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2010 ECT Community Stewardship Awards Recipients Date: Friday, May 7, 2010

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Envision Central Texas Presents 2010 Community Stewardship Awards

(AUSTIN) - The recipients of the 2010 Envision Central Texas (ECT) Community Stewardship Awards were announced at a luncheon at the Hilton Austin Hotel on Friday, May 7. The Community Stewardship Award recipients included: new development - Franklin Gardens - a rental housing facility for low-income elderly persons at East Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in Austin; redevelopment - Midtown Commons at Crestview Station - a mixed-use, transit-oriented development located on Lamar Boulevard in Austin along Capital Metro's Red Line commuter rail; Innovation - Sustainable Sites Initiative - a partnership between the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin, the American Society of Landscape Architects and the United States Botanic Garden, that created the nations' first rating system for sustainable lands; Public Planning and Policy - Kyle Plum Creek Preserve and Nature Trail - the project in Kyle will include 350 acres of open space, six miles of nature trails, two lakes, picnic sites, wetland preserve and wildflower meadow; and Raising Public Awareness - Taking Charge of Water Quality in the Plum Creek Watershed - a comprehensive program conducted by the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority and Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Hays and Caldwell Counties to provide information to the public on potential sources of bacteria and nutrients in the watershed.

This year's luncheon featured Keynote Speaker Shelley Poticha, senior advisor for sustainable housing and communities, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, who shared insights into the recently formed federal Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities involving HUD, EPA and DOT. She discussed this innovative program and how Central Texas can benefit from this new initiative. Shelley Poticha has also been a co-chair at Transportation for America, president and CEO of Reconnecting America and former executive director of the Congress for New Urbanism.

The Presenting Sponsor for the event was Samsung Austin Semiconductor.

About Envision Central Texas
Central Texas will add more than a million people over the next 20 to 40 years. Envision Central Texas, a regional non-profit planning organization, was created in 2001 to lead and implement the two-year public development of a regional Vision to address this rapid growth.

Our Mission: Envision Central Texas serves as a catalyst for regional cooperation and planning in order to realize a common Vision for Central Texas which preserves and enhances our natural resources, economic vitality, social equity and overall quality of living.

Our Goal: We must improve how we grow in order to sustain our region's quality of life and competitiveness. The focus of ECT is on what, where and when we build, and how that impacts natural resources and mobility.

Envision Central Texas, 2512 P.O. Box 17848, Austin, Texas 78760, Phone: 512.916.6037,
Fax: 512:916.6001, Email: dmiller@envisioncentraltexas.org ; Web: www.envisioncentraltexas.org

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