Jim Henson's Fantastic World
In December, the Arizona Museum for Youth (AMY) will host Jim Henson’s Fantastic World, a Smithsonian traveling exhibit highlighting the imagination and creative genius of Muppets creator Jim Henson from December 15, 2007 through March 9, 2008. In order to prepare for this historic show, staff has installed enunciator alarms on specific doors for better security within the galleries to assist with the Henson exhibit, and the facilities crew will be changing out the lighting fixtures to conform with requirements for the Henson and Berenstain Bears exhibits. Time ticketing for the exhibit has also been finalized.

TOYS Exhibit A Big Hit
TOYS exhibit opened to rave reviews on August 3 with over 250 members in attendance. Both The Arizona Republic and the East Valley Tribune covered the exhibit, and it even made the front page of the lifestyle section in the Tribune. On August 4, Channel 10 did a news package on the TOYS exhibition that aired throughout the weekend. On August 31, Channel 12 News aired two live packages featuring Jeffory Morris and Michelle Balani as impromptu reporters. The overall response for this particular exhibit has been very positive, and there have been several return customers, reaffirming the popularity of this show.

Meet the Artist Event
On September 8, AMY held a Meet the Artist event featuring mask artist Zarco Guerrero. During the event, Zarco led a workshop to teach patrons how to make their own expressive cut-paper masks, and the museum had over 200 visitors that particular day. A class of Arizona State University students also joined in the workshop and they covered the event for a journalism project. They all interviewed Zarco, and some commented on what a wonderful community resource that this museum is for children and families.

Five new exhibits showcase
Mesa Contemporary Arts hosted a record-breaking public reception on September 14 from 7:00 –10:00 p.m. with an estimated 3,000 people in attendance. The galleries showcased five new exhibits and had several artists in attendance including collector, Cheech Marin who hosted the premiere of Papel Chicano: Works on Paper from the Collection of Cheech Marin. More than 2,000 people walked through the galleries with an additional 1,000 patrons enjoying live music and demonstrations on the Shadow Walk and the demonstrations throughout the Art Studios.

Arizona Museum of Natural History
On September 6, the Arizona Museum of Natural History hosted Homeschool Day, and over 275 children and their families participated in the event.

On September 14, the Arizona Museum for Natural History participated in the second Friday, Get Out event with a screening of the movie, Night at the Museum. The event drew about 700 parents and dressed-up kids, and it proved to be very successful.

E-Bill Notification promotion nets 32 percent participation increase
Almost 1,200 new customers opted for E-Bill Notification during August. Customer Service Operations (CSO), with assistance from Utilities’ PIO Stacy Damp, promoted E-Bill Notification via a bill insert during the August utility bill cycle. Also, CSO’s Customer Call Center marketed e-notification to customers requesting service. Customer Call Center representatives Ericka Langston and Corrina Padilla were the top recruiters, respectively responsible for adding a combined total of 371 customer accounts in August! In addition, customers not already signed-up will have an opportunity to do so at the upcoming Utilities Department anniversary celebration. Staff will be on hand with laptops to assist customers with the registration process.

Mesa's utility customers can choose to receive an electronic bill only or an electronic bill notification accompanied by a traditional paper bill. The program helps reduce postage, printing and payment processing costs. Approximately 4,500 customers now receive E-Bill notification.

Historic Preservation
A letter requesting a one-year extension of the Historic Preservation Grant providing partial funding for the National Register Nominations for the Fraser Fields and West Side Clark neighborhoods has been submitted to the Historic Preservation Fund. The request would extend the deadline date to December 23, 2008, allowing time for the State Historic Preservation Office to complete their review. Neighborhood meetings are being scheduled with both neighborhood groups to provide an update on the National Register process and status.

GIS Services
Planning GIS is now the official area charged with assignment of street names, building addresses, and suite numbers of new or existing buildings. Coordinating with Building Safety and Planning, Planning GIS processes addressing requests submitted prior to the building permit application, or during the plan review process. By centralizing the addressing responsibilities in one location, it will enable the City to provide a more efficient process, minimize addressing errors, and improve the customer service experience for the development community and internal city agencies. Newly created addresses are updated weekly and distributed electronically to all citywide users through EMS Viewer, a GIS mapping application. This information is also updated in GIS Imps Web applications weekly and available to anyone with Internet access. Additional information about the address assignment process can be obtained by contacting the City of Mesa’s Planning Division, (480) 644-2385.

