Georgetown Re-certified a Scenic City
For the second time in five years, Georgetown was recently certified as a gold-level Scenic City by Scenic Texas. Georgetown was initially certified as a gold-level Scenic City in 2010 and was one of 20 cities to be certified or re-certified this summer.
Georgetown is one of 58 cities in Texas to be certified as a Scenic City. Georgetown was presented with its Gold Scenic City Certification on September 24 at the Texas Municipal League annual conference in San Antonio.
The Scenic City Certification Program incorporates a comprehensive set of model standards for design and development of public roadways and public spaces into a cohesive assessment program. The program draws a direct correlation between the success of a city’s economic development efforts and the visual appearance of its public spaces and recognizes municipalities that implement high-quality scenic standards.
The Scenic City program includes a variety of criteria such as parkland designation, landscaping, historic preservation, sign restrictions, litter prevention, and other standards for public places. Achieving the Scenic City certification recognizes regulations and programs that improve property values and help to attract new businesses. Cities that qualify earn a five-year certification.
“Georgetown’s Scenic City Certification demonstrates its commitment to high-quality standards for public roadways and public spaces,” said Anne Culver, executive director of the Scenic City Certification Program. “This enhances Georgetown’s image which in turn drives economic development.”
City employees who contributed to the Scenic City certification effort are (pictured left to right): Laurie Brewer, Kimberly Garrett, Jackson Daly, Nat Waggoner, Julie Dominguez, Karen Frost, and Mike Stasny.
Scenic Texas, the sponsor of the certification program, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing the visual character of Texas by promoting enhanced design standards for public projects, sign regulation, freeway landscaping, and scenic byway development. Find out more at www.scenictexas.org.
Updated: Mosquito Samples Positive for West Nile Virus in 78628
Updated 2015/10/29: New maps added; Areas have been sprayed Wednesday and Thursday mornings and will be sprayed Friday morning (Oct 30), weather permitting.
- Map: Route 1 – Spray Area – Oct 27 2015
- Map: Route 2 – Spray Area – Oct 27 2015
- Map: Sprayed areas – Oct 27 2015
Mosquito samples collected last week from two locations in the 78628 zip code in Georgetown have tested positive for West Nile Virus. The two positive tests were indicated in lab results received yesterday afternoon from the Texas Department of State Health Services lab in Austin.
The samples were collected in traps on October 20. The species of mosquito that tested positive for West Nile Virus was Culex quinquefasciatus, also known as the Southern house mosquito. This species of mosquito has a flight range of about one mile.
Due to the number of children and adults who will be outside in the evening for trick-or-treating on Saturday, the City is implementing insecticide spraying in the vicinity of positive samples. (See maps of spray areas at right. Click on the maps to see a larger version.) A City vehicle will use a permethrin-based insecticide along the street right-of-way and in public parks from 1 to 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, weather permitting. The use of the insecticide is to reduce the adult mosquito population in the area. The City is developing a schedule with details on neighborhoods where spraying will be done and will publicize that schedule as soon as it is available.
The mosquito sampling and control effort is part of a county-wide program each year by the Williamson County and Cities Health District to trap and test the insects for West Nile Virus. The City of Georgetown participates with the health district in the program.
The City also continues to use larvicide tablets to treat standing water found on public property. “Every week in the warmer months, our employees are putting larvicide disks in standing water on public property,” says Ed Polasek, transportation services director. “We really need residents to help us by draining pans and flower pots and putting larvicide disks in puddles or ponds on private property.”
There have been no reports of human cases of West Nile Virus in Williamson County this year.
“With the recent rains and warm days ahead, I don’t expect our mosquito populations to drop for several weeks,” says Catherine Zettel Nalen, integrated mosquito management program specialist with WCCHD.
The City and the health district remind residents to practice the Four Ds to reduce the risk of bites or WNV exposure:
- Dawn and Dusk are the times to try to stay indoors since those are times mosquitoes are most active.
- Dress in long sleeves and pants when outdoors.
- Drain standing water in flower pots, pet dishes, or clogged gutters so mosquitoes don’t have a place to breed.
- Defend by using an EPA-approved insect repellent.
Eliminating places where mosquitoes can breed and reducing the chances of mosquito bites are the best lines of defense against exposure to West Nile virus.
For more information on West Nile Virus, go to the WCCHD website at wcchd.org or visit the Texas Department of State Health Services West Nile website at txwestnile.org.
