City Manager's Update
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Date: |
March 5, 2007 |
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To: |
Mayor and City Council |
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From: |
Christopher J. Brady,
City Manager |
Council and Advisory Board
meeting calendar
Mesa praised in Washington Post article
Mesa received a glowing review in an
article in the travel section of the February 25
edition of The Washington Post. A reader from Falls
Church, Virginia contributed a story to the
newspaper’s Your Vacation in Lights feature about
her recent trip to Arizona and Las Vegas. In it,
reader Tammi DeVan praised the Arizona Museum for
Youth in Mesa as the "coolest surprise attraction."
She gave high marks to the museum for being
hands-on. DeVan, who has three young children, wrote
about a room with pretend motorcycles the kids could
ride with a big screen in front of them, as if they
were riding through the desert. The author had
visited Sedona and the Grand Canyon more than once
and recently traveled to Mesa, Payson, Winslow, Lake
Havasu, Parker Dam and Hoover Dam.
Building
Safety
Finance Update
Building Safety will begin an audit of 100
projects in March 2007 and the goal is to complete
this project in April 2007. A Planning audit will
follow when the Building Safety audit is complete.
The Impact Fee Notice of Intent (NOI) was
approved by the City Council on February 20, 2007.
This date started the 60-day public hearing process
for potential changes of the Ordinances and Fees.
New Court Building LEED Certification Review
An in-house review by Building Safety and
Facilities Maintenance indicates that the new Court
building could qualify as a possible candidate for a
green building (i.e. sustainable construction) LEED
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
certification. Additional information is being
requested from the City Engineer on specific items
needed for certification. This is an ongoing project
and an update on progress will be included in the
next Bi-Weekly status report.
Engineering
Salt River Environmental Restoration, Design
Phase (Va Shly'ay Akimel Salt River Restoration
Project)
Design has started on Phase One (of a total of
three phases) of the Va Shly'ay Akimel Salt River
Restoration Project, jointly sponsored by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, the City of Mesa, and the
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. Phase One
extends from the Loop 101 Freeway to just east of
Alma School Road. The project will restore riparian
vegetation including cottonwoods, willows, and
mesquites and intermittent wetlands to the currently
dry and mostly barren Salt River bed. The project
will also construct a limited recreation trail
system. Construction of Phase One is anticipated to
start in mid 2009.
Greenfield Water Reclamation Plant
The contractor, McCarthy/Sundt, continues
construction on the 16 million-gallon-per-day
wastewater treatment facility on Greenfield Road,
north of Queen Creek Road. The plant continues to
supply reclaimed water to the Town of Gilbert’s
recharge site. Work continues on the solids train as
the contractor tests the pumps and associated piping
necessary to begin starting the solids treatment
process. The contractor continues to install the
architectural cladding on the egg-shaped digesters
and to install the final landscaping.
Falcon Field Airport
Northwest Quadrant Development
Reilly Aviation will be meeting with the Design
Review Board again on March 7 to present revised
plans for their hangar development.
Falcon Jet Center
Falcon Jet Center on Falcon Drive has received
its Engineering Plan Approval from Building Safety
and will begin grading work on their hangar project
in the very near future.|
Neighborhood Services Department
Employees present at Luncheon
The Leadership Centre, in partnership with the
Arizona Association of Community Managers (AACM),
held a Community Managers Luncheon on Friday, Feb.
16, 2007, focusing on "How We
Can Help You!" City of Mesa Neighborhood Outreach
Coordinator Susan Frabotta, along with
representatives from the cities of Gilbert,
Chandler, Queen Creek, Apache Junction, and Casa
Grande, offered information and presentations to 55
Community Managers. The goal of the luncheon was to
improve communication between city staff and HOA
community managers and residents, and to share
experiences and information about ways to better
work together.
Building Strong Neighborhoods
Neighborhood Outreach employees and volunteers
began going door-to-door in the neighborhood that is
located between Main and 2nd Streets / Lazona and
Guthrie streets. The contingent spoke with residents
and collected information for the third Building
Strong Neighborhoods, which will take place in
Council District 2. The initial kick-off meeting is
scheduled for March 8, 2007 at Grace United
Methodist Church, 2024 E University Drive. The
primary goal of the initiative is to preserve and
strengthen neighborhoods by providing residents and
businesses with education, training, and access to
existing resources to address neighborhood issues.
Spirit of Mesa Neighborhood Awards
Five community volunteers donated their time on
Thursday, March 1, to review the Spirit of Mesa
Neighborhood Award nomination applications. Kathy
Bareiss, Director of Community Relations for Mesa
Public Schools facilitated the judging session. The
Spirit of Mesa Neighborhood Award winners will be
announced by March 31, 2007. The Spirit of Mesa
Neighborhood Awards celebrates the outstanding
achievements of residents, community groups, and
organizations.
Historic Preservation Awards Deadline
Approaching!
Every year the City of Mesa recognizes
individuals and organizations that have helped to
preserve Mesa's past. Nomination materials for
Mesa’s tenth annual historic preservation awards are
available in a PDF format. The deadline to submit
a nomination is March 23, 2007.
http://www.cityofmesa.org/historic/pdf/awardsnomination2007.pdf
A draft copy of the 2007 Annual Action Plan is
available for review and further comment by the
public. The 30-day comment period on the Action Plan
began on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2007 and ends Friday,
March 30, 2007. City Council's final approval of the
Plan is scheduled for the April 2, 2007 Council
meeting. Copies are available in the Community
Revitalization Division, located in Suite 650.
Kit Kelly Guest Speaker at ASU School of
Planning
Kit Kelly, Acting Community Revitalization and
Housing Services Director, recently was invited to
be a guest lecturer for a class of 20 students at
ASU's School of Planning College of Design. Kit
addressed the group on the housing element in Mesa's
General Plan, the development of the City's Housing
Master Plan and about the process and politics of
planning. The class, composed of graduate and upper
level students, is titled 'Urban Housing Analysis',
and throughout the semester students are learning
the nature, dimensions, and problems of urban
housing, government policy environment, and
underlying economics of the housing market.
Transportation
Red Mountain Freeway – Power to University
COM, ADOT and Police Construction have been
meeting and working with stakeholders on planning
for the potential McDowell Road closure.
Regional Transportation Plan Implementation
The regional Transit Lifecycle Program is scheduled
for adoption by the Regional Public Transportation
Authority (RPTA) Board on March 16, 2007.
Transportation Capital Program Management
The Transportation and
Engineering staff met to improve the Transportation
Monitoring Database and the associated update
processes. Regional Transportation Project tracking
now includes engineering, right-of-way, and utility
progress. Transportation offered training on the
updating process for those refined project
schedules.
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