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Storm Water Management
City of Granite Falls Earns Municipal Excellence Award
Olympia, WA – On June 25, 2009, the City of Granite Falls was honored with a Municipal Excellence Award from the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) at their Annual Conference in Spokane.
The City of Granite Falls won the Public Works category for their Regional Stormwater Detention program. Reconfiguration of the outlet structure from man-made Lake Gardner allows it to function as a regional stormwater detention facility. Downtown Granite Falls drains to the lake via two streams. As a result of the project, development in the downtown core is not required to construct onsite storm drainage detention. Lake Gardner and the lands south of it are a city park.
In order to maintain water quality in the lake, the city requires water quality systems to be installed onsite as development and redevelopment occurs within the drainage basin. The project cost was approximately $85,000. To recoup this cost, the city implemented a new general facility charge for stormwater in 2007. Development in the downtown core may now proceed without the need for costly detention vaults or consuming limited space with detention ponds.
Out of 60 entries, Granite Falls’ entry was one of seven projects selected to receive an Excellence Award at AWC’s 76th Annual Conference. Entries are judged by subject category and each category has one winner. The awards are judged by individuals outside of AWC, who are selected for their knowledge of and enthusiasm for local government.
The Municipal Excellence Awards are presented to cities that have demonstrated outstanding achievements in promoting community excellence. The competition recognizes a community’s achievement and encourages other cities to develop similar programs. The hard work and dedication proven in each of the projects makes a community stronger especially when the focus is on improving tomorrow.
“The Municipal Excellence Award demonstrates the high level of innovation and commitment to developing strong communities by city officials across the state of Washington, said AWC Acting Executive Director Mike McCarty
AWC is proud of each of the cities that entered Municipal Excellence projects. It is that show of dedication and hard work that make
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