City Briefs
Georgetown City Council on October 14 approved a $1.4 million contract with Choice Builders LLC to repair San Gabriel Park’s low water crossing and retaining walls.
The work was classified as an emergency purchase, since according to the agenda item, the low water crossing is impassable for pedestrian use because of damage from the July floods.
Through the repairs, a new low water crossing will be installed and the retaining walls along the bank of the river by the water crossing will be repaired.
All funds for these repairs are available through the Fiscal Year 2026 Parks Capital Improvement Projects budget.
November meeting date change
The city council meeting scheduled on Tuesday, November 11, will be moved to Wednesday, November 12, because of Veterans Day. City offices will be closed on Veterans Day as well.
GFiber installation gets approval
Georgetown entered into a non-exclusive public right-of-way license agreement with GFiber Texas, formerly Google Fiber, to install fiber optic infrastructure in the public right-of-way to give users broadband internet access and Voice over Internet Protocol services.
Public Works Director Eric Johnson told council there would be minimal impact to traffic and few road closures.
Texas Commission on the Arts grants received
City council accepted Texas Commission on the Arts grants in the amount of $14,000 for lighting improvements to the Georgetown Art Center and $9,495 for the Month of the Arts events.
New lights will replace the outdated lighting and the discontinued track lights used at the Georgetown Art Center.
The Month of the Arts grant will help fund a Central Texas Philharmonic performance accompanied by a silent film screening, as well as the creation of two temporary murals done by the community.
Council purchases 53 vehicles for $6.7 million
Georgetown will buy vehicles from Silsbee Auto Group to maintain and expand the city’s fleet service. According to the agenda, the purchases will cost no more than $6,733,000.
This was approved in the FY 26 budget.
Approximately 53 vehicles were approved for purchase, including 23 new vehicles that will expand the fleet. The other vehicles will replace existing ones used by the city.
City manager can sign larger contracts
City council approved the first reading to increase the contract signature authority of the City Manager from $50,000 to $100,000 in accordance with Senate Bill 1173, which passed during the 2025 Texas Legislative session.
Contracts that must be approved by City Council have also increased from over $50,000 to over $100,000.
Amendment for water tank approved
Council members approved an amendment for the construction of a water tank near the northwest corner of Ronald Reagan Boulevard and State Highway 29.
The developer of the property is moving forward with a multifamily development and wants to expedite the water tank project for the development. The amendment from the city includes reimbursing construction costs up to $7.714 million, which is up from the original $7.5 million.
Since the city budgeted a total of $9 million for this project, there are funds available to cover the extra costs.
About 20 acres leaves city’s ETJ
A total of 20.9 acres across five properties were approved for disannexation from Georgetown’s extraterritorial jurisdiction:
- 4 acres in eastern Georgetown off County Road 152
- 1.197 acres in far west Georgetown off Ridge View Drive between Summer Oak Court and Park Place Drive
- 1.502 acres that abuts the previous property along the same street
- 5.7 acres owned by Hope Family Fellowship of Georgetown between Farm to Market 971 and the railroad tracks south to the south in east Georgetown
- 8.527 acres in southeast Georgetown off Eastview Drive next to the Our Lady of the Rosary Cemetery.