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HomeMy WebLinkAboutreporter.jan07© City of Georgetown, 2006 VOL.5 • NO.1 A Publication of the City of Georgetown January 2007 The Palace Theater The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), weekends: Dec. 28 – Jan. 7 Oliver, weekends: Feb. 2 to March 11 Details at www.thegeorgetownpalace.org, or call (512) 869-7469. First Friday Jan. 5 Downtown shops, galleries, and restaurants open 6 to 8 p.m. Downtown Happening s Upstairs houses the main collection as well as two large community rooms with a kitchen, a computer instructional classroom, a Texas history room, study rooms, and many other study or reading areas. During the month of January, library staff will be setting up shelving and moving the old collection to the new building. The old library at 808 Martin Luther King, Jr. Street will close at 5 p.m. on Saturday, December 23. During the move, no materials may be returned and the bookdrops will be locked. Library materials checked out after December 9 will not be due until January 20. A general amnesty on overdue charges for library materials will be in effect during the December 23 to February 1 period. Meeting place. Reading room. Study hang- out. Performance space. Learning center. Coffee shop. Research collection. New Library Grand Opening on January 20 The 2006 Red Poppy Festival planning committee included (front row, l. to r.) Lucas Adams, Cari Miller, Marcy Henry, Cathy Cody, Tom Homerding, (back row) Hope van der Heijden, Everett Sturm, Karen Frost, and Kevin Stofle. Georgetown’s Red Poppy Festival was awarded the best promotional event in the state by the Texas Downtown Association in November. “I was especially impressed by how well Georgetown promotes this event,” said Bob Ray Sanders, columnist and editor for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and awards judge for the annual competition. Cari Miller with Georgetown Convention and Visitors Bureau, who is the coordinator for the annu- al festival, said it could not happen without the help of more than 50 volunteers, including a core of ten who serve on the event committee. “There are so many people that play a part in it. I have a lot of really great volunteers,” Miller said. The 2007 Red Poppy Festival will be held April 28 – 29. The new Georgetown Public Library will be many things to many people. A community focal point, it will bring us together in ways we have not yet imagined. And it all begins on January 20 when the new library celebrates its Grand Opening. “Drop by at lunch time or bring the kids over after school. It belongs to all of us, and we want everyone to come and see it,” says Eric Lashley, director of the Georgetown Public Library. “It seems big. Really big. And that’s good, because now we’ve got room to keep pace with our rapidly growing city.” The new building at 402 W. Eighth Street features an area for reference and more computer work stations, an expanded children’s area with with a performance space, and a coffee shop with an outdoor patio. Eric Lashley, Library director says, “It seems big, really big. And that’s good.” Ninth Street entrance windows are accented with authors’ names. Red Poppy Festival Wins Statewide Award The Georgetown City Reporter is a publication of the City of Georgetown Public Information Office located in City Hall, 113 E. Eighth Street, Georgetown, Texas, 78626. For questions or comments, contact Keith Hutchinson, Public Information Officer for the City of Georgetown at (512) 930-3690, or by email at pio@georgetowntx.org. Discover the latest news about the city at www.georgetown.org Imagine a regional center for the arts in Georgetown. Such a place could increase the vitality of the downtown area and act as a nucleus to inspire, instruct, and entertain. Imagine a collaborative gallery for artists, demonstration and workshop space, a sculpture garden, performance space, low-cost live/work space for artists, and a brew pub/coffee house for relaxed gatherings. Could all this exist in our downtown? To answer this question, the City of Georgetown, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and private donations are financing a visit by Artspace to our community. Representatives from The “winter averaging period” is now a thing of the past after the City Council approved a new flat charge for sewer service to residen- tial and small commercial customers. Water use will no longer be used as a proxy for wastewater use with the flat fee that was approved in November. City finance staff proposed a monthly sewer rate of $29.90 for residential and small commercial customers. The final rate should be approved by the council in January and will take effect with April billings. Industrial and large commercial customers, including large retail stores, restaurants, apartment complexes, and full-service supermarkets, will be charged based on volume to reflect their increased impact on the wastewater treatment system. The new flat rate eliminates the need for an averaging period, as well as any link between water usage and the sewer charge for residential or small commercial customers. “In the past, people may have let plants die during dry winter months due to the impact of irrigation on their sewer charge,” says Kathy Ragsdale, utility office manager for the City of Georgetown. “The new flat rate means there is no connection between water usage and your sewer charge. You simply pay for the water you use, and the sewer charge is completely separate.” Like a flat fee or “access charge” for local phone service or trash collec- tion, a flat sewer fee reflects the fact that most of the cost for providing wastewater service is related to over- all system costs for the construction and maintenance of wastewater plants and lines, rather than varia- tions in household usage. In addition, the flat fee makes sense since there are no cost effective methods for meter- ing wastewater out- put. The new flat fee also addresses billing problems for customers with sewer service but no water service. The average residential customer will see a small increase in the sewer charge since wastewater utility costs have gone up. This is due to state- mandated sewer line replacements to protect the Edwards Aquifer. The new flat rate includes the full cost of these state-mandated repairs, while the previous rate structure did not. The second reason for the increase to the average residential customer is that the new rate structure elimi- nates a subsidy from commercial to residential customers. For details on the new flat sewer fee, see the news item at www.georgetown.org. New Flat Rate for Sewer Charge No more averaging of water use to determine fee New Year’s and MLK Day Closings City offices closed Jan. 1 and Jan. 15 No trash pickup Jan. 1. Trash pickup slides one day for remainder of week Regular trash pickup Jan. 15 2007 Animal Calendar The 2007 Georgetown Animal Shelter calendar is the perfect gift for your favorite animal-lover. Featuring some of the most photogenic ani- mals in Georgetown and their “people,” this 12-month wall calendar is sure to put a smile on your face. Available at the shelter for $10.00, all proceeds help to support the lives of homeless pets. Drop by the shelter at 110 W.L. Walden Drive next to the McMaster Fields to claim your calendar before supplies run out! Artspace, a not-for-profit developer, will meet with potential stakeholders and present information in a public meeting at 7 p.m. on January 24 at the new public library. Artspace will then prepare a recommendation for consideration. Community benefits and costs, potential for attracting artists, and economic viability will be addressed. Artspace is the nation’s largest not- for-profit developer of live/work space for artisans. They have com- pleted 18 projects and are in the planning stages on 22 more. Learn more at www.artspaceusa.org. Could all this exist in our downtown? Exploring a Regional Arts Center Public meeting with Artspace on Jan. 24 How Dogs Became Dogs Pets and pastries lecture series A free talk on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. by Drs. Laura Hobgood-Oster and Jimmy Smith, Southwestern University professors and dog rescue volunteers. For details, call the Georgetown Animal Shelter at (512) 930-3592. Jackie Carey, shelter director, shows off one of the calendars.