Contact:  Jim Jaquish
Phone:  404.463.3194
E-mail:  jjaquish@atlantaregional.com

Feb 17, 2010

 (ATLANTA) — The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) recognized five local governments today for their innovation and efforts to make the Atlanta region a better place.  The CREATE Community Awards are given annually to commend and share outstanding programs by local governments in the Atlanta region.

Local government initiatives were awarded in the areas of Community Building and Involvement, Regional Prosperity & Economic Development, Environmental Sustainability, Application & Innovation in Technology and Educational Excellence. 

“Without our hard-working local governments constantly finding ways to fix problems and creating new opportunities for improvement, the Atlanta region would be just another metropolitan area,” said Chick Krautler, ARC Director. “Instead, it is a place that attracts people from all over the country and world to live — the second-fastest growing region in the nation over the last decade.”

ARC’s 2009 CREATE Community winners are:

Community Building & Involvement

AWARD WINNER – City of Duluth, Duluth Citizens Budget Committee

With the City of Duluth facing a $4 million budget shortfall in 2009, and half of the city council seats up for re-election, council members decided to open the books to the public. Believing that the citizens would make responsible decisions, the council formed a 40-member committee, including HOA presidents, community business and civic leaders, and anyone else who was interested in the budget process.

The budget committee recommended that the city begin charging higher fees for services and begin charging for some services that were previously free. These additional fees, such as higher ones for dumpsters and for appearing in municipal court, should generate approximately $2 million in revenue this fiscal year. Combine that revenue with budget cuts made by city directors and throw in a little money from the reserve fund – some of which will be replaced with SPLOST revenue -- and you have a balanced budget. You also have a citizenry with a better understanding and appreciation of the challenges faced by its elected officials and vice versa.

Duluth plans to form another budget committee for 2010.

Contact:  Alisa Williams

678-475-3506

awilliams@duluthga.net

Environmental Sustainability

AWARD WINNER – City of Sandy Springs, Water Conservation Incentive Program

Sandy Springs does not own a water utility. However, this innovative program is making a positive impact on the environment, the city’s residents and the residents of neighboring communities that share the same water supplies.

The program, created with the help of the local business community, provides building permit rebates for developers in exchange for the use of water conservation techniques and technologies. Since June, when the program became law, the city has distributed more than 300 Residential Water Conservation kits from the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management, developed a Water Conservation page on the city’s Web site and trained local inspectors on the specifics of the program.

The city hopes to expand its efforts to reduce water usage in the future and is currently evaluating its existing conservation efforts and identifying other strategies it could employ to become more sustainable.

Contact: Nancy J. Leathers

770-730-5600

Nancy.leathers@sandyspringsga.org

Application & Innovation in Technology

AWARD WINNER – City of Suwanee, Social Media Initiative

While most government agencies are still testing the social media waters, Suwanee has decided to jump head-first into the pool.

The initiative revolves around the city’s Facebook page. Like many other communities, Suwanee uses this page to announce upcoming events and other news. Unlike most other communities, Suwanee has two staffers tasked with monitoring the page and posting to it at least twice a week.

By using Facebook, Suwanee not only communicates to its residents, but is also able to listen to and “converse” with its almost 3,000 fans, many of whom represent a younger segment of the population than is reached by more traditional means. 46 percent of Suwanee’s fans are age 24 or younger.

Per the city’s extensive, but very flexible social media policy, posts, even negative ones, are not removed unless they contain vulgarity. Suwanee’s policy is so progressive and thorough that copies have been requested by local governments as far away as California.

Contact:  Matthew Robinson

770-632-4271

mrobinson@peachtree-city.org

Educational Excellence

AWARD WINNER — Cobb County, Cobb County Safety Village

Education is the key to reducing risk and protecting residents. Designed primarily for elementary-aged children, the Cobb County Safety Village goes the extra mile.

On the eight-acre site is a large multi-use building with classrooms, a cafeteria, an auditorium and employee offices. There is also a station where residents can get a free inspection of their car-seat installation in a covered, heated garage.

The Safety Village is a child-size representation of Cobb County, complete with trees and scaled-down models of operative buildings with signage, streets, traffic lights and homes. The site features four distinct areas, each of which presents its own unique opportunity to teach children how to react when faced with fire, crime and disaster emergencies, as well as drug and alcohol awareness and pedestrian safety.

Since it opened, twice as many students have been trained for safety than the county could reach by sending public safety officers to schools. The village makes the training easier and more effective. It also reduces the man-hours needed for training children, and affords the opportunity to train adults, as well. Cobb County is developing an adult curriculum that focuses on public and workplace safety.

Contact:  Robert Quigley

770-528-1000

rquigley@cobbcounty.org

Regional Prosperity & Economic Development

AWARD WINNER -- City of Morrow, Olde Town Morrow

What’s old is new again in downtown Morrow.  This is thanks to the Olde Town Morrow project, which has established a downtown shopping district where none existed before and taken the first steps toward revitalizing a mall that many believed was on the downhill slide.

Located just off I-75 at exit 233, Olde Town Morrow is adjacent to Southlake Mall. The new entertainment district provides residents and visitors with shopping, restaurants, art and recreation. Developed by Morrow’s Downtown Development Authority, it works in conjunction with the Morrow Conference Center.

What’s unique is the way in which the project was developed – much of it on flat-bed trucks. Realizing that building an historic downtown district would be cost prohibitive if done the old fashioned way, the city identified historic structures around the state and moved them to the site. They found that homes and businesses scheduled for demolition frequently cost no more than the moving expense, and they found that people were often happy to donate old family homes that they could no longer maintain.

Now, small businesses have a place to thrive in Morrow. Already, Olde Town is home to a Christmas shop, a clothing boutique, a bakery, an art gallery and an Irish pub, to name a few. And, Southlake Mall has increased opportunities for traffic, as well.

Contact:  Sylvia Redic

770-961-4002

sylviaredic@cityofmorrow.com

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