Wolf Lakes Village set for 2019 start
Initial plans for a mixed-use, master-planned 164-acre development called Wolf Lakes Village were approved by the Georgetown City Council at its meeting last night. The project includes office, retail, entertainment, hotels, and 2,400 housing units totaling 5.3 million square feet of development phased over several years.
The town center concept for Wolf Lakes Village features a walkable neighborhood with an amphitheater, open-air pavilion, plaza square, pocket parks, playgrounds, trails, and lakes. The project at the northwest corner of Interstate 35 and University Avenue in Georgetown is projected to begin construction next year. (Rendering credit: Wolf Lakes, LP)
Wolf Lakes Village is designed to include a regional employment center with more than 725,000 square feet of corporate office space that would be home to 4,500 employees. This type of development with office space will create a higher tax value than traditional retail development. The developer estimates the complete development to be valued at $1.7 billion by 2050, versus $460 million if developed as a traditional shopping center.
The dense, multi-use development planned for Wolf Lakes will have a variety of public infrastructure needs, including roads, drainage, utilities, structured parking, park development, and trails. A tax increment reinvestment zone for the Wolf Lakes development area—the fifth such zone in Georgetown—will be used to help fund this public infrastructure. The reinvestment zone sets a base year after which new property tax generated by increased values in the Wolf Lakes development will help to reimburse public infrastructure constructed by the developer. The new property tax value created within Wolf Lakes project itself funds the public infrastructure, not any property tax revenue from outside the Wolf Lakes reinvestment zone. The City of Georgetown will participate in the reinvestment zone at 70 percent of new valuation with a cap of $100 million in reimbursement over 30 years. Williamson County will participate at 50 percent of new valuation with a cap of $30 million over 20 years. Reimbursements can begin after 150,000 square feet of commercial development has been permitted.
Public improvements planned for Wolf Lakes Village include enhancements to nearby roads such as the I-35 and University Avenue intersection as well as other off-site improvements. The City of Georgetown is working with developers, Williamson County, and Texas Department of Transportation to proactively plan capital improvements to improve traffic flow in conjunction with development in the area.
Berry Creek Interceptor FAQ
The Berry Creek Interceptor is an underground non-pressurized wastewater line serving current and future developments along the State Highway 195 and Ronald Reagan corridors in Georgetown. A future segment of the line will be discussed at the Williamson County Commissioners Court meeting on Dec. 11, 2018. A public hearing about the proposed line will be held at the Williamson County Commissioners Court meeting on Dec. 18, 2018.
Learn more about the project at the Berry Creek Interceptor FAQ page.
Breakfast with Santa on Dec. 15
The 18th annual pancake Breakfast with Santa event is Saturday, Dec. 15, at the Community Center, 445 E. Morrow St. in San Gabriel Park. Georgetown firefighters will be making pancakes and sausage served with juice and coffee. The event is 7:30 to 11 a.m.
At the event, children can climb on board a fire truck, visit with firefighters, and have a free picture taken with Santa.
Tickets are $6 per person and can be purchased at the door on the day of the event or in advance at the Public Safety Operations and Training Center, 3500 D.B. Wood Road. Children age 12 and younger are free with a paid adult.
Breakfast with Santa is sponsored by the Georgetown Fire Department, Sun City Rotary Club, YMCA of Greater Williamson County, and Georgetown ISD.
All proceeds from Breakfast with Santa, as well as other fundraising, provides clothing, food, and gifts for children in the Georgetown area. Breakfast with Santa aims to help 180 children in need in Georgetown, provide clothing and gift cards to homeless teenagers in Georgetown served by The Georgetown Project’s NEST program, and provide help to Jarrell’s UMC Christmas outreach program.
Tax-deductible donations are accepted to help fund Breakfast with Santa. Checks should be made out to “Chisholm Trail Communities Foundation” with “Sun City Rotary – BWS” on the memo line. Mail the donation check to Chisholm Trail Communities Foundation, 116 W. Eighth St., Ste. 203, Georgetown, TX, 78626.
For details, contact the Georgetown Fire Department at (512) 930-3473.
City holiday string lights recycling available through Jan. 31
The City of Georgetown has partnered with Texas Disposal Systems to offer free holiday string-light recycling to all Georgetown residents. Georgetown was the first city in Central Texas to offer this service when the program launched in December 2017.
Residents can drop off their old or broken string lights through Jan. 31 at one of three collection stations:
- City of Georgetown Collection and Transfer Station, 250 W.L. Walden Road
- Georgetown Municipal Complex, 300-1 Industrial Ave.
