The Envision Skagit 2060 project has won a 2012 Governor’s Smart Communities Award recognizing outstanding local planning and community development efforts from throughout the state.
Envision Skagit 2060 is one of just two projects selected statewide for the Smart Vision Award category, recognizing exceptional examples of comprehensive planning. Winners were selected by a panel of statewide leaders in growth management and community development from a total of 20 nominations. The awards were announced by the Governor’s office in a press release on Friday (see below). An article in Saturday’s Skagit Valley Herald reported on the award: Skagit Valley Herald June 9 2012
The Envision Skagit nomination, submitted by Skagit County, focused on the project’s first and second phases, conducted between 2009 and 2011, and culminating in release of the Envision Skagit Citizen Committee’s Final Report and Recommendations in October 2011.
The Envision Skagit project is currently in its third and final phase, during which elected officials from the various jurisdictions that make up the Skagit Council of Governments are discussing the Envision Skagit Citizen Committee’s recommendations. None of those jurisdictions are obligated to adopt the recommendations. But they have helped to stimulate valuable dialogue among the county, cities and towns, tribes, ports and other special purpose districts about common interests in maintaining a strong local economy and a high quality of life.
The Envision Skagit 2060 project is funded with two grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with matching contributions from Skagit County and other project partners mostly in the form of donated staff and volunteer time. The project’s recommendations do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency.
