By Nancy Montgomery, Council Member
Every month “In the Know” will appear in the local paper to bring you news of what is happening in Georgetown council, our services, and around our village.
The Georgetown Village Council is starting the new year with a newly elected member. Andy Clift joins Ginny Colwell, Kelly Cornette, Dave Guenther, Wade Highlander, and Nancy Montgomery, who was selected in August to fill a vacant seat.
Of the utmost interest to everyone is the water rate increase. The last rate increase was not passed on to citizens but was assumed by the village. The last increase in water rates to citizens was April, 2010. This increase is necessary to repay the current waterline loan which paid for improvements in our most vulnerable areas. We have experienced a high number of water main breaks in the last 3 years and low water volume in our uptown business area and our east end business district. These problems have been addressed. The increase will also help cover future maintenance to the water system which will save money in the long run. The increase will allow us to maintain our current water system and allow for infrastructure improvements for future economic development projects for the next 10 years. The EPA now requires the village to use an asset management plan and also mandates a rate increase to plan for future improvements. The next water system improvement will be replacing the water tower. A grant application will be submitted to help with this cost. A Powerpoint presenting information about our water system and requirements is posted on the village Facebook and page and the village website under Announcements.
The municipal building restoration is almost finished. The windows and a small amount of restoration on the east side is all that is left. Art Owens, village administrator, is restoring the gas lamps for the front of the building. The restoration was paid for by the Ohio Capital Budget through the Ohio Facilities Commission.
For the last 5 years the Brown County Chamber of Commerce has managed the Gaslight Theater. The village is looking for a new group interested in handling the theater which includes scheduling events, providing support for events, and cleaning up after the events. Anyone interested can contact the village administrator at 937-378-6395 Ext 1008 or email administrator@georgetownohio.gov.
The use of the old Speedway lot has been discussed for several months. The final decision is that the south half of the lot will be parking with 12 spaces. The north half will be used to create a Bicentennial Park dedicated to the history of our community. The Bicentennial Committee will design and fund the park with donations. It will include a display about the history of Georgetown, the time capsule to be buried during the Bicentennial, a donor display, a center focal point yet to be determined, walkways, benches, picnic tables, and landscaping including ornamental trees. The next Bicentennial Committee meeting is Wed., Jan. 17, at 7 PM in the Village Council chamber. Everyone with an interest in the Bicentennial is encouraged to attend. The Bicentennial celebration will be June 21-23, 2019.
The EMS recently received a grant from Workman’s Compensation to purchase a power cot. A power cot is motorized that automatically lifts and lowers with no manual assistance needed.
It can hold up to 700 pounds. Not only is this safer for some patients, it will reduce back injuries to our EMS personnel.
The Georgetown Village Council meets the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at 7 PM in the village council chamber. The public is always welcome and encouraged to attend. The next meeting of council will be Jan. 11, 2018.
There are multiple ways to stay in touch with your village. The village website is georgetownohio.org. We can be found on Facebook under Village of Georgetown Brown County Ohio. To be called in the event of any emergency, such as power outages, please call the village administrator to be added to the One Call Now system. You will then receive a call notifying you of any important information.
At the end of each month’s column will be statistics on the number of police calls and fire and EMS runs answered during the previous month. December, 2017’s statistics are below:
| POLICE | Dec. 2017 | 2017 |
| Call for Service: | 455 | 4980 |
| Traffic Stops: | 179 | 1862 |
| Reports: | 36 | 449 |
| Traffic Crashes: 56 | 3 | 56 |
| Charges into Mayor’s Court: | 89 | |
| Charges into County Court: | 38 | |
| FIRE | ||
| Calls | 17 | |
| EMS | ||
| Calls | 91 | |
| Transports | 73 |