Formula 1 Driver Tries Police Driving Course
Millions of fans across the world will be watching the U.S. Grand Prix Formula One race at the Circuit of the Americas course in Austin this weekend. Driver Valtteri Bottas, a Finnish 26-year old on the Williams Martini Racing team, is currently fifth in the Formula 1 standings.
Before the big race day on Sunday, Bottas came to Georgetown where he tested his skills on a driving track for training police officers.
Bottas was invited to Georgetown several weeks ago by Karen Gilbert, a volunteer at the Georgetown Police Department and a huge fan of Formula 1. Gilbert contacted Bottas through a fan website and was surprised when he agreed to come.
“I invited him to come and play cop for a day,” says Gilbert, who mentioned the tactical training building and the driving track at the Public Safety Operations and Training Center.
Bottas arrived in Georgetown Tuesday morning where he was greeted by police officers and City officials. Then Sgt. Wyatt Raley put Bottas through his paces in training exercises at the tactical building.
Bottas also tested his skills driving a police patrol vehicle on the driving track. After a test run with Officer Casey Horsley, Bottas drove the course with sharp turns and obstacles and set a new course record of 1 minute and 36 seconds.
A crew with Off the Grid, an NBCSN TV show about Formula 1, filmed Bottas’ visit to Georgetown and his run on the driving track. The segment will be part of an Off the Grid show about the Austin Formula 1 race that will air on NBCSN on November 11.
Captain Evelyn McLean with the Police Department said one of the goals in inviting Valtteri Bottas to meet with officers at the facility was to give him a picture of what it’s like to be a police officer. Bottas told McLean that spending the day with police officers gave him a new perspective on the job they do. “Like driving in a Formula 1 race, we have to make decisions in a split second and make those decisions accurately,” says McLean.
Bottas is back in Austin and preparing for the practice sessions at Circuit of the Americas on Friday and a qualifying session on Saturday.
When Bottas races at 2 p.m. on Sunday, he is likely to have some new fans in blue from Georgetown cheering him on.
(Photos by Amanda Chron, Georgetown Police Department)
Collectible Ornament Sale: Southwestern Cullen Building
A limited-edition collectible brass Christmas ornament featuring the historic Cullen Building at Southwestern University is now on sale. The cost of the ornament is $20, tax included. The ninth annual ornament sale is a project of the Georgetown Main Street Program.
The Cullen Building was constructed between 1898 and 1900 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Romanesque limestone building at Maple Street and University Avenue is a landmark in Georgetown.
Known over the years as Old Main and the Administration “Ad” Building, the Cullen Building was renovated in the 1970s and again in 2012, and is now home to University administration offices and a number of classrooms. The building was renamed the Roy and Lillie Cullen Building in 1977 after funds from the Cullen Foundation of Houston enabled the university to complete the first major renovation of the building.
Cullen Building ornaments can be purchased at the Visitors Center, 103 W. Seventh Street or at the Art Center, 816 S. Main Street. Only 325 of the limited-edition ornaments are available. Ornaments typically sell out each year. Payments by cash, check, or credit are accepted.
All proceeds from the ornament sale fund Main Street projects and Façade Fund Grant Program.
FM 1460 Project Breaks Ground
Construction on the Farm to Market 1460 project officially started today at a groundbreaking ceremony with local, state, and federal officials. The two-year project by the Texas Department of Transportation involves building a four-lane road in the 3.5 mile segment from Quail Valley Drive to University Boulevard.
FM 1460 is a key north-south arterial between Georgetown and Round Rock. Currently FM 1460 is a two-lane road with no shoulders.
The new four-lane road with turn lanes will provide increased safety and mobility between the hospitals and higher education facilities in Round Rock and residential and employment areas in Georgetown.
The new four lane highway also will provide a north-south alternate and reliever to Interstate 35. When it is completed, FM 1460 will be a four-lane road from Austin Avenue in Georgetown to U.S. 79 in Round Rock where continues as the four-lane A.W. Grimes Boulevard to the 45 Toll Road.
Georgetown residents voted to approve transportation bonds in 2008 authorizing funding for the project.
The total cost of the project is $34.7 million, including design and engineering, environmental clearances, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocations, and construction. The total includes $13 million from the City of Georgetown, $11.4 million in federal funding, $7.8 million in state funding, and $2.6 million from the City of Round Rock and Williamson County.
