City wins prestigious award

Colorado City is the recipient of a second prestigious award through the Texas Municipal League.

C-City received the City Spirit Award for communities under 25,000 for their entry “Reclaim Colorado City” during the opening general session at the TML Annual Conference in Houston on October 12.

“This is a pretty prestigious award for us,” Amie Wood, community development director, said. “Our program was much larger and encompassed more things than cities 10 times our size. It put us on the map.”

Reclaim Colorado City is a three pronged program aimed at enforcing city ordinances with the demolition of 51 dilapidated and dangerous structures, addressing waste disposal issues with modern dumpsters and a recycling collection facility, and the restoration of the Baker Hotel, a historic landmark which has been neglected for five decades.

Additional projects which counted toward the city’s award were curb-side pickup, community garden, community visioning retreat, city website, improvement of park walking trails, and the passing of the Heritage Preservation Ordinance.

Winners were announced through a video presentation. Colorado City representatives who attended the award ceremony were: Mayor Carol Sue Dakan, City Manager Pete Kampfer, Councilmembers Bobbie Banks, Sammy Contreras, and Keith Hiser, Community Development Director Amie Woods and Public Works Director Jeff Ellis.

“I think this is the direction the city has been needing to go for many years,” Dakan said. “Being proactive and moving forward, we’re saying ‘we’re a neat little place to live.”

Demolition of dilapidated buildings is not something new to Colorado City. According to Dakan, 108 homes were demolished in the late 1980s under the direction of Brenda Kelly, Bertie Kidd and Jan Lemons with the city’s blessing.

“We need to be working more for the convenience of the people in this town,” Dakan said, citing the new Blackboard Connect system as a way for the town to notify citizens of everything from impending bad weather to major water leaks and planned utility outages.

The video representation featured at the awards assembly is available on YouTube at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BelucqD2veY&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Colorado City also received the regional Texas Midwest Community Network award in October 2010.

“The more points we accrue through these awards, the more it puts us in the running for grants and awards and certification programs,” Wood said.