(Navasota, Texas) – Navasota wins a Keep Texas Beautiful Award. The Grimes County community is one of nine winners of the 2009 Governor’s Community Achievement Award (GCAA) for outstanding community improvement. The honor recognizes Navasota with one of the most celebrated annual environmental and community improvement awards in Texas. The winners will share $1 million in landscape grants from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Navasota will receive $75,000 for a landscaping project along a local state right-of-way.

Communities submitted materials to one of nine population categories and judges chose the winners based on their achievements in seven environmental and community improvement areas: community leadership and coordination, education, public awareness, litter prevention and cleanup, illegal dumping enforcement, beautification and property improvement, and solid waste management.

Among some of the 2008 accomplishments were the Trash Off and Trash Bash events, the City of Navasota’s City Wide Garage Sale, Cleanup Event, and efforts made by the Code Enforcement Department. Keep Navasota Beautiful and the City of Navasota also worked with many local organizations, youth groups, and civic clubs to collaborate together on a variety of beautification and property improvement projects.

The GCAA program has recognized outstanding communities for 23 consecutive years, with TxDOT providing prize funds since 1985. Navasota will receive its award on June 11, 2009 in Houston at the 42nd Annual Keep Texas Beautiful Conference.

Since the Keep Navasota Beautiful Commission was founded in 2002, the community has placed second in the Governor's Community Achievement Award for 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and held many successful community cleanup events and beautification projects.

Keep Texas Beautiful, a statewide grassroots environmental and community improvement nonprofit, strives to educate and engage Texans to take responsibility for improving their community environment. KTB and its more than 360 affiliates work with government, businesses, civic groups, and volunteers to ensure that every Texan has the opportunity to make Texas the cleanest, most beautiful state in the nation. For more information on programs and events, call 1-800-CLEAN-TX or visit www.ktb.org.