Long Range Planning
Approximately 80 interested residents attended a community-wide review of the draft West Main Street Area Plan, held at EVIT on September 11, 2007. This community forum provided an opportunity for staff to gather comments on the draft plan from those attending. The West Main Street Area Plan is next scheduled for Downtown Development Committee (DDC) and Planning and Zoning (P&Z) hearings on October 18, 2007 for their recommendations to Council.

The draft plan can be reviewed at:
http://www.cityofmesa.org/planning/WestMainStreet/WestMainStreetAreaPlan.aspx

Plan Review Pre-Submittals
The Planning Division tracks the time taken to review Pre-Submittal applications, with a quickest possible review time of 21 calendar days. Our goal for every application is less than 30 calendar days. Data for year-to-date is as follows:

Conferences scheduled July through September 2007:

• 45 Pre-Submittal applications were reviewed
• 6 were reviewed within 21 days
• 23 were reviewed within 30 calendar days (includes 2 cases when applicant requested a specific conference date),
• 16 were reviewed within 40 calendar days (includes 3 cases when applicant requested a specific conference date after 30 days)
• Conferences scheduled January through June 2007:
• 100 Pre-Submittal applications were reviewed
• 17 were reviewed within 21 calendar days
• 54 were reviewed within 30 calendar days
• 29 were reviewed within 40 calendar days (includes 6 cases when applicant requested a specific conference date more than 30 days from submittal date)

Premier Helicopters
Premier Helicopters recently announced that they have moved their helicopter flight school and flight services from Scottsdale Airpark. They will be operating their school out of Tango One Aviation and the east World War II hangar (formerly part of the Champlin Fighter Museum). Premier operates five helicopter flight schools and flight services in three states including Arizona, Colorado and Texas. They will initially base four employees at their Falcon Field facility.

Immunization Clinic
The Mesa Fire Department's Fire and Life Safety Education Section was on hand to provide Mesa residents with injury prevention information at the Department's Immunization Clinic on September 12th. Families were given educational literature and program information while waiting in line. Two programs of high interest to the community were the Fire Department's Babysitter and Firesetter Programs.

Babies R Us Event
The Fire and Life Safety Education Section was one of several agencies that participated in the Babies R Us Event on September 8, 2007. The focus of the event was childhood safety and injury prevention. A Mesa Fire Department educator provided customers with educational information on water safety, car seat safety, and home and fire safety.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
The City of Mesa Library in partnership with Save the Family and Community Revitalization will be showcasing an art exhibit at the Main Library. During the month of October, artwork done by child and adult domestic violence victims will be on display in several areas of the library. The artwork will consist of drawings and paintings as well as some art objects in display cases. Librarians will create a companion book display. This is a great opportunity for the library to partner with another city department as well as a local outside agency to continue to raise awareness to this important issue in our community.

Community Revitalization
The City’s fiscal year 2008/09 funding process for its federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) and Human Services programs begins this month with beta testing of a new online funding application. The target date for going live with the online applications is October 4, 2007. Although this is the first year with an online application, it is the fourth year that the City has utilized a combined application process in partnership with the Mesa United Way.

Red Mountain Freeway – Power Road to University Drive
Pulice Construction is on schedule to open McDowell Road at the 202 by September 23.

Intersection Maintenance - McDowell Road and Power Road
The intersection at McDowell Road and Power Road was recently milled and paved using a nighttime operation to minimize inconvenience to the neighboring businesses. Final striping work and the installation of traffic signal loops on McDowell Road will be completed when Pulice Construction finishes paving McDowell Road east of Power Road as part of the 202 interchange.

Transit Facilities
The installation of Phase I Mini-Shelters and amenities began September 4 and is scheduled to be complete by September 19, 2007.

Employee to speak at Mesa Baseline Rotary
Kathryn Sorensen, Mesa’s Water Resources Coordinator, has been invited to speak at the Mesa Baseline Rotary on October 2. Her presentation will include a variety of water-related topics including water supply in the Valley and how Mesa compares, why Mesa does not have rationing, what kinds of projects we are working on to prepare for growth, and how other cities’ demands for water may affect us. This outreach provides an opportunity to talk about Mesa’s varied water supply and how we are preparing for growth and possible water shortages through groundwater storage, the upcoming exchange with the Gila Indian Community, and other water agreements.