Call for Arts and Culture Grant Proposals
The Georgetown Arts and Culture Board invites grant proposals for art, music, theatre, and cultural heritage events or projects to take place in Georgetown between December 1, 2015 and September 30, 2016. The total budget for grants is $20,000. Recent grants have averaged $2,000 apiece. Nonprofit organizations, schools, and informal arts and culture organizations are eligible to apply.
Proposals should be no more than 2 pages long and include:
- Purpose and description of the event or project
- Amount being requested and total budget, including other anticipated funding sources (e.g., donations, ticket sales, other grants)
- Date, location, admission charge, and anticipated attendance
- Size and demographic makeup of past audiences or participants
- Contact information (phone and email) for someone who is readily available to answer questions about the proposal
Special consideration will be given for events or projects that meet one or more of these criteria:
- Are free and open to the public
- Include outreach to populations that are traditionally underrepresented
- Have a cultural tourism or economic impact (e.g., events that may attract people who also attend other arts & culture venues or events, stay overnight, shop, or dine in Georgetown)
Organizations that receive funding will be required to follow up by:
- Recognizing the City of Georgetown Arts and Culture Board in their advertising and programs
- Submitting a one-page report to the Arts and Culture Board no later than Oct. 1, 2016, with a description of the use of grant funds and copies of event promotion materials
The deadline for grant proposals is 5 pm on Tuesday, November 10, 2015. Organizations will be notified by email about funding decisions by November 30.
Submit grant proposals to Lawren Weiss, Georgetown Public Library, 402 W. Eighth Street, Georgetown, TX, 78626, or by email to Lawren.Weiss@georgetown.org.
Applicants who have questions about the grant process should contact Library Director Eric Lashley at 512-930-3551 or Eric.Lashley@georgetown.org.
Wind Turbines Powering Georgetown
Wind turbines are providing for Georgetown’s energy needs three months ahead of schedule. The Spinning Spur 3 wind farm near Amarillo, which was projected to start producing electricity in January, became operational September 28. The wind plant is now providing energy to meet most of Georgetown’s daily power needs, positioning Georgetown on the path to a 100 percent renewable energy goal.
The Spinning Spur 3 wind farm owned by EDF Renewable Energy produces 194 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power 58,200 homes annually. Georgetown’s 20-year contract is for 144 megawatts.
The 18,000 acre Spinning Spur 3 plant has 97 wind turbines, each of which produces 2 megawatts of power, or enough to power 600 homes annually. Electricity generated at the Spinning Spur 3 wind farm is sent to Georgetown via transmission lines.
The grid will ensure a constant power supply to Georgetown if the turbines are not online, but on most days, Georgetown’s energy needs will be supplied by the wind plant. When a solar plant comes online at the end of 2016, Georgetown will have enough power under contract to serve the entire demand for the utility.
In March, the City of Georgetown announced that the municipal electric utility will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy by 2017. The utility will be powered by the EDF Renewable Energy wind plant and a SunEdison solar farm that will be constructed near Fort Stockton next year.
Art Hop Exhibit at Art Center and Library Oct. 2-30
The Georgetown Art Center and the Georgetown Public Library are the locations for the 2015 Art Hop exhibit. Now in its eighth year, the Art Hop is a statewide arts competition that celebrates Texas artists. Hundreds of artists from 71 cities across Texas entered works in the competition; 150 works of art from 112 artists were selected to be exhibited in the show.
The competition categories include 2D Abstract, 2D Representational, 3D, Photography, and Printmaking. The 2015 Art Hop Judge Panel includes Fidéncio Duran, Claude Van Lingen, Jason Makepeace, Donna De Cesare, and Lynwood Kreneck.
An artist reception and awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, Oct. 4, from 2-5, and is free and open to the public. The progressive reception will take place at both the Georgetown Art Center and at the Georgetown Public Library in sequence:
Georgetown Public Library 2-3:15 pm
Georgetown Art Center opens 3:15-5 pm, with awards given at 3:45
The exhibit is free and open to the public, and will run at both locations through Oct. 30. The Georgetown Art Center is at 816 South Main Street, and the Georgetown Public Library is at 402 West 8th Street. For more information, visit georgetownartcentertx.org.
Phone Scammers Pose as City Employees
Phone scammers who claim to be requesting payment for a City of Georgetown utility account have recently called Georgetown utility customers. Seven local businesses have contacted the Customer Care Center for the utility to report someone calling and trying to get them to pay a utility bill over the phone.
Don’t be fooled.
