Georgetown Edition | July 2023

CITY & COUNTY

News from Georgetown & Williamson County

QUOTE OF NOTE

City Council approves aordable housing project

Georgetown City Council will meet July 25 and Aug. 8 at 6 p.m. at 510 W. Ninth St., Georgetown. 512-930-3652. www.georgetown.org Williamson County Commissioners Court will meet July 25 and Aug. 1, 8 and 15 at 9:30 a.m. at 710 S. Main St., Georgetown. 512-943-1100. www.wilco.org MEETINGS WE COVER GEORGETOWN City Council will consider using special-use permits for CBD stores, vape shops and payday lending stores after directing sta˜ to prepare a future workshop to discuss the requirements. District 1 City Council Member Amanda Parr said this process would help facilitate a conversation about how many of these businesses there are in the city and where they should potentially go. NUMBER TO KNOW positive for West Nile virus in Georgetown from May 25-June 29, according to the Williamson County and Cities Health District. 2 The number of mosquito trap samples that have tested HIGHLIGHTS GEORGETOWN City Council gave initial approval to rezone 90 acres near the intersection of DB Wood Road and Cedar Break Road upon the annexation of the property for public facility zoning. This property is meant to serve as the site of Georgetown ISD’s third comprehensive high school, which is tentatively scheduled to open by 2027. A demographics report from January presented to the GISD board of trustees projected the district will add around 3,100 students over the next •ve years. GEORGETOWN City Council also gave the •rst of two required approvals to rezone 9 acres of land at 2020 Airport Road from single family to industrial and general commercial land. This site, which sits across the street from the Costco Wholesale that opened July 14, will house a development that will bring additional services, shops and jobs to the city, Hunt Group Project Manager John Lam said in a letter to the city. “THE CITIZENS BOND COMMITTEE VOTED UNANIMOUSLY THAT THERE'S SUFFICIENT NEED FOR A PARKS BOND ELECTION TO BE CALLED.” DAVID HAYS, WILLIAMSON COUNTY CITIZENS BOND COMMITTEE CHAIR

BY GRANT CRAWFORD

GEORGETOWN City Council narrowly passed a measure May 23 allowing Dominium Housing and Development LLC to apply for housing tax credits for the construction of a 250-unit a‡ordable housing the project said it will provide true workforce housing, while those opposed said the tax rami†cations are greater than the potential bene†t for residents. development near Hwy. 195. Council members in favor of The gist: Dominium, a multifamily housing developer, applied for a state 4% tax credit to build an apartment complex that provides additional workforce housing, which requires sign o‡ from the City Council. After a lengthy discussion, council members approved the measure 4-3.

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Dominium Housing and Development is planning to construct a 250-unit aƒordable housing complex in Georgetown. (Rendering courtesy Dominium)

A closer look: Dominium’s Northside Village will include two-, three- and four-bedroom units meant to serve residents who make no more than 60% of the area median income. For one person, the annual median income in Georgetown is $46,380. For a family of four, it’s $66,180. Through a partnership with Capital Area Housing Corp., the property will be tax exempt. As

County takes new approach to ooding BY CHLOE YOUNG WILLIAMSON COUNTY OŠcials will soon implement an operation —ood intelligence system to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergency —oods. The big picture: County leaders signed a contract with real-time —ood intelligence company FloodMapp on June 6, which enables the OŠce of Emergency Management to access FloodMapp’s tracking technology. a way to contribute back to the community, the developer pledged to make annual payments directly to the city, Williamson County and Georgetown ISD in lieu of taxes. The †rst proposed payment is $235,000, of which 62% will go to GISD, while the city and county will each receive 19%. The payment would also increase annually based on increases to the consumer price index.

City ocials to narrow possible bond projects

FUNDING FACILITIES City Council and sta˜ have agreed on three projects they want included in a November bond package with others still under consideration. $54 MILLION: City administration building $12 MILLION: Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter expansion $10 MILLION: YMCA partnership/ facility

BY GRANT CRAWFORD

GEORGETOWN City Council members and city sta‡ are narrowing down what projects could land on an upcoming November bond election with oŠcials showing interest in several facility improvements during a June 27 workshop. The potential bond would include roughly $300 million in projects.

SOURCE: CITY OF GEORGETOWN¡ COMMUNITY IMPACT

Committee recommends putting $1.8B road, parks bond before voters

BY CHLOE YOUNG

PROPOSED PROJECTS The Williamson County Citizens Bond Committee recommended a $1.8 billion bond for November that includes 59 transportation projects and 35 parks projects.

WILLIAMSON COUNTY The Williamson County Citizens Bond Committee recommended an almost $1.8 billion bond election for county roads and parks to the Williamson County Commissioners Court at a June 27 meeting, express- ing a need to accommodate the county’s growth. The update: The committee recommended a $1.68 billion county transportation bond for 59 projects along with a separate $78.96 million parks bond for 35 projects. Commissioners agreed a 2023 bond election could be nec- essary but that the †nal †gure will probably be much lower.

Transportation bond Parks bond $1.68 billion $78.96 million

Total: $1.76 billion

SOURCE: WILLIAMSON COUNTYˆCOMMUNITY IMPACT

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GEORGETOWN EDITION • JULY 2023

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