Schneider Engineering has completed its assessment of the City’s practices related to purchasing and managing energy. This assessment is one of many efforts to help improve the financial performance of the City’s energy portfolio.

“The purpose of this assessment is to help the City work through a process to better manage energy contracts,” City Manager David Morgan said. “I think this is a candid and thorough assessment of our current processes and a recognition of blind spots and shortcomings up to this point.”

“I am looking forward to bringing in new partners to help us improve the day-to-day management of our energy portfolio and putting in place policies and procedures that reduce our financial risks moving forward,” Morgan said.

The report highlights several key steps to improve the management of the electric utility. First, the report suggests securing new third-party energy management partners that more rapidly respond and react to changing market conditions and better ensure against market volatility. Along with bringing on new partners, the report recommends focusing internal and external resources on increasing the oversight and accountability for decision-making regarding portfolio management.

Second, the report suggests developing new measures to evaluate portfolio performance, as well as clarifying the process for how these measures are shared in meaningful ways to different audiences. Additionally, the report recommends making better use of the power cost adjustment, or PCA. The PCA allows the City to recover costs associated with purchasing energy.

Third, Schneider recommends 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.

Finally, the assessment recommends studying alternative governance structures for the electric utility (e.g., a separate oversight board) and the implications of opting in to the competitive retail market to fully mitigate the City’s risks associated with operating the utility. This study should focus on understanding the financial implications for customers as well as the City, with a specific focus on how the existing long-term power supply contracts could be addressed when opting in to the retail market.

The assessment will be presented during the regularly scheduled City Council workshop on Tuesday, May 14, at 3 p.m. The City will also host a public meeting to present the findings and answer questions from the public on Monday, May 20, starting at 6 p.m. The town hall-style meeting will be in the Council and Court building, located at 510 W. Ninth St., as well as broadcast on Suddenlink Channel 10 and on georgetown.org/gtv.

Schneider was selected to complete this assessment after a competitive bidding process. Prior to starting the assessment, Schneider presented its scope of work and project plan to City Council at its March 26 workshop meeting.

“This summer, the City Council will review agreements with new energy portfolio managers who will be better able to respond to the complicated and dynamic energy market, as well as provide more data and market insight to inform our decision making,” Morgan said. “Additionally, we will be working on a recruitment and staffing plan for the management of our electric utility to best meet these challenges moving forward.”

The grand reopening for businesses along Williams Drive has been moved to June 1 due to the forecast for rain this Saturday. The event will be from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 1. The party will be held in the parking lot of Lone Star Circle of Care located at 2425 Williams Drive.

The event is a celebration of the businesses affected by the recent evacuations in and around the intersection of Williams Drive and River Bend in Georgetown. The community is invited to attend this free, family-friendly event to support local businesses as they reopen. The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce is coordinating the event, with assistance from the City of Georgetown and Williamson County. The event is sponsored by Atmos Energy.

“This community has proven itself to be incredibly generous and resilient,” Georgetown Chamber of Commerce President Jim Johnson said. “This celebration is a great opportunity for each business to showcase themselves and reopen their doors with strong sales and lots of customers.”

The event kicks off at 9 a.m. with a ceremonial ribbon cutting and remarks from Georgetown Mayor Dale Ross and Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell. Complimentary food and beverages will be provided throughout the event, including food from Mariachis de Jalisco, the Pit BBQ, Golden Chick, and Hydrate Smoothie & Juice Bar.

Informational booths will be staffed by representatives from the affected businesses. Live music, a dunk tank, bounce houses, face painting and a City, County, and Atmos Energy vehicle showcase will run throughout the event. Additionally, attendees will have the opportunity to compete for prizes.

More details about the event can be found at GTXBacktoBiz.com.

About the evacuations

Atmos Energy responded to an underground gas leak on Feb. 20 in Georgetown. Subsequent evacuations affected 140 residences and businesses in the Williams Drive and River Bend area as a result of residual gas underground. Atmos Energy extracted the underground gas, repaired leaks, and has committed to continue pipe replacement projects in Georgetown in the coming months.

