back to news releases

July 2, 2009
Pat Kuehn, APR
Community Information Specialist

Three county programs recognized
for excellence

The National Association of Counties (NACo) is honoring three Volusia County programs - the Citizens Academy, Trails Program and Liberty Web Assistant - with 2009 Achievement Awards. The awards, which recognize unique and innovative county programs, will be presented at NACo’s annual conference in Nashville July 24 - 28.

The Citizens Academy is a hands-on awareness program designed to show citizens how county government operates. Participants spend more than 100 hours learning about the internal operations of county government through presentations, workshops, tours and job-shadowing. Topics include elections, growth management, public protection, property assessments and budgets.

Volusia County’s Trails Program offers residents and visitors opportunities for outdoor recreation, transportation alternatives, and the enjoyment of nature. The county maintains four major trail systems: the Spring-to-Spring Trail, a paved trail that one day will traverse 26 miles from Gemini Springs Park to DeLeon Springs State Park with a connection to Putnam County; the 47-mile World’s Most Famous Beach Trail; the North Peninsula Trail, a six-mile paved trail from Spanish Waters Boulevard to the Flagler County line; and the Ponce Inlet Trail, a paved trail that stretches three-and-a-half miles from Major Street to Lighthouse Point Park. Design has begun on the East Central Regional Rail Trail, which will allow users to travel from Enterprise to Edgewater and Titusville.

The Liberty Web Assistant is an intranet web portal containing a search interface to Liberty, the county’s electronic document management system. With the exception of confidential information, the portal offers employees easy access to more than 3 million documents.

To be eligible for the NACo award program, an organization must offer a new service to county residents or fill in the gaps of existing service and have produced measurable results.

Founded in 1935, NACo represents the nation’s 3,066 counties, advancing issues before the federal government, educating the public about county government, assisting counties in finding and sharing innovative solutions through education and research, and providing services to save counties and taxpayers money. For more information about NACo, visit www.naco.org.

back to news releases

.