The Columbia County Board of Commissioners recognized the Parks and Recreation Department for receiving national accreditation during the meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 17.
The accreditation came from the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA). District 4 Commissioner Alison Couch recognized the staff members for this achievement, which they received last week in Dallas.
“This recognition confirms that Columbia County’s Park and Recreation Department is operating according to the national standards of excellence, demonstrating its commitment to providing top quality service and amenities to the community,” Couch said. “The CAPRA accreditation serves as a validation of Columbia County Parks, Recreation and Events commitment to excellence and continuous improvement.”
Couch went on to state that only 1% of eligible parks and recreation agencies are accredited, which puts Columbia County with elite company.
“There are currently only 193 accredited agencies nationwide and only 14 accredited agencies in Georgia,” Couch said.
John Luton, the community services director, said the achievement would not be possible without the hard work of all the employees in that division.
“The reason we got this is because we have great people who love their jobs and that reflects in what they do and the services they provide,” Luton said. “That’s been a really good formula for us, and I couldn’t be more proud of this department and the team and the job that they’ve done.”
Luton said accreditation is usually an 18-month process, but the department had a goal to get it done by the end of the year – and they were able to get it done in eight months.
“There’s 153 national standards that we had to meet and show, illustrate how we meet those goals,” Luton said. “Also, I just want to say, I consider this a county wide recognition. We could not do what we do every day without the support of administration, the commission and other departments and divisions who also helped us with the application process because it spans well beyond what we do in parks and recreation.”
County Manager Scott Johnson echoed these sentiments, adding that at the division directors retreat last year there was a discussion about what to do to bring recognition to Columbia County.
“We’re already doing good things, but how can we get recognized for that,” Johnson said. “This was one of the things that John and his team latched onto and said we know it’s an aggressive thing, but CAPRA accreditation would be something that would be something good for Columbia County, I feel like we qualify for it. They went after it; they got it and they got it done in record time. It’s just a testament to how good things are really running here with John and his team…this is going to be the first of many because we challenged all divisions to do similar things, but John and his team were one of the first to bring home in the big prize.”
Stephanie Hill is the managing editor and covers Columbia County government for The Augusta Press. Reach her at stephanie@theaugustapress.com.
