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	June 23, 2003 Six King County programs honored with National Association of Counties Achievement Awards King County Executive Ron Sims today announced that six King County programs will be awarded a 2003 National Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement Award. The programs are being recognized for excellency and promotion of responsible, responsive, and effective county government. "This acknowledgement represents the dedication of King County's industrious employees, who have gone above and beyond to improve our programs and increase efficiency during times of economic challenges," said Sims. The King County programs honored include: Institutional Network (I-Net) I-Net provides an affordable high-speed, broadband fiber-optic network that connects public sites including county facilities, school districts, area museums, and public libraries within King County. I-Net provides the capabilities to consolidate voice, data, and video communications. Larger participating institutions, particularly those with geographically dispersed facilities, can generate significant cost savings by taking advantage of these capabilities. I-Net also has the capability to enable participating agencies to share information quickly and securely. This can be particularly valuable for criminal justice programs between cities and King County. It also holds tremendous potential for sharing content from performing and visual arts locations to schools and libraries. I-Net currently serves 17 agencies and 154 sites. King County's progress with I-Net has recently received additional national recognition. In a June 2003 report that included a review of government-sponsored broadband initiatives, Gartner, a global technology research and consulting firm concluded that, "I-Net is an excellent example of the ability of a municipality to own and operate a carrier-grade network." Learn more about I-Net, at http://www.metrokc.gov/dias/its/i-net/inetover.htm. Household Hazardous Waste Collection on a Limited Budget This King County program succeeded in finding a more cost effective way of developing household hazardous waste disposal facilities and made hazardous waste disposal more convenient for King County residents, thus encouraging proper disposal. A study of regional household hazardous waste collection services determined that in addition to current fixed facilities in the City of Seattle and the mobile collection unit serving King County, a fixed facility was needed to serve King County residents east of Seattle. A pilot site was established and a budget of only $102,000 was set to include design and construction of the facility, well below the typical cost of Household Hazardous Waste facilities which range from $250,000 - $1 million. If the two-year pilot was successful, the project could be expanded. The fixed facility increased residents' access to household hazardous waste facilities from 6 to 12 days annually to 200 days annually. Residents now do not have to wait six months for the wastemobile to enter their area making disposal more convenient thus encouraging proper management of hazardous waste. Office of Civil Rights Web Site Recognizing that the Internet had a dearth of information regarding Fair Housing, the King County Office of Civil Rights (OCR) developed its Web site to meet this information need. Go to http://www.metrokc.gov/dias/ocre/HO.htm to see this outstanding site developed by OCR, whose mission is to "eliminate discrimination through education, mediation, and enforcement that is responsive to the needs of a diverse King County." This site provides extensive information to landlords, property managers, tenants and others about nondiscrimination laws, while OCR's Intranet site offers King County employees comprehensive guidelines and resources for compliance with disability access laws. In addition, OCR has developed educational pages for the King County KidsWeb (http://www.metrokc.gov/dias/ocre/kids.htm), with both Fair Housing and disability access information for middle and high school aged students. Web site statistics show that over the past two years, the number of visitors to the OCR site has quadrupled, the total number of "hits" has increased eight-fold, and the length of time visitors stay at the site has increased by 50 percent. OCR's Internet-based contacts have also increased markedly. The Internet site has enhanced the level of citizen participation in and understanding of government programs. The Intranet site has upgraded the level of training for county employees and provided them with information to facilitate effective public service. This Web site is an excellent example of a program that offers positive results with a low budget and non-technical staff. Rubber Stall Mat Program The King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks initiated this program through its first annual Small Farm Expo in April 2002. Through agreements with local participating retailers, King County offered a total of 1,000 $10 coupons to encourage livestock owners to purchase recycled-rubber stall mats as a manure management and waste reduction tool. The use of rubber mats can significantly decrease the amount of stall bedding needed. In addition to encouraging waste reduction and improving water quality through the use of rubber stall mats, the program successfully positioned King County as a credible resource for rural waste reduction and environmental information. Out of 1,000 coupons distributed, 460 were redeemed. This extraordinary response reached far beyond original estimates for the program. This enthusiastic level of participation means that a significant number of horse owners received information about stall waste management and its impact on the environment. Approximately 20,000 horses generate roughly 290,000 tons of waste (manure and bedding) per year in King County, Washington. When this waste is improperly managed, runoff from soggy manure piles can cause surface and ground water contamination, horses can become ill and the odor and fly problems become serious. Contaminated Sites Management Program Interagency cooperation is responsible for taking a contaminated nuisance property and making it into a community asset with environmental benefits. Challenged by the prospect of redeveloping a property impacted by a clandestine drug lab, automotive chop shop, and illegal dumping, seven King County divisions cooperated to clean up the site and obtained a wide range of technical and financial help from Brownfield Program grants from the EPA and technical assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The program was completed in less than 18 months and over 190 tons of debris, 55 cubic yards of contaminated soils, and 400 gallons of hazardous wastes were removed during the cleanup phase. Clean up efforts have been completed and King County is in the process of restoring the property for habitat protection and passive recreation. The success of this effort has led to the development of an ongoing Contaminated Sites Management Program to address contamination issues at properties that King County owns or has ownership interests. Road Inventory Digital Atlas The new Road Services Division project has completely changed the way the county roads are mapped and inventoried. The public can view and download individual maps, or the entire map set, in any size or format they choose. Residents can access these maps online, at: http://www.metrokc.gov/gis/vmc/transportation.htm#CRIS NACo's Annual Achievement Awards Program is a non-competitive awards program in its 34th year. The main objective of the awards program is to streamline county government with efficient services for citizens. King County is one of 107 counties honored by this year's NACo Achievement Awards. NACo is the only national organization that represents county governments and strives to ensure that county governments have a voice in national government. By working to promote progressive and innovative programs, NACo's goal is to benefit citizens. Updated: June 23, 2003 Executive's home Executive's news Executive's site map | E-mail the Executive King County | Executive | News | Services | Comments | Search Links to external sites do not constitute endorsements by King County. By visiting this and other King County web pages, you expressly agree to be bound by terms and conditions of the site. The details.