A similar phone scam targeted local businesses and residents last year. The Georgetown Police Department has been notified of the current scam attempt.
The City utility does not call customers and demand payments over the phone says Leticia Zavala, customer care director for Georgetown Utility Systems. If a bill payment is overdue, Zavala says there is a three-step notification process:
First, late notices are mailed to customers with unpaid balances the day after the billing due date.
Second, an automated phone call is provided to the phone number on the account two weeks after the billing due date.
Third, a second automated phone call is provided to the phone number on the account three weeks after the billing due date.
It is strictly against policy for any customer service representative to accept payment in the field.
If customers have questions about a utility bill, call the Customer Care Center at (512) 930-3640 before giving out financial information regarding your utility account.
Finance Chief Micki Rundell Retires
When Micki Rundell was hired as the City’s accounting director in 1993, Georgetown was a little town with a population less than 18,000. Georgetown has more than tripled in size and is now a fast-growing city of 56,000. Along the way at major milestones marking Georgetown’s transition from small town to city, Rundell has been there, helping to navigate the financial route at each key point.
Today she retires, marking her last day working in an office in the basement of City Hall—the former post office on Eighth Street—where she has worked since her first day 22 years ago. During her tenure in the Finance and Administration Division, Rundell was promoted to finance director in 2000 and then chief financial officer in 2010.
Rundell grew up in Temple and then moved to Salado where she went to high school. She later graduated from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton with a degree in finance.
When she started with the City of Georgetown Accounting Department in 1993, Rundell used Lotus 1-2-3 to create spreadsheets on a 386 computer, which she recalls was the “super machine” of its day.
The first major project Rundell worked on was in 1993 when Del Webb contacted the City about building the Sun City development in Georgetown. Initially, she said, “We had no clue what we were dealing with.” Rundell says she spent weeks creating financial models to determine the impacts of the project and helped devise a mechanism to pay for the utility infrastructure to serve it. The initial plan for 6,500 housing units seemed hard to imagine at the time, but the projections have proven accurate. Sun City Texas is now among the largest planned retirement communities in the country.
In 2001, the dot com bust combined with a change in direction from the City Council led to one of the biggest challenges in Rundell’s career. Past practice had been to use utility revenue to balance the city budget. But in 2001, the council voted to end “what-it-takes-to-balance” transfers from the utility, creating a $3.5 million shortfall in the budget. Rundell remembers sitting in her office with Jim Briggs from the utilities and Laurie Brewer from accounting where they created nine different options or “scenarios” to address the shortfall. The council chose “Scenario H,” a moniker now infamous in city lore associated with Rundell. Scenario H included a package of cuts and phased tax rate increases that eliminated undefined utility transfers. The result was a disciplined budget that no longer depended on utility transfers, but employed a set 7 percent return on investment to the general fund. The shift that Rundell engineered was a big one, which led to later bond rating upgrades due to the City’s sound financial practices.
Another key turning point was in 2003 when the City negotiated agreements with Simon Property Group for the Wolf Ranch retail center. The shopping center that opened in 2005 has given Georgetown residents a place to buy clothes and household items instead of making trips to Round Rock or Austin. Sales tax revenue from Wolf Ranch has been a major boost to the City budget and helped to keep more retail spending in Georgetown.
Rundell cites two more milestones in her career—the acquisition of the Chisholm Trail Special Utility District and the Rivery Sheraton hotel and conference center project—that will likely been seen in the future as key turning points. Rundell believes that the Chisholm Trail deal that was finalized last year and provides a reliable water provider in Georgetown’s key growth corridors to the northwest, which ensures continued quality growth in that area. The Rivery Sheraton Hotel and conference center will be a major boost to the city’s tourism and event sectors when it opens next year.
In addition to her work for the City of Georgetown, Rundell has served on the standing Debt Committee of the national Government Finance Officers Association. She also served as president of the Government Finance Officers Association of Texas, an organization representing 1,000 finance professionals in the state.
Though she didn’t think she’d make it through the first year when she started in 1993, she did, and she says, “It’s been a great ride. It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve this community. I feel truly blessed.”
Rundell plans to stay here in Georgetown after she retires. “This is my home. My friends are here,” she says. Rundell has some home improvement projects in mind and has some ideas for volunteering.
And having made hundreds of presentations to the City Council about budgets and projects over the years, she doesn’t rule out the possibility that she may be back at a future meeting to offer her input—as a citizen.