Atmos Energy paid claims to affected businesses, connected businesses with resources and facilities to continue their operations, and committed to processing claims throughout the evacuation. Atmos Energy will continue to provide support and work through the claims process with those affected as they reopen for business.

The Williamson County Elections office on May 4 has posted final unofficial results for the City Council District 3, 4, and 7 elections on May 4 in Georgetown.

These are the unofficial final results with 21 of 21 polling locations reporting:

To see complete May 4, 2019, election results, go to wilco.org/elections.

Votes will be canvassed at a special City Council meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, May 13, in Council and Court building, 510 W. Ninth St. During that meeting, newly elected City Council members will be sworn in, and the council will select its mayor pro tem.

In a recent scoring of the safest cities in Texas, Georgetown was ranked No. 3 for cities above 50,000 population. The ranking by SafeHome.org gave Georgetown an overall safety score of 86.49 on a 100-point scale.

The ranking also placed Georgetown at 62 among the safest cities in the U.S., which means that Georgetown is in the top 25th percentile in the U.S. among safe cities. Georgetown is one of only four cities in Texas to make it to the top 100 safest cities on the national level.

“Georgetown is a safe city for many reasons,” said Georgetown Police Chief Wayne Nero. “The men and women of the Georgetown Police Department are engaged with the community, and I’m proud of what they do every day help to keep us safe. Even more important though are the residents of Georgetown. There is a spirit here of helping each other, of protecting each other, and of taking care of each other. I think that spirit more than anything else makes Georgetown such a safe place to live.”

The safest cities rankings are based on FBI crime statistics, the police officer-to-population ratio in a city, crime trends, and demographic factors.

To see the full listing for Texas’s safest cities, go to www.safehome.org/safest-cities/tx.

Long-time General Manager of Utilities Jim Briggs announced his retirement today. After more than three decades with the City of Georgetown, Briggs will step down at the end of September.

“Jim is a pillar of Georgetown and in the utility profession,” City Manager David Morgan said. “His tremendous contributions to the city organization and our community are greatly appreciated.”

Briggs began with Georgetown in 1986 as the public works engineer. In 1989 he was promoted to the director of public utilities. He was promoted again in 2000 to the assistant city manager for utility operations, and in 2010 he was named the general manager of utilities. Between November 2014 and May 2015 Briggs served as the interim city manager. He is a proud graduate of Texas A&M University.

During his career, Georgetown experienced tremendous growth. In 1986, Georgetown had a population of approximately 13,000 people, 6,000 water customers, and 7,000 electric customers. In 2019, Georgetown’s population is estimated to be near 70,000 people, with more than 45,000 water customers and 25,000 electric customers.

“I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to grow professionally in such a great community and a great career in Georgetown,” Briggs said. “I honestly didn’t think I’d be here more than a couple years when I started.”

“Seeing Georgetown grow from a small, rural community to a thriving, innovative city has been both challenging and rewarding. A long career as a public servant certainly allows you to leave an impression on a community, and for the community to leave an imprint on you.”

Briggs was initially hired to help construct the Lake Water Treatment Plant and manage the first significant utility bond projects for the City. Other notable achievements during his career include negotiating the City’s consolidation with the Chisholm Trail Special Utility District, advocating for Georgetown before the Texas Legislature, securing long-term water supply for Georgetown, including helping secure the Stillhouse-Georgetown raw water pipeline and collaborating with Round Rock to interconnect the water systems for increased reliability.

Briggs was instrumental in initiating the quarter-cent sales tax for street maintenance, overseeing the separation from the Lower Colorado River Authority, helping to negotiate purchased power agreements, and establishing the area’s first reclaimed water utility and Georgetown’s stormwater utility.

During his tenure, he helped close the City landfill, contract for solid waste management, and negotiate the development agreements with Del Webb Sun City and Wolf Ranch by Hillwood. He worked to complete the Southwest Bypass, recruit the Citigroup data center, and manage wastewater planning that led to improvements such as the Pecan Branch Wastewater Treatment Plant, the South San Gabriel River wastewater basin improvements, and the Berry Creek Wastewater line.

