March 6, 2007
Brightwater project manager earns national honors as 2006 Local Official of the Year
Recognizing that an economically vibrant building industry depends on wastewater infrastructure, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) selected Brightwater project manager Christie True as Local Official of the Year for 2006.
True, who manages the Major Capital Improvement Program for King County's Wastewater Treatment Division, received the award Thursday at the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties' (MBA) general membership dinner in Bellevue.
The MBA nominated True for the prestigious award, citing her work in keeping the Brightwater Treatment Plant project on schedule to begin operating in 2010. Because the county's two regional treatment plants in Seattle and Renton will reach capacity in just three years, Brightwater is crucial to avert a regional building moratorium that could be enacted to protect water quality and public health from sewage overflows.
"The Brightwater Project is the most important economic development success for our region in over a decade," said MBA executive officer Sam Anderson. "It's rare that one facility can mean so much to both our local economy and the environment. Christie True, more than any one person, can be credited with this achievement."
According to a 2004 NAHB study commissioned by the MBA, the home building industry in King and Snohomish counties generated more than $2.95 billion in local wages and more than 50,000 jobs. In 2006, new home construction generated $423.1 million in taxes and fees that helped local governments pay for schools, parks and other important features.
"I am grateful to the Master Builders Association and the National Association of Home Builders for recognizing Christie True's role in this critical regional project," said King County Executive Ron Sims.
"Siting and building a complex public project like Brightwater is a Herculean task. But Christie rose to the challenge, ensuring that business leaders, jurisdictions and community members all had a seat at the table in the many years of planning efforts, and that has been the key to the project's success," Sims said.
Brightwater is King County's largest clean-water project in 40 years. Construction on the 13-mile conveyance pipeline began in 2006. Construction on the treatment plant facilities, located on a 114-acre site north of Woodinville, is scheduled to get under way this year.
True, a 22-year veteran with King County, has been involved in the Brightwater project since its earliest planning phases, which stretch back nearly a dozen years. Information about the project is available at http://www.dnr.metrokc.gov/wtd/brightwater.
People enjoy clean water and a healthy environment because of King County's wastewater treatment program. The county's Wastewater Treatment Division protects public health and water quality by serving 17 cities, 17 local sewer utilities and more than 1.4 million residents in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. Formerly called Metro, the regional clean-water agency now operated by King County has been preventing water pollution for more than 40 years.