City of Georgetown offices and facilities will be closed Tuesday, Dec. 24, and Wednesday, Dec. 25, in observance of the Christmas holiday. City offices also will be closed on Wednesday, Jan. 1, in observance of the New Year’s holiday. This includes the following:

• City Hall, 808 Martin Luther King Jr. St.
• Municipal Complex, 300-1 Industrial Ave.
• Municipal Court, 510 W. Ninth St.
• Parks and Recreation Administration, 1101 N. College St.
• Planning Department, 406 W. Eighth St.
• Public Library, 402 W. Eighth St.
• Public Safety Operations and Training Center, Police Records and Fire Support Services offices, 3500 D.B. Wood Road

City of Georgetown facilities with weekend or evening hours will observe these closures:

• Animal Shelter, 110 W.L. Walden Drive, closed Dec. 24-25, closed Jan. 1
• Airport Terminal, 500 Terminal Drive: closed Dec. 25, closed Jan. 1
• Collection Station, 250 W.L. Walden Drive: will close at noon Dec. 24 and is closed Dec. 25 and Jan. 1
• Garey Park, 6450 RM 2243: closed Dec. 24-25
• Public Library, 402 W. Eighth St.: closing weekdays at 6 p.m. and closing at 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, closed Dec. 24-25 and Jan. 1, regular hours resume Jan. 2
• Recreation Center, 1003 N. Austin Ave.: closed Dec. 24-25, open Dec. 31 (closing at 6 p.m.), closed Jan. 1, regular hours resume Jan. 2
• Tennis Center, 400 Serenada Drive: open Dec. 23 (closing at 6 p.m.), closed Dec. 24-25, open Dec. 26-29 (closing at 6 p.m.) closed Jan. 1, regular hours resume Jan. 2
• Visitors Center, 103 W. Seventh St.: closing at noon Dec. 24; closed Dec. 25, open Dec. 31, closed Jan. 1

GoGeo bus service

The bus will run on limited hours Dec. 24 from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. There will be no service Wednesday, Dec. 25 and Tuesday, Jan. 1.

Solid Waste and Recycling Collection

The holidays will affect solid waste and recycling pickups Dec. 25-Jan. 5. Collection days for Texas Disposal Systems customers will slide one day for the week. TDS will not collect waste on Wednesday, Dec. 25 or Jan. 1. Wednesday collection will slide to Thursday, Thursday to Friday and so on.

For questions about solid waste and recycling collection, call TDS at (512) 930-1715.

The results of the District 1 runoff election will be canvassed at a special City Council meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18, in the Council and Court building, 510 W. Ninth St.

After the election canvass, Mary Calixtro will take the oath of office as the City Council member representing District 1. Calixtro won the runoff election on Dec. 10 to fill the vacancy on the council.

The special election for District 1 followed the resignation of Anna Eby in August when she moved out of the district.

The Georgetown Bicycle Master Plan was approved Dec. 10 by City Council on second reading. The plan, which is a blueprint for future transportation projects and educational efforts for a safe and well-connected bicycle network, was adopted by ordinance as an amendment to the 2030 Comprehensive Plan.

Adding to the existing 35.6 miles of off-street paths or bike lanes in Georgetown, the plan proposes an additional 64.2 miles of off-street paths, bike lanes on streets, and sharrows, which are pavement markings indicating shared use by vehicles and bicycles.

Many of the projects proposed in the plan have low capital requirements and involve pavement markings or wayfinding signs. Some of these projects can be incorporated into City maintenance budgets in future years.

Priority projects in the plan with higher capital costs include: 1) bicycle/pedestrian bridges over the San Gabriel Rivers on Austin Avenue, 2) a bicycle corridor on Eighth Street, 3) a buffered bike lane on Main Street, 4) a higher elevation bicycle/pedestrian bridge across the river at Holly Street, 5) and a route on Maple Street including off-street paths and protected bicycle lanes. These projects and others will be considered for future capital improvement plans.

Five City boards and commissions reviewed the draft plan and provided feedback, which was incorporated into the document. Public input also included a presentation in Sun City and a public open house.

At the council meeting on Tuesday, the Bicycle Master Plan was dedicated to Tommy Ketterhagen, an avid cyclist from Georgetown who tragically lost his life in 2017 while cycling on Patriot Way in Georgetown. Tommy’s family (pictured above) was at the meeting to honor his memory.

The Bicycle Master Plan is posted online at transportation.georgetown.org/bike-plan.

The City of Georgetown is hosting a public meeting to collect feedback on proposed name changes to the City’s airport and terminal Dec. 19 at 6 p.m. in the Georgetown Council and Court building, 510 W. Ninth St.

At its Nov. 12 meeting, City Council reviewed a request to rename the Georgetown Municipal Airport to the “Johnny Gantt Regional Airport” and the Airport Terminal Building to the “Buz Landry Terminal Building.” City Council appointed Council members Steve Fought and Kevin Pitts, along with City Manager David Morgan and Assistant City Managers Laurie Brewer and Wayne Reed to a committee to review the request.

During the Dec. 19 meeting, attendees will be able to share feedback on the proposed names.

Per the City’s facility naming policy, the City will host a 30-day public comment period to collect additional feedback after the public meeting. A formal recommendation regarding the facility name changes will be made in early 2020.

For more information about the Georgetown Municipal Airport, visit airport.georgetown.org.

