This project will construct light rail tracks in the center of Main Street from the Tempe border on the west to Sycamore Street on the east. The project includes intersection widening, utility relocations and a Park & Ride lot at Sycamore and Main Street. Construction of the bridge over the Tempe Canal is complete. Utility relocations in Mesa began in January 2007, and will continue through June 2007. The Ground breaking ceremony for the Sycamore/Main station was held on January 27, 2007. Completion of the Light Rail project is scheduled for January 2008.

Construction on the 16 million-gallon-per-day wastewater treatment facility on Greenfield Road, north of Queen Creek Road continues. The liquid treatment process is in operation and sending reclaimed water to the Town of Gilbert’s recharge basins and the plant also supplies reclaimed water to the Town of Gilbert reservoir adjacent to the plant. Work on the solids train continues with the contractor, McCarthy/Sundt, testing the pumps and associated piping necessary to tie the treatment facilities together in preparation for the start-up of solids treatment. In conjunction with the testing, the City has installed and is testing the controls programming for the remainder of the plant. The contractor has begun to install the architectural cladding and the large egg-shaped digesters.

Construction to widen the Superstition Highway (U.S. 60) is showing progress. The project began in February 2006 and will add one lane in each direction from Gilbert Road to Val Vista Drive, and three lanes in each direction from Val Vista Drive to Power Road. Most of the earthwork is complete. The contractor continues work installing the barrier walls and street lighting and will install the rubberized asphalt when the temperature is warm enough. Approximately 85% of the project is done and it is scheduled to be completed by June 2007.

Phase I is complete connecting the Superstition Freeway (U.S. 60 ) to the Santan Freeway (Loop202) to the south, and widening U.S. 60 from Sossaman Road to Ellsworth Road. Phase II is also nearly complete with only the punch list items remaining.

Power Road to University Drive segment – Construction started in February 2006. The contractor continues working on bridges at Power Road and the C.A.P. Canal. The McKellips Road Bridge is open to traffic. Brown Road is closed for the next six to seven months. The contractor has nearly completed tying in the new 36" waterline and 20" waterline on Brown Road and will proceed with the removal of the old waterlines afterwards. Installation of the new streetlights on Brown Road is complete and tied into the existing system. The contractor is also working on the building drainage structures on Brown Road and grading between Power Road and University Drive. The project is approximately 40% complete and should be finished in September 2008.

The University Bridge is open to traffic. The contractor continues working on the Main Street and Broadway Road bridges, installing streetlights on Broadway Road and University Drive, and grading the roadway to connect to the bridge on Broadway Road. The project is approximately 75% done and should be completed by July 2007. Construction started in December 2005.

Falcon Field Airport

Sabena officially relocated its operations to the airport effective February 1.

The FAA has approved the amended request to change the land use designation for the property north of McKellips Road and east of the RWCD Canal to include non-aeronautical uses. The City Attorney’s Office is currently reviewing the document that memorializes the change.
 

Financial Services Department

On January 23, 2007, Customer Service Operations and Revenue Collections staff participated in the kickoff meeting of a newly formed regional Customer Service Professionals group. Customer Service Operations partnered with Tempe and Gilbert staff to establish the workgroup of customer service supervisors and administrators. The initial meeting included representatives from Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Gilbert, and Salt River Project. Issues discussed included process improvement, customer policies and networking to provide better customer service to our respective customers. The Customer Service Professionals anticipate meeting bi-monthly at rotating host cities.

Fire

Emergency Management

Emergency Management is presenting two additional NIMS (National Incident Management System) 700 classes, one on Feb 1st to Fire Dept. FALSE (Fire and Life Safety Education) from 1 to 4 and the other on Feb 6th to Utilities from 0900 to 1200 hrs.

All Federal Homeland Security Grants for 2005 have been extended until March of 2008.

The Fire Department is in the process of educating the public on Fire Department response times. There are several presentations lined up. We have already spoken to two groups: Rotary Sunrise and Mesa East Rotary.

For the current Firefighter Recruit Testing the Fire Department had approximately 800 applicants, 2/3 of last year's turnout. Applications were open in September 2006, followed by the video-based exam near the end of October 2006, the Candidate Physical Agility Test (CPAT) the first part of December 2006, and the oral interviews were completed the middle of January 2007. From this process we will have a group of approximately forty successful applicants offered an opportunity to attend a voluntary Fire Intern Orientation for five Saturdays beginning February 3, 2007. This orientation gives the candidates an opportunity to experience what is involved in a firefighter academy and gives the Fire Department the opportunity to work with the individuals before the final selection process. After the Intern Orientation, the Fire Department will select approximately twenty firefighter recruits for the next Firefighter Training Academy beginning the end of April 2007.

The National Home Safety Council (HSC) hosted the All-Ways Fire Safe at Home Conference in Washington, D.C. on January 10th, 11th and 12th. HSC asked Marrisa Ramirez-Ramos, a MFD Fire and Life Safety Education Specialist, to be a presenter. Marrisa presented information on Mesa Fire’s bilingual program Familias Viajando A Seguridad, “Families Traveling to Safety”, as part of the conference segment entitled, “Do you know who is missing your message?”

On Saturday, January 20th, the Mesa Fire Department co-hosted the annual car seat event at Mesa Community College (MCC). There were over 50 volunteers educating parents on how to correctly install their car seat. In less than four hours, certified car seat technicians were able to check and install 194 car seats. In addition to the MCC site, Channel 12 and Maricopa County Safe Kids sponsored two additional sites: Peoria Sports Complex and Paradise Valley Community College (PVCC). Peoria Sports Complex checked 112 seats, while PVCC checked 116 seats. Because of this important event 422 children are riding safer today.
 