- Georgetown Public Library, 402 W. Eighth St.
Sun City residents may also drop off old or broken string lights at the Cowan Creek Pavilion, 1433 Cool Spring Way, in Sun City.
The program is limited to string lights. Yard art, inflatables and other holiday lighting will not be collected. Lights must be taken to a collection station. String lights should not be placed in residential or commercial recycling bins because they can damage the sorting machines at the recycling center.
Last year, residents recycled more than 1,300 pounds of Christmas lights.
Blue Santa collects toys for children
Blue Santa’s elves are busy working to provide toys to children in need in Georgetown. Like they do every year, Blue Santa and his elves need your help.
A program of the Georgetown Police Department, Blue Santa provides toys to more than 1,500 children in Georgetown during its annual toy drive and distribution.
You can help Blue Santa by donating a new, unwrapped toy at the Christmas Stroll Parade on Saturday, Dec. 1. The parade starts at 10 a.m. New, unwrapped toys will be collected by Blue Santa Elves along the parade route, which is on Austin Avenue from Ninth to Sixth streets on the downtown Square.
In addition, toys may be dropped off in donation barrels in businesses and offices in Georgetown.
Monetary donations to purchase toys also are accepted. Checks to “CPAAA Blue Santa” should be sent to the Georgetown Police Department, c/o CPAAA Programs, 3500 D.B. Wood Road, Georgetown, TX, 78628. Donate $10 or more to Georgetown Blue Santa and you’ll receive a collectible Blue Santa Elf lapel pin.
Applications for assistance from Blue Santa must be turned in by Nov. 30. Applications are available online as well as at The Caring Place at 2000 Railroad St. and the Georgetown Police Department at the Public Safety Operations and Training Center at 3500 D.B. Wood Road. Children who qualify for Blue Santa are age 18 or younger, live in the Georgetown city limits, and qualify for the free or reduced lunch program at school or meet federal poverty guidelines.
For information about donation events and donations to Blue Santa, go to BlueSanta.Georgetown.org.
Collectible Christmas Ornament: U.S. Post Office Building
A limited-edition collectible brass Christmas ornament featuring the U.S. Post Office Building at 113 E. Eighth St. is now on sale. The 12th annual ornament sale is a project of the Georgetown Main Street Program. A limited number of the ornaments are available.
Ornaments may be purchased at the Visitors Center, 103 W. Seventh St. The cost of the ornament is $20. Payments by cash, check, or credit are accepted.
The building served as the post office from 1931 until 1991 when the City of Georgetown purchased the building to be used as City Hall. The city will be selling the building in early 2019 to a private developer, who plans to repurpose the building for a ballroom, restaurant, and bar.
All proceeds from the ornament sale help fund Main Street projects and the Façade Fund Grant Program.
Prop A street maintenance sales tax election results
The Williamson County Elections office has posted unofficial final results for the Proposition A street maintenance sales tax election on Nov. 6 in Georgetown. The proposition is for the reauthorization of a 0.25 percent sales tax dedicated to the maintenance of city streets in Georgetown.
These are the unofficial final results:
Votes | Percent | |
For | 21,742 | 80.11 |
Against | 5,399 | 19.89 |
To see a complete Nov. 6, 2018, election results, go to wilco.org/elections.
Georgetown wins $1 million in Bloomberg Philanthropies U.S. Mayors Challenge
Michael R. Bloomberg today announced Georgetown as a winner of Bloomberg Philanthropies U.S. Mayors Challenge, a yearlong competition that challenged city leaders to uncover and test bold, inventive ideas to confront the toughest problems faced by cities today.
Nine cities will receive $1 million to begin implementation on potentially breakthrough solutions to homelessness, the opioid crisis, mobility, climate change, and economic opportunity.
Georgetown was selected as a winner for their innovative approach to developing a “virtual power plant.”
Georgetown aims to lease rooftop space for solar panels and ground space for batteries from residential and commercial properties, offsetting the future need to purchase additional power from outside sources to meet growing peak power demand in this completely renewable energy-powered city.
While Georgetown is the first and largest city in Texas to secure 100 percent of its purchased power from renewable sources, there are cost uncertainty and reliability concerns related to transporting that energy over long distances. This plan will help shore up some of those uncertainties.
