THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 10, 1994 TAG: 9408100465
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
Only two months after Northampton County adopted its ``sustainable development action strategy,'' the plan is already drawing national recognition.
The strategy outlines concrete measures that Northampton residents hope will improve the local economy without degrading the county's natural and cultural resources.
Monday night, county administrator Tom Harris announced that the National Association of Counties has chosen Northampton as one of three counties nationally to receive its first Presidential Leadership Award. Northampton was honored for its sustainable development strategy.
``Thanks to the hard work of the task force and the many other citizens who contributed to the development of the strategy, we are being recognized as a model for development of communities throughout America,'' said Tom Dixon, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors.
Tim Hayes, the county's director of sustainable development, has also been selected to serve on a U.S. Department of Agriculture panel on rural development. The panel met last Wednesday and Thursday to write specific sustainable-development measures to be included in the 1995 Farm Bill.
At that meeting, Northampton County's plans served as a model of the kind of locally driven initiatives the Agriculture Department hopes to support in rural communities.
``I'm extremely proud for our community,'' Harris said in his report to the supervisors Monday. ``I would hope that local citizens, businesses and neighboring jurisdictions will work with the county in creating a world-class community that not only lives in harmony with nature, but does so with a standard of living that equals the rich natural, cultural and historical assets of the shore.'' by CNB