Neighborhood Services Department

The City of Mesa participated in this year's Neighborhood Day at the State Legislature on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 at the State Capitol. The Neighborhood Services Department extended an invitation to our Neighborhood Leaders to attend the event where they learned about important legislative issues, enjoyed lunch and toured the Arizona House of Representatives and State Senate. The City of Mesa had a total of 18 residents who participated and joined more than 500 neighborhood leaders representing cities such as Phoenix, Avondale, Buckeye, Tucson, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Peoria, Queen Creek, Tempe, and Scottsdale. Mesa participants got the opportunity to share stories of their neighborhood, attend a lobbying workshop, and eat lunch with Vice Mayor Claudia Walters, State Representative Rich Crandall and State Senator Chuck Gray. After lunch Mesa leaders had the chance to ask questions of Senator Chuck Gray, and Representatives Mark Anderson and Rich Crandall. This gave our Neighborhood Leaders a great opportunity to meet their legislators and learn about pending legislation, laws coming into affect and the importance of communicating with their legislators.

On Saturday, February 3, more than 50 volunteers from the Mesa, Mesa South, Kimball and Pueblo LDS Stakes participated in the cleanup of a large vacant lot at 706 E. Marilyn Avenue. The resident-driven project began at 8am and lasted until 11am. The group, consisting of 18-25 year olds, removed large amounts of debris, painted over graffiti and cut down overgrown vegetation. The project was a result of Mesa’s first Building Strong Neighborhoods Initiative.

The City of Mesa's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites are now open. From now through April 14, volunteers will provide free basic tax preparation and free electronic filing to benefit low income, elderly and disabled families living in Mesa. Approximately 70 VITA volunteers serve as tax preparers, greeters, screeners, and translators.

Way to go volunteers!

The Section 8 Waiting List closed on Tuesday, January 30 at 11:00 AM. The list opened on November 7, 2006, and more then 1,566 completed applications have been received in Housing Services. Applicants who reside in Mesa have a priority over those families who reside outside the city. This is the first time application requests were taken over the phone and the first time the application could be downloaded from the Internet. It proved to be a highly successful process, eliminating the lengthy lines that formed at the Housing Services Office when applicants had to go there to pick up a request. It is anticipated the waiting list will remain closed for the next two years.

Spirit of Mesa and PRIDE Workshop a SUCCESS!

The Spirit of Mesa Awards Committee, along with the assistance of Judy Bowden and Linda Paul of Mesa United Way, hosted and facilitated a workshop on January 30, 2007. Twenty residents attended and learned how to qualify for PRIDE (People and Resources to Improve, Develop and Energize Mesa's Neighborhoods) grants of up to $2,500 for their neighborhoods, and how to become eligible for Spirit of Mesa Awards. They reviewed the process and guidelines for the Spirit of Mesa Neighborhood Awards. These awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of Mesa residents, neighborhood groups, and organizations

P.R.I.D.E. Grants are funded through a joint partnership between the City of Mesa and Mesa United Way. Grants of up to $2,500 are awarded for one-year neighborhood improvement projects. Applications are reviewed on the third Tuesday of each month by a committee made up of Mesa residents who volunteer their time to review and vote on the applications.

Residents of the Casa Mia Neighborhood (CD6) met for their monthly meeting on Saturday, February 3. Thirty-two residents attended the meeting to discuss several projects that neighbors are working to achieve. Their first house-painting project began on Saturday, February 10. Residents raised over $250 at the February 3 meeting to fund future neighborhood projects including their monthly newsletters. Residents also plan to construct three missing sections of the block wall that runs parallel along Baseline Road on Casa Mia property.

Officer Roger Sweet of Superstition C.A.T, Terri Teton of Crime Prevention, Ray Villa, Code Compliance Director, Paul Medlock, the area Code Officer, and Susan Frabotta of Neighborhood Outreach, attended the meeting and answered questions and offered assistance to Casa Mia residents.

Police

Employees of the 9-1-1 center, who were on duty during a recent incident, were awarded a departmental commendation for their work. In the early morning hours of January 7, 2007, an impaired driver ran his vehicle into a gas main at the intersection of Guadalupe and Ellsworth roads. The call volume to the 9-1-1 center immediately tripled and the employees demonstrated their commitment to public safety and teamwork by calming the citizens and sending the appropriate police and fire assistance to handle the event. All the members of the 9-1-1 center worked together to ensure a safe outcome for all involved. The Mesa 9-1-1 center handled more then 1.4 million inbound and outbound phone calls in 2006. Of the more then 1,110,000 inbound calls, 283,000 were 9-1-1 calls. The 9-1-1 center generated over 460,000 events for Police and Fire response.

The Mesa Police Department was recognized recently in the Navy Compass magazine for pitching in to help a naval officer in Afghanistan provide blankets to children in a Kabul school and orphanage. The officer, Lt. Andy Duessel, is a long-time friend of MPD Sgt. Jodie Martinez and when she learned about what he was trying to do, she contacted Margie Quihuiz at the MPD Center Against Family Violence. Quihuiz asked police volunteers, who make blankets for the children that are brought into the Center for help, to donate some of these blankets to the orphans. A total of 150 blankets were donated and then the blankets were delivered to Duessel's mother who arranged for shipping overseas. Duessel’s wife, Carolyn, told Sgt. Martinez that MPD's involvement was instrumental in prompting other organizations to donate and without Mesa’s support the blanket goal would not have been met. This was another example of MPD learning of the needs of our troops abroad and immediately supporting them.