“Last year, the Georgetown City Council adopted a new vision statement: Georgetown: A caring community honoring our past and innovating for the future. Like all cities, we know in this radically changing world we need to be agile and innovative to remain sustainable, competitive, and resilient,” Georgetown Mayor Dale Ross said. “Bloomberg’s iterative approach helped us engage with the public in a way that dramatically improved our idea. With Bloomberg’s support, we’ve developed a model with greater community support and better financial viability. We look forward to making the ‘virtual power plant’ a reality.”
Georgetown joins Denver, CO; Durham, NC; Fort Collins, CO; Huntington, WV; Los Angeles, CA; New Rochelle, NY; Philadelphia, PA; and South Bend, IN as winners of the U.S. Mayors Challenge.
“Mayors across the country are tackling the big issues that Washington is ignoring. This competition is designed to help them do even more, by incentivizing and supporting big – and achievable – new ideas,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and three-term mayor of New York City. “Congratulations to all of the winning mayors, who represent cities large and small, in regions across the country. We look forward to seeing the results of their work — and to helping the ideas that prove most effective spread far and wide.”
The Mayors Challenge Selection Committee, co-chaired by Former Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and Former Xerox Chairman & CEO Ursula Burns, is comprised of distinguished policy experts, artists, academics, business executives, and social innovation leaders. The committee evaluated the cities applications based on their idea’s vision, potential for impact, implementation plan, and potential to spread to other cities to choose Georgetown as among the nine winning cities.
New to the Mayors Challenge this year was a 6-month “test and learn” phase where each of the 35 Champion Cities received up to $100,000 and technical assistance to test and build support for their ideas. Cities tested core components of their ideas with residents, improved and refined their proposals, and developed a plan for implementation and impact measurement.
“The process the City has undergone to test this idea is counterintuitive to how we typically work. Bloomberg’s iterative approach allowed us to present a rough outline of an idea and solicit public feedback that dramatically shifted the concept,” said Jack Daly, assistant to the City Manager of Georgetown. “This pivot helped us structure a new concept that had greater community support and better financial viability. Already the City is using the “test and learn” method in other programs like our ridesharing pilot and the update of our comprehensive plan.”
The U.S. Mayors Challenge builds on the success of previous Bloomberg Philanthropies-sponsored Challenges in the U.S. (2013), Europe (2014), and Latin America and the Caribbean (2016). Previous Mayors Challenge winners include São Paulo, Brazil with a program to increase farmers’ income and reduce urban sprawl; Barcelona, Spain for work to create digital trust networks that support at-risk elderly citizens; and Providence, RI, for a program to measure and reduce the “word gap” among low-income children during pivotal brain development years. For more information, visit mayorschallenge.bloomberg.org.
Low Cost Shot Clinic for Pets Nov. 10
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The Georgetown Animal Shelter will conduct its final low-cost vaccination clinic of the year on Saturday, November 10, 8:30-11 a.m. The walk-in clinic is for cats and dogs. Help protect your pet from diseases they can pick up outside!
Pets may also get a FREE microchip with the purchase of any vaccine. No appointments. Cash or check only. The shelter is located at 110 Walden Dr., Georgetown, next to the McMaster Athletic Fields.
Dog Vaccines:
Rabies $5
DHPP Combo $10 (Distemper, Hepatitis, Parafluenza, Parvo)
Bordetella $5 (Kennel cough)
Cat Vaccines:
Rabies $5
FVRCP Combo $10 (Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus, Panleukopenia)
All dogs must be on a leash and cats should be in a carrier. Payment is by cash or check only. (Debit or credit cards not accepted.)
The dates for low cost shot clinics in 2019 are listed here. The clinic will be held at the City of Georgetown Animal Shelter at 110 W.L. Walden Drive near the McMaster Athletic Fields. Contact the shelter at (512) 930-3592 or by email at animalsvc@georgetown.org. The City of Georgetown Animal Shelter website is pets.georgetown.org.
Open house to discuss historic resources and districts survey results
The City will host an open house meeting Oct. 29 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. in Council Chambers, 101 E. Seventh St., to discuss the results of surveys related to properties on the City’s historic resources survey and in historic overlay districts.
Individuals interested in providing feedback on the development process for historic properties can also sign up to meet with the City’s planning staff in 15-minute increments on Oct. 24 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. by emailing historic@georgetown.org.
The results of the City’s outreach efforts will be used to make informed decisions regarding what is working and any improvements that are needed to the development process related to historic properties.
For more information on the current processes, visit historic.georgetown.org.