Residents press council on Bridge Street redevelopment and water concerns

Residents at Monday's meeting urged the Georgetown City Council to prioritize redevelopment and public engagement around the Bridge Street corridor and raised concerns about the city's water supply.

David Wilson described ownership of an undeveloped parcel off Bridge Street (Roche Street), recounted historical closures at railroad crossings, and asked planning and engineering staff for clearer guidance on the process to develop and dedicate a road to the city for access. He requested that planning staff follow up with him.

Dan Holman urged the council to buy land in the Bridge Street area, develop a small area plan similar to other neighborhoods, and involve the public outside of social media. Holman referenced a recent housing needs assessment and said Rick Toney of the Housing Authority had highlighted the area as important for rejuvenation. Holman also raised water system capacity concerns: he said Royal Springs is at capacity and that options on the table include a potential multi‑hundred‑million dollar pipeline to bring additional water from Frankfort—he cited a figure of approximately $200,000,000 as an illustrative scale for that option.

Council and utility staff agreed to follow up: utility staff indicated many of Holman's submitted questions have already been addressed in prior meetings or written materials and that they would review open items and provide additional responses at upcoming council meetings. Staff also suggested setting up a project page on the city's website to publish studies, documents and Q&As to improve public engagement.