by the City to advise the council during the redistricting process.

The Georgetown population as of April 1, 2020, was 66,880, which is a 41 percent increase in population from 47,400 persons in the 2010 census. This means that the ideal council district is now 9,554, which is the total of 66,880 persons divided by seven single-member districts. See the current City Council district maps at maps.georgetown.org.

These are the 2020 population numbers for each district and the percent deviation from the ideal district with 9,554 people.

District 7 has the largest population, which is approximately 40.8 percent, or 3,898 people, above the ideal district size. District 6 has the smallest population, which is approximately 26.86 percent, or 2,566 people, below the ideal district size.

Exact equality of population is not required for local political subdivisions. However, a total population deviation of no more than 10 percent between their most populated district and the least populated district should be the goal.

The council is expected to discuss redistricting criteria at their Oct. 26 workshop meeting. Traditional redistricting criteria examples that a governing body might wish to consider adopting include:

• Use of identifiable boundaries (e.g., roads or rivers)
• Using whole voting precincts, where possible and feasible; or, where not feasible, being sure that the plan lends itself to the creation of reasonable and efficient voting precincts
• Maintaining communities of interest (e.g., traditional neighborhoods)
• Basing the new plan on existing districts
• Adopting districts of approximately equal population
• Drawing districts that are compact and contiguous
• Keeping existing representatives in their districts
• Adjusting to comply with the Voting Rights Act and the Shaw v. Reno Supreme Court case

According to prior Supreme Court rulings, a governmental body must consider race when drawing districts if it is to comply with the requirements of the Voting Rights Act; however, if race is the predominant consideration in the process, the governmental body may be subject to a racial gerrymandering claim.

Members of the public may submit a redistricting plan that complies with guidelines to be adopted by the City Council. Proposed guidelines include the following: any submitted plan must be a complete plan showing the configuration of all districts and not just a selected one or several; and plans submitted for consideration must follow the adopted redistricting criteria.

City Council plans to hold several special sessions for redistricting in October, November, and December. A final plan needs to be adopted and submitted in advance of January 19, 2022 when candidates will begin to file for the May 2022 City Council elections.

Special redistricting City Council meetings will be open to the public and broadcast on the City’s website and on GTV cable channel 10. Details on these meetings will be shared once they have been determined. Information on the City Council redistricting process will be posted at georgetown.org.

The sidewalk accessibility improvement project on the Square will move to the east side of Austin Avenue on Tuesday, Oct. 19.

The outside, northbound lane of Austin Avenue will be closed at Seventh and Eighth streets for the project for the next three to four weeks. Improved, accessible sidewalk ramps are being constructed on the northeast corner of Seventh Street and Austin Avenue, as well as on the southeast corner of Eighth Street and Austin Avenue. The sidewalks will be closed at these corners during the construction work.

The project will improve accessibility and pedestrian safety at the intersections with new ramps and bulb-out areas that will shorten the distance for pedestrians crossing Austin Avenue. In the last two weeks, the sidewalk pedestrian ramps were improved at the northwest corner of Seventh Street and Austin Avenue and at the southwest corner of Eighth Street and Austin Avenue.

The inside, northbound lane and both southbound lanes will remain open to traffic during the project.

The City of Georgetown, in partnership with APD Urban Planning & Management and the neighborhood steering committees for San Jose and Track Ridge Grasshopper (TRG), invite Georgetown residents to participate in the final public meetings for the San Jose and TRG neighborhood plans.

“This last community meeting is really important for the neighborhood to attend,” said Chasity Hattley, TRG Neighborhood Plan Steering Committee chair. “At the meeting, we are going to share the vision statement and the goals and recommendations gathered from the neighborhood over these last six months. We are proud of the process so far, and we as the Steering Committee want to make sure we have the understanding and support of the entire neighborhood.”

These final community meetings will share the final vision and goals for the neighborhoods, as well as recommendations on topics such as housing, transportation, land use, and zoning. Example recommendations range from safety improvements, like sidewalks and traffic management, to ways to celebrate the history and culture of each neighborhood through public art. These recommendations are the result of public input gathered during two community meetings, as well as six meetings with each of the neighborhood steering committees.

The meetings in November are designed as open houses, with a presentation made at the start of each meeting.