The City of Georgetown was recently awarded the ARMA International Award of Excellence for an Organization for its work to improve the application process for the City’s irrigation rebate.

Georgetown was recognized for transitioning a paper-based application process to an electronic process, reducing manual data entry and accelerating review and approval times for customers.

“ARMA is an internationally recognized professional association for records and information managers,” City Secretary Robyn Densmore said. “To be recognized for our good work this year is a huge honor.”

The award is given to one organization each year that has improved a records and information management or information governance program.

City staff from several departments, including Records Management, Conservation Services and Information Technology collaborated on the project.

The irrigation rebate application can be found at gus.georgetown.org/water/RebatesAndPrograms.

At its Dec. 10 meeting, City Council approved an agreement with Shell Energy North America to provide energy management services.

A request for proposals was issued in February. Twelve proposals were submitted to provide these services for the City. In August, City Council voted to proceed with contract negotiations with two finalists. Shell was selected based on their overall capabilities, cost, and the specific energy portfolio needs of the City.

Shell’s services include developing and making recommendations regarding how Georgetown’s energy is traded in the Texas energy market. They will also assist in forecasting energy needs, energy costs, and addressing challenges related to transmitting energy around the state, all of which affect the City’s costs associated with purchasing power.

“Shell is a critical partner for the City,” City Manager David Morgan said. “While we have always had partners to assist with our energy management, Shell provides a new level of expertise and proficiency at a lower cost than our previous partners.”

Progress on management assessment

In May, Schneider Engineering completed its assessment of the City’s practices related to purchasing and managing energy. The first recommendation was to secure new third-party energy management partners that more rapidly respond and react to changing market conditions and better ensure against market volatility.

Schneider also recommended developing and implementing a comprehensive risk management policy that sets boundaries on risk tolerances, financial obligations, and guides decision-making at all levels of the electric utility. City Council completed the first reading of a new energy risk management ordinance on Dec. 10, with a second reading scheduled for Jan. 14.

Finally, the assessment recommended studying alternative governance structures for the electric utility (e.g., a separate oversight board). City Council has had several discussions regarding a new Georgetown Electric Board to aid the City Council in policy oversight and reviewing monthly risk management policy updates, along with receiving periodic risk management policy compliance reports from an independent third-party. The new board structure is expected to be implemented in 2020.

Background on Georgetown’s electric utility

In 1910, Georgetown voters approved a bond to build the Georgetown Light and Water Works plant on Ninth Street. Over the last century, Georgetown has developed and maintained a highly reliable, community-owned and -operated electric utility. It is owned by the residents of Georgetown and reinvests directly in the community.

Historically, the electric utility has paid a return on investment to the City’s general fund annually. These dollars directly offset additional reliance on property taxes, sales taxes, or other revenues to operate core services like the police, fire, library, and parks departments.

Agreements related to a planned Costco Wholesale warehouse at the northwest corner of Interstate 35 and Lakeway Drive in Georgetown were approved by City Council at their meeting on Dec. 10. Costco is planning to open a 158,000 square-foot store at the location within five years.

The business is expected to create 235 new jobs and a have a net benefit to the City of more than $11 million over 10 years. The City’s return on investment is expected to exceed the cost of incentives within three years.

The Costco store in Georgetown is expected to increase the proportion of purchases by residents inside the city and reduce the city’s retail leakage to nearby cities. A 2016 study showed that Georgetown households spent only 32 percent of their total annual spending at local businesses. In addition, the Costco location is anticipated to attract shoppers from northern communities outside of the Austin metro region since there is currently no other Costco store between Georgetown and the Dallas metro area. Additionally, it will be the only Costco located on Interstate 35 in the region.

“This Costco store in Georgetown will provide a significant sales and property tax benefit to the City, which will help to fund City services such as public safety, the library, and parks and recreation,” Mayor Dale Ross said. “In addition, this store will increase our options and allow us to make more of our purchases here in Georgetown. Costco’s reputation as a quality employer means they will be providing good jobs for their employees, many of whom will be hired locally. This is a big economic development win for our community, and we look forward to welcoming Costco to Georgetown.”

At the meeting last night, the council approved the reimbursement of up to $2 million for two public roads for the Costco project. Funding by the Georgetown Transportation Enhancement Corporation for the roads is from a dedicated 0.5 percent sales tax in Georgetown for transportation projects for economic development. The Costco site will include a minimum of $20 million in capital costs for the project including the facility and public improvements.

A second item that was approved is a sales tax reimbursement agreement. Once the project is complete, the City will reimburse 50 percent of the sales taxes paid to Costco Wholesale annually. The reimbursements from the City’s general fund are limited to a maximum of $2 million total or 10 annual payments, whichever occurs first.

A third and fourth Costco-related item will fund natural gas infrastructure needed for the new store. A new gas line to serve the store is estimated to cost $1.2 million. A $400,000 portion of the cost of the gas line would be funded by the Georgetown Economic Development Corporation, which receives funding from a 0.125 percent sales tax revenue dedicated for economic development. The remainder of the line extension cost would be funded by Atmos Energy.

A fifth item related to Costco that was approved is the second and final reading of the proposed planned unit development zoning for the future store.

The Williamson County Elections office has posted final unofficial results for the City Council District 1 runoff election on Dec. 10 in Georgetown.

These are the final unofficial results for the District 1 election:

The City Council District 1 runoff election results are posted at the Williamson County Elections office website at wilco.org/elections.