Nation's Cities - June 20, 2011

June 20, 2011
NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY 5
Small Cities, from page 4
provides a more convincing source of
motivation.
Capacity building. Victims are given
an opportunity to move toward for-
giveness and healing, while offenders
are encouraged to develop empathy and
an inclination toward better choices.
Communities unite in an ability to solve
their own problems, allowing the justice
system to play a supportive role.
Encouragement of innovation. This
system employs and encourages non-tra-
ditional and community-minded meth-
ods of promoting justice.
Partnerships for action. Stakeholders
in the justice process and community
well being build mutually beneficial alli-
ances.
Through the Restorative Justice
Partnership, Estes Park is providing
local crime victims with a voice, holding
offenders accountable without shutting
them out from their community and
strengthening its community’s role in
addressing and preventing crime.
infrastructure is now the national bench-
mark for small-town government triple-
play broadband technology.
As a function of its success, Bristol
was able to secure more than $6 million
of funding from the Virginia Tobacco
Commission and the U.S. Department
of Commerce’s Economic Development
Administration. BVU applied these
funds to add a 155-mile expansion of
the already 850-mile OptiNet structure,
bringing world-class broadband access to
some of the most remote and rural parts
of southern Appalachia.
The emergence of OptiNet has also
been a financial boon for the region. In
2007, two of the nation’s largest knowl-
edge-based companies — CGI Inc., and
Northrop Grumman Corporation —
built multi-million-dollar facilities in
nearby Russell County. BVU OptiNet is
credited with creating 1,200 jobs across
seven counties in the region, adding $50
million in private investment and $37
million in annual payrolls.
The Broadband Partnerships &
Sustainability Project has put Bristol on
the map as an innovator — improving
broadband access and the local economy
for its citizens, neighboring counties and
the entire region.
With the Broadband Partnerships & Sustainability Project, Bristol, Va., created the first public utility
in the nation to implement triple-play broadband over a fiber-to-the-user network.
Bristol, Va.
Through its Broadband Partnerships
& Sustainability Project, Bristol created
the first public utility in the nation to
implement triple-play broadband over
a fiber-to-the-user network. Through
Bristol’s considerable efforts, ubiquitous
broadband access was brought not only
to its own Washington County, but
to six others in the southwest Virginia
region.
Bristol Virginia Utilities (BVU),
which operates as the government enter-
prise fund for the city, has invested mil-
lions in building the innovative network.
In the process, Bristol faced consider-
able legal hurdles, not only spending
$2.5 million to fight internet and cable
companies seeking to block BVU’s entry
into telecommunications, but also being
forced to sue the state of Virginia in fed-
eral court. These difficulties have proven
to be well worth it, as BVU’s OptiNet
South Sioux City, Neb.
South Sioux City drew on a posi-
tive history of public and private sec-
tor cooperation for a unique project.
After the 1968-built indoor city pool was
deemed unsafe for competitive swim-
ming, the South Sioux City Community
School District joined with the YMCA to
build a $10 million recreation center, the
Siouxland Y.
The city provided an ideal location
for the new facility, situating it along
the Missouri River and thus incorpo-
rating the new center into its ongoing
Riverfront Redevelopment Program. This
central location also provides the Y with
visibility from the interstate, is accessible
via the tri-state rail system and by regional
transit and provides ample space for park-
ing and for handicapped accessibility.

Dania Beach, Fla.
Beach, N.D.
The City of Beach decided to spur
necessary economic revitalization by cre-
ating a Renaissance Zone. The zone
is intended to encourage private sector
investment in underdeveloped areas by
providing property tax exemptions, state
income tax credits and historical tax
credits to projects that make a significant
and comprehensive investment in real
property within the zone.
Administered by city employees, the
Renaissance Zone program brings great
reward at a limited cost. Its success is
measured over the five-year tax exemp-
Dania Beach found an innovative and
ecological solution to a lighting problem.
Facing a five-year backup in replacing
conventional streetlamp bulbs, Dania
Beach instead opted for a switch to solar-
powered street lighting. The new system
reduces inefficient power use and light
pollution, and cuts greenhouse emissions
by 40 percent.

WIMG, from page 3
and Nutrition Service; and Maxine Stoltz,
senior executive director of the University
of Kansas Clinical Research Center.
Preston V. Lee, Jr., senior director of
corporate relations and housing outreach
at Freddie Mac and chair of the NLC
Corporate Partners Leadership Council,
informed participants about the state of
the finance system for the housing market
at a special plenary session entitled, “The
Health of the Current Housing Finance
System.”
During the session, “Powerful Women
– Lessons Learned,” conference attendees
heard from successful women leaders
about important lessons they have gained
throughout their careers and learned how
to apply those lessons to their work in
local government.
Sylvia L. Lovely, president of Sylvia
Lovely & Associates, Carolyn Coleman,
NLC director of federal relations, and
Rosana Privitera Biondo, president of
Mark One Electric Company Inc., pre-
sented at this session, moderated by
Rogers.

Neighborhoods visited during the tour
include Roeland Park, Prairie Village and
Mission Hills, Kan., as well as the Nelson
Museum of Art, the Kansas City Art
Institute and historic Union Station.
“The WIMG conference provided a
variety of topics that were presented
by wonderful guest speakers who made
applications to real life challenges and the
work faced daily by women in govern-
ment,” said Beth Humenik, councilmem-
ber, Thornton, Colo. “What I person-
ally gained in knowledge from others will
allow me to become a stronger and better
leader for my city and its citizens,” she
concluded.
Conference sponsors include Wells
Fargo, Comcast, AT&T and Black &
Veatch.
Details: For additional information
on WIMG and how to join, visit www.
nlc.org/wimg or call (202) 626-3169.