Tyler

By CINDY MALLETTE
Staff Writer

Members of Keep Tyler Beautiful and the Tyler Solid Waste Department will be honored at the City Council meeting Wednesday for receiving first place in the Governor’s Community Achievement Awards.

The award included $130,000 in prize money, which will be used for a landscaping project. The Keep Tyler Beautiful board will work with the Texas Department of Transportation, which provides the prize money, to decide on a particular project.

“We are so grateful that a panel of judges, who are volunteers just like us, found Tyler deserving to receive this state award,” said Eloise Muxworthy, Keep Tyler Beautiful chairwoman. “This is the first time our city has won, and we want to make sure it’s not the last.”

Keep Tyler Beautiful applied for the award by submitting a six-page report and a 14-page scrapbook describing its activities during the past year. Tyler earned first place for achievements in seven environmental and community improvement areas, including community leadership and coordination, education, public awareness, litter prevention and cleanup, illegal dumping enforcement, beautification and property improvement, and solid waste management.

Some of the projects featured in the application were:

Tyler earning the designation of Azalea City by the Azalea Association of Amer-ica;

The city hiring an arborist;

The Solid Waste Department moving to automated garbage collection;

Launching of a pro-active code enforcement program;

The Tyler Recycling Center partnership with Goodwill to provide electronic recycling to East Texas;

The Neighborhood Empowerment Works program’s success in revitalizing two Tyler neighborhoods.

Members of the Keep Tyler Beautiful board received their award on June 26 at the 41st annual Keep Texas Beautiful Conference in Austin. Board members presented a video highlighting their achievements at the conference, and the video will be shown during the 9 a.m. City Council meeting.

The GCAA program has recognized outstanding communities for 39 years, with TxDOT providing prize money since 1985. Kristy Boyett, Keep Tyler Beautiful board liaison, said the city may use the money to build a “Welcome to Tyler” sign, create a native landscaping project, or build a large mural along a state highway in Tyler.

Keep Tyler Beautiful board members are: Ms. Muxworthy, chair; Susan Lucido, vice chair; Crystal Hampton, secretary; Marjorie Mustard; Pat Parsons; Lonnie Beasley; Kimberly Squyres; Kitty Springer; Shelley Mathis; and Tony Hernandes.

The Tyler Rose on the railroad bridge is the current entrance to downtown Tyler. (The bridge was part of a 1996 Tyler beautification project.
(Staff file photo by Tom Turner)