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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReporter July 2012© City of Georgetown, 2012 VOL. 10 • NO. 7 A Publication of the City of Georgetown July 2012 near the Georgetown Municipal Airport and water wells in Sun City. This well water used for irrigation is not treated. Due to the cost of extending dedi- cated “purple pipe” distribution lines, it is financially feasible to pro- vide the reclaimed water to very large commercial customers like golf courses, but not smaller commercial or residential users. In addition to the use of reclaimed water, Dishong says a shift to land- scapes that don’t require much water will help to reduce the overall irrigation demand. For example, Zoysia and Bermuda are drought- tolerant grasses that require much less water than St. Augustine. By providing reclaimed water to large irrigation users, the City reduces the peak demand on drink- ing water treatment plants, which extends the capacity of the water treatment system. It also makes sense to use the reclaimed water for irrigation rather than water that is treated to drinking water standards. says Glenn Dishong, utilities direc- tor. “So we want large commercial customers like golf courses to use the reclaimed water.” The irrigation utility can supply up to 4.5 million gallons of reclaimed water each day to golf courses and parks. The reclaimed water is not treated to the same standards as drinking water, but does meet stan- dards for irrigation and incidental public contact at a park or golf course. The cost of the reclaimed water is $1.05 per thousand gallons for the large commercial users. Reclaimed water from the San Gabriel Wastewater Treatment plant is currently used for irrigation at San Gabriel Park, McMaster Athletic Fields, Southwestern University, and Georgetown County Club. Treatment plants near Berry Creek and Cimarron Hills supply irrigation water for golf courses in those devel- opments. Approximately half of the water used to irrigate golf courses in Sun City is piped from the Pecan Branch Wastewater Treatment plant. Other water to irrigate golf courses at Sun City comes from water wells Reclaimed Water Helps Meet Irrigation Demand For City of Georgetown elec- tric customers, the power cost adjustment or PCA will be reduced to $0.0015 per kilo- watt-hour from $0.01, start- ing with billings after June 1. The $0.01 PCA went into effect September 1 as a cost- recovery mechanism that cap- tures the increased cost of wholesale power not included in the base electric rate. The PCA is being reduced now that higher wholesale costs from last year have been recovered by the utility. The City purchases energy from wholesale suppliers including the Lower Colorado River Authority, CPS Energy of San Antonio, and AEP. Electric Power Cost Adjustment Reduced Independence Day Holiday City offices closed on Wednesday, July 4 There will be regular solid waste and recycling collection on July 4. In the hottest summer months, the water used for outside landscape irrigation is about 70 percent of the total daily water use in Georgetown. One way that the City reduces the use of treated drinking water for irrigating lawns is through the irrigation utility. Established in 2001, the City’s irri- gation utility sells reclaimed water from the City’s wastewater treat- ment plants to large commercial users such as golf courses. The irri- gation utility uses a “purple pipe” distribution system that is supplied and metered separately from drink- ing water. “The treated outflow from our wastewater treatment plants, if it’s not used, is discharged to the river,” Discover the latest news about the city at www.georgetown.org July Events Farmers Markets Sun City Market, Tuesdays: 9 a.m. to Noon, 2 Texas Drive at Social Center Georgetown Market, Thursdays: 3:30 - 6:30 p.m., New location: Church of Christ parking lot, 1525 W. University Avenue Details at www.gtfma.com Sertoma July 4Celebration Annual July 4 celebration in San Gabriel Park sponsored by the Georgetown Sertoma Club. Children’s parade with bikes and wagons starts at 11 a.m. by the low-water crossing. Entertainment at the gazebo starts at noon and lasts until the fireworks begin after dark. Visit craft vendors, a chil- dren’s area, and food vendors. Admission is free. First Friday,July 6 Downtown live music, shops and restaurants are open late. See the Downtown Georgetown Association website at TheGeorgetownSquare.com. The Palace Theater Annie Get Your Gun, June 29 – July 29 Details at GeorgetownPalace.com, or call (512) 869-7469. Market Days,July 14 Handmade arts and crafts, food, and more on the Square from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Details at TheGeorgetownSquare.com Fan Drive Helps to Beat the Summer Heat The Georgetown City Reporter is a publica-tion of the City of Georgetown PublicCommunications Department, P.O. Box 409, Georgetown, Texas, 78627. For questions or comments, contact KeithHutchinson, public communications director, at (512) 930-3690 or by email at keith.hutchinson@georgetown.org. The nonprofit organization Family Eldercare and the Georgetown Fire Department are working together to host the 2012 Summer Fan Drive in Georgetown. This summer-long effort collects fans for low-income residents including seniors, people with disabilities, and families with children. Funds for fans and air con- ditioning units also are collected. Fans can be donated at all four Georgetown fire stations. The fans donated in Georgetown will be given to Georgetown area residents who need them. Every summer, Georgetown fire- fighters respond to 911 calls for people who become overheated in their house or apartment. The resi- dence may not have air condition- ing, or it may have window units that don’t cool the whole home, or the air conditioning may not be working. Providing fans to residents without air conditioning “is preventing a potential future medical issue,” says Georgetown Fire Chief Robert Fite, “and it’s the right thing to do.” The Georgetown Fire Department par- ticipated in the fan drive last year and had an overwhelming response. The fan drive started in May and continues through August 31. Last year, Family Eldercare delivered nearly 7,000 fans and 170 air-condi- tioning units to almost 3,400 homes in 10 counties in Central Texas. Those eligible to receive a fan are low-income residents, including sen- iors who are 55 or older, persons who are disabled, and families with children. Air conditioners are avail- able on a limited basis to those with serious medical conditions. “Georgetown is a very giving com- munity, and we are proud to be a part of helping our citizens through this program,” says Fite. Donations for the Summer Fan Drive may be made online on the Family Eldercare website at www.familyeldercare.org. For more information, go to www.familyeldercare.org or call the Georgetown Fire Department at (512) 930-3473. When the City of Georgetown’s 9-1-1 emergency operators need to contact a neighborhood about an immediate threat to human life or property, such as a threatening wildfire or a fuel tanker spill, they can use the Emergency Notification System to quickly send a voice message to thousands of phones. If you only have a mobile phone, or if your home phone service is with Suddenlink or another voice-over-IP provider, then your phone number may not be in the 9-1-1 database. You can register a phone number at http://wireless.capcog.org. The cell phone registry and the 9-1-1 emer- gency communications database are provided by the Capital Area Council of Governments or CAPCOG. If you have questions or want to register a number by phone, call the CAPCOG Homeland Security Division at (512) 916-6035. By City of Georgetown ordinance, fireworks of any kind are not allowed in the City Limits of Georgetown or within 5,000 feet of the City Limits, unless they are used in a permitted display authorized by the Georgetown Fire Department. The relevant ordinance revision for this rule was enacted in 2006. Neither the possession nor the discharge of fireworks is legal in the City Limits or within the 5,000-foot buffer beyond City Limits. Violations can lead to fines of up to $2,000 per firework. To view a map showing the 5,000-foot boundary, go to: http://files.georgetown.org/ fireworks-ban-map. Emergency Notices to Your Phone Fireworks Prohibited Bike to Work On Bike to Work Day on May 18, a number of City employees rode their bikes to work and also biked to lunch together, after meet- ing at the Williamson County Courthouse. The event was sponsored by the City’s employee Wellness Committee.