City of Hoquiam Earns Municipal Excellence Award

Hoquiam, WA - On June 24, 2010, the City of Hoquiam will be honored with a Municipal Excellence Award from the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) at their annual conference in Vancouver.



The City of Hoquiam won the Public Works category for their Residential Sidewalk Partnership Program. Out of a city visioning process, Hometown Hoquiam, that had over 223 citizens participate, came one of the priority goals to improve sidewalk infrastructure. This includes new sidewalks where none existed, and replacement of deteriorated, dangerous sidewalks. The city started a program working with homeowners to replace sidewalks in front of their homes. The city pays for the labor and the homeowner pays for the concrete (approximately $10 per lineal foot).

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When the program started in 2008 the city replaced approximately 1400 lineal feet of residential sidewalks. In 2009 over 2,100 lineal feet of sidewalks were replaced at 31 homes. There are 75 homeowners on the waiting list at the start of the 2010 season, and they anticipate completing 30-50 sidewalks this year.



Out of over 50 entries, Hoquiam’s entry was one of seven projects selected to receive an Excellence Award at AWC’s 77th 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.



Now in their 20th year, 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 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 CEO 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 Washington’s cities and towns so great.