After a failed motion to deny the Serenity Ranch Municipal Utility District agreement, Georgetown City Council members gave initial approval for the 112-acre development to proceed in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction.

The details: Located south of CR 150 and east of I-35, the Serenity Ranch MUD has plans for different housing types and amenities over several phases, including:

• 300 units of multifamily housing

• 271 single-family lots

• 160 townhomes

• 30,000 square feet of commercial space

• 15.4 acres of parkland

The developer will commit to road infrastructure upgrades to support the development, according to city documents.

What they're saying: MUDs operate by levying an additional tax on homeowners in order to construct necessary infrastructure that adds "extraordinary public benefit," according to city documents.

District 6 council member Jake French said that the road construction proposed by the developer may not align with the city's MUD guidelines.

Additionally, District 3 council member Ben Butler opposed the cost of the MUD tax rate.

The Williamson County Healthcare Provider Participation Program will now have two separate rates that contribute to a dedicated bank account, following approval from the Commissioners Court on Oct. 27.

What happened: Following negotiations between the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the assessment calculation was updated from the single-rate models.

Rather than the traditional one-rate structure, the program will now draw from a rate based on net patient revenue from inpatient hospital services and another from outpatient hospital services.

What it means: The healthcare program subsidizes the cost of treating patients without insurance or those covered by Medicaid through mandatory assessments collected from local private hospitals, such as Ascension Seton and Baylor Scott & White.

That money collected from private hospitals is then sent through state-administered programs and matched with federal funds, to be redistributed to the participating local hospitals through the local provider participation fund, or LPPF.

A guide to Austin-area Christmas tree farms highlights eight local options for harvesting or purchasing pre-cut trees in 2026:

• Elgin Christmas Tree Farm in Elgin offers choose-and-cut pine and Cypress, plus pre-cut Fraser Fir, starting Nov. 21.
• Pipe Creek Christmas Tree Farm in Pipe Creek features choose-and-cut Afghan Pine, Leyland Cypress and Arizona Cypress, alongside pre-cut and living trees, starting Nov. 23.
• Evergreen Farms in Elgin opens Nov. 27 with Virginia Pine, Leyland Cypress, Arizona Cypress and pre-cut options.
• Jenschke Orchards in Fredericksburg sells choose-and-cut trees and pre-cut Noble, Nordmann and Douglas Firs starting Nov. 27.
• Lee County Christmas Trees in Lincoln offers choose-and-cut Virginia Pines and Murray Cypresses starting Nov. 27.
• Grigsby Farms in Salado provides fresh-cut Fraser Firs and handmade wreaths starting Nov. 27.
• Brungot Farms in Cedar Park supplies Fraser Fir wreaths, trees, stands, lights and delivery starting Nov. 22.
• Sweet Eats Farm in Georgetown offers choose-and-cut Murray Cypress and pre-cut Fraser and Douglas Firs starting Nov. 28.