Following these meetings, the project team will finalize the recommendations for each neighborhood plan and will present those recommendations to the City Council in December, with consideration of adoption in early 2022.

• San Jose meeting details: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, Annie Purl Elementary Library, 1953 Maple St.
• TRG meeting details: 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, in the Hewlett room at the Georgetown Public Library, 402 W. Eighth St.

“Volunteer members of the San Jose neighborhood have spent several months making sure that the concerns and issues in our neighborhood were given attention,” said Christina Calixtro, San Jose Neighborhood Plan Steering Committee chair. “As the city of Georgetown continues to grow, we have already seen gentrification in our TRG area. I’d like to strongly encourage my neighbors and their families of the San Jose Neighborhood to attend the last community meeting regarding the outcome of the work that has been put into the plan of preservation for San Jose.”

More about Neighborhood Plans

As the City of Georgetown began its effort in August 2020 to create neighborhood plans for the TRG and San Jose neighborhoods, City staff and neighborhood representatives surveyed the residents of both neighborhoods. Since that time, City Council has approved $200,000 toward funding the work, including hiring a consultant to help with the planning process. Using the August 2020 survey results as a starting point, the City is beginning a study of the neighborhoods to learn more about what residents want to preserve, change, and improve. The Neighborhood Plans capture residents’ ideas and make recommendations on how to achieve them. Recommendations range from future development, housing affordability, and infrastructure projects, such as building sidewalks or installing stop signs, to historic and cultural celebration, such as art installations. The City and APD Urban Planning & Management held public meetings for the neighborhood plans June 30, July 1, Sept. 1, and Sept. 2, 2021, along with 12 steering committee meetings in the past six months.

More information about small area plans is available at 2030.georgetown.org.

A mosquito trap sample collected Oct. 5 in north Georgetown has tested positive for West Nile virus. This testing is part of the City of Georgetown’s participation in the Williamson County and Cities Health District’s (WCCHD) Integrated Vector Management program. The positive test was indicated in lab results received Oct. 6 from the Texas Department of State Health Services lab in Austin.

The sample was collected from a trap near Diamond Dove Trail and Airport Road.

West Nile virus is the most common mosquito-borne disease in the United States. In 2021, there have been eight mosquito samples pools that returned positive for West Nile virus in Williamson County. This is the first positive trap in 2021 at this location. The last positive trap collected at this location was October 2016.

The City and the Health District are encouraging everyone to be especially vigilant about protecting themselves from mosquito bites when outdoors and preventing mosquito breeding on their personal property. Recent rain and continued warm temperatures are prime breeding conditions for mosquitoes.

While there have been no reported incidences of human infection of West Nile virus in Williamson County this year, symptoms of infection may include fever, headache, and body aches, a skin rash on the trunk of the body, and swollen lymph nodes. Those age 50 and older and/or with compromised immune systems are at a higher risk for severe symptoms, which may include stiffness, disorientation, coma, tremors, vision loss, paralysis, and in rare cases, death.

City of Georgetown parks staff will continue mosquito control efforts with the treatment of standing water with larvicide, and WCCHD will continue enhanced monitoring and testing, along with increased public outreach and education. The City is prepared to take additional action if necessary.

Mosquitoes are present in Central Texas year-round, but the population is largest and most active from May through November. During this period, WCCHD monitors the mosquito population and tests for mosquito-borne viruses.

The most important way to prevent West Nile virus is to reduce the number of mosquitoes where people work and play. Health officials strongly encourage everyone to remain vigilant about protecting themselves from mosquito bites and preventing mosquito breeding on their personal property. Mosquitoes breed in standing water, needing as little as one teaspoon. By draining all sources of standing water in and around your property, you reduce the number of places mosquitoes can lay their eggs and breed.

What you can do

Eliminating places where mosquitoes can breed and reducing the chances of mosquito bites are the most effective lines of defense against exposure to West Nile virus. As part of its Fight the Bite campaign the Health District recommends the 3 Ds of mosquito safety:

• Drain standing water in flowerpots, pet dishes, or clogged gutters so mosquitoes don’t have a place to breed and treat water that can’t be drained,
• Defend by using an EPA-approved insect repellent, and
• Dress in long sleeves and pants when outdoors.

For more information, go to the WCCHD website at wcchd.org or visit the Texas Department of State Health Services West Nile website at txwestnile.org.