Springville, Mapleton and Payson received awards from the Utah League of Cities and Towns recently for achieving community progress and for sponsoring youth city councils.
Recognizing that half of Utah's population is younger than 24, the league sponsors a Youth City Council Program to help cities get youths interested and involved in city government.The focus of the program is on leadership education and involvement in community service-oriented projects.
The program is part of the Utah Community Progress Program sponsored by the league in conjunction with the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development and Utah State University Cooperative Extension Service.
During the past two years, Springville, Mapleton and Payson joined 13 other Utah cities in sponsoring youth councils.
Also, the three cities were honored for progress achieved in the areas of planning, human relations and cultural enrichment, economic development, physical environment and community service.
Cities participating in the progress program submit a list of goals they will work on during a two-year period.
At the end of two years, awards are presented to the cities who have been the most successful in achieving their goals.
Cities are judged on the amount of community involvement in solving problems and achieving goals as well as the degree of difficulty involved in planning and implementing a project.
In the category of most overall progress, Springville received an honorable mention, Payson a third place and Mapleton a second place.
The awards were presented during the annual meeting of the league in September.