Create the Vision — a joint project that will guide development of the community for the next 20 years — earned the City of Centerville and Washington Township an award of excellence for intergovernmental cooperation from the Ohio City/County Management Association (OCMA).
The award will be presented at OCMA’s winter conference in Worthington on January 26. OCMA’s Annual Awards Program honors communities and their administrators for their creative contributions to professional local government management.
“The Awards Program recognizes the quality contribution and leadership that managers in Ohio make to their communities. OCMA is pleased to provide this acknowledgement of the individuals and communities that have developed creative and successful programs promoting excellence in local government,” said Bob Harrison, OCMA’s Annual Awards chair.
The awards for 2006 honored local government programs and leaders that demonstrate the best in leadership and practice. The program also seeks to increase public awareness of the value of professional local government management, recognizing the outstanding work performed by elected officials, appointed managers, local government staff, and citizens who work together to address the most pressing issues facing today’s communities, the OCMA said.
In announcing the award, OCMA said:
“Centerville and Washington Township are suburban communities experiencing rapid growth and development, where open and agricultural-zoned land is quickly turning into new subdivisions of homes. Create the Vision is the new community Master Plan that will guide this development over the next twenty years. Input was gathered on land use, community services, education and learning, transportation, utilities, parks and recreation, economic development and community appearance. While the community plan was a joint effort between two governments, it also included cooperation from a park district, a school district, a senior center, a library district and a historical society.
“Create the Vision has created a more cohesive form of government between the city and township. The project has resulted in the township and city conducting an entire updating and rewriting of their land-use zoning codes. Defining this project as a joint community project, the mindset began to develop which has both governments seeking out new ways to cooperate and capture efficiencies together.
“The communities of Centerville and Washington Township jointly hired the professional consultant to facilitate the community meetings and assist in gathering input and drafting and writing the community plan. They also jointly funded a part-time position of a project manager with half of the salary paid by each entity.”
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