Throughout his career Jim has served on various utility planning boards, professional organizations, and trade associations. Currently, he is a board member for the state’s regional water planning group and a long-standing member of Texas Public Power Association board of directors.

He was named Citizen of the Year by the Williamson County Sun in 2014, awarded the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce Cornerstone Award for Economic Development in 2017, received recognition from the Environmental Protection Agency in 1993 and 1996 for operational excellence, received the Texas Municipal Utility of the Year in 1999, the American Public Power Association National Safety Award in 2000 and the Community Service Award for “A Safe Place” in 2003, and added to TPPA’s Texas State Honor Roll in 2005.

Briggs will continue serving the City through September, with a focus on preparing the 2020 budget, as well as overseeing utility planning.

At the annual meeting of the Texas Library Association last week, Georgetown Public Library Director Eric Lashley was named Librarian of the Year. The annual award is given to a librarian in Texas who has shown extraordinary leadership and service within the library community over the past 12 to 18 months.

The Librarian of the Year award recognizes that Lashley has implemented “innovative approaches to the technological and existential challenges libraries face and developed a dynamic, beloved public library that is a model for others across the state and the country.”

At the City Council meeting on Tuesday, Mayor Dale Ross honored Lashley with a proclamation and declared that April 23 was Eric Lashley Librarian of the Year Day in Georgetown in recognition of the award.

Under Lashley’s leadership, last year the Georgetown Public Library was awarded the National Medal for Museum and Library Service by the Institute for Library and Museum Services, which is one of the nation’s highest honors for libraries. Georgetown Public Library is only the second public library in Texas to win the National Medal.

Lashley has served as the library’s director for 18 years. In that time the community supported a bond election to build a new library that opened in 2007. Current library programs include a film series, storytime for children, teen events, a bookmobile, music concerts, art displays, a social work outreach position, and summer reading performances and events. Lashley also helped to establish the Georgetown Public Library as a Family Place Library offering programs and materials to nurture early learning young children.

In addition to his work at the library, Lashley helped downtown Georgetown to become a state-designated Cultural District, was instrumental in the creation of the Georgetown Art Center near the downtown Square, and has helped to bring outdoor public art to the library and around the Square.

Last week, rating agency Standard and Poor’s affirmed the City’s AA+ bond rating. The City has maintained this rating since 2009.

The factors cited in Georgetown’s rating include strong economic growth, strong management practices and financial policies, a strong budget process, and good cash and debt management.

Per the report, “Georgetown is one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities with a population of more than 50,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. To date, we think the city’s very strong management has successfully ensured Georgetown’s long-term sustainability by implementing strong financial practices and policies to address growth-related challenges.”

Independent rating services such as S&P provide these evaluations each year. This rating is used by the bond market to help bond buyers understand the creditworthiness of a city’s debt. The rating indicates the financial strength of a city and its ability to pay off debt in a timely fashion. Strong ratings allow cities to borrow money at reduced costs because there is less risk associated with the loan. AA+ is the second highest credit rating S&P provides.

“I’m very proud that Georgetown has maintained our excellent bond rating for more than a decade,” Mayor Dale Ross said. “I know going forward, City Council is committed to maintaining, and even improving, our rating. Right-sizing future debt issuances, maintaining Georgetown’s very low tax rate, and focusing our efforts to ensure on-going, high-quality economic growth is critical to our continued success.

“It’s noteworthy that S&P highlighted our strong management practices,” Ross said. “Specifically, they complimented the City’s use of data and financial models, coupled with the quarterly updates shared during City Council meetings that include detailed budget-to-actual financial information.”

The 2019 debt sale will take place at the council’s April 23 meeting. The proceeds from the sale will fund voter-approved street, sidewalk, and intersection improvements. Proceeds will also be used to upgrade public safety vehicles and equipment, radio communication equipment, fire stations and parking facilities, as well as the airport and the stormwater system.