Georgetown Edition | January 2022

CITY&COUNTY

Updates on important issues facing local entities

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TOP STORIES TO WATCH IN 2022

WilCo ocials talk lessons fromWinter StormUri

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BY CLAIRE SHOOP

was mobility, particularly in the hilly western portion of the county. EMS has invested in $100 tire socks for each of the county’s 21 ambulances, Tydings said. Each vehicle is also equipped with sand for short-term traction. CAUSES OF DEATHS On Dec. 28, The Texas Department of Health and Human Services placed the nal death count as a result of Winter Storm Uri at 246, up from 210, six of which were in Williamson County.

WILLIAMSON COUNTY Emergency response ocials said the county is better prepared for any potential icy weather this year following Winter Storm Uri, which left millions across the state without power, water and heat. During a Dec. 15 press conference, representatives from the county’s road and bridge, emergency management and EMS departments discussed what they have done to improve their response to winter weather and asked residents to prepare their homes nowwhile conditions are still good. “The lessons learned—and we spent about six months going through an after-action review—fromWinter Storm Uri, I absolutely feel better prepared,” EMS Operations Division Commander Ed Tydings said. Emergency Management Director Michael Shoe said the county learned the importance of coordination and being more proactive in the wake of Uri. To this end, he said the county is already communicating with utility providers and identifying dialysis centers and fueling stations that will be open during bad weather. Tydings said during Uri, the biggest challenge facing EMS

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Georgetown's population growth Georgetown's population grew from 47,279 in 2010 to 66,880 in 2020.

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Number of deaths

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Carbon monoxide exposure

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Motor vehicle accident

Exacerbation of pre-existing illness

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SOURCE: STATE OF TEXASCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

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Ubiquity given approval to build open-access, ber-optic network throughout Georgetown

Fiber-optic networks have a longer shelf life than traditional cable net- works, Dial said. This new network also has the potential to serve the city for up to 40 years, he said. “Georgetown has a single cable provider, and there isn’t a ton of ber in the city,” Dial said. “Our view is that we put this infrastructure in the ground and we open it up to anyone else who wants to sit on top of it. That can be in your standard internet service provider brands, and it could be things ve or 10 years down the road that we don’t know about today.”

SOURCE: CITY OF GEORGETOWNCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

French wins open District 6 seat on City Council Jake French held o Chere Heintzmann with 311 votes to 253 for his opponent, to take the seat opened up by the resignation of Rachael Jonrowe on July 6 due to personal reasons. “I’m grateful to all of the supporters who helped fund this campaign and gave me insight into running,” French told Community Impact Newspaper . “It’s humbling and I feel very privileged that the people of District 6 elected me to represent them.”

BY TRENT THOMPSON

be used by cell phone, cable and internet providers to bolster service in the city, Managing Director Greg Dial said. The network will be able to connect to 80% of the city and 95% of businesses throughout Georgetown, according to the release. Ubiquity will announce its rst service provider tenant in January and plans for the rst customers to come online in summer 2022.

GEORGETOWN The city approved private infrastructure investment rm Ubiquity to build a $75 million open-access ber-optic network throughout the city during a Dec. 14 City Council meeting. Ubiquity plans to nish building out the ber-optic network within two to three years, according to a press release. The network can

GEORGETOWN EDITION • JANUARY 2022