Night at the Museum
Mesa Southwest Museum (soon to be Arizona Museum of Natural History) will be open late on September 14 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. The event is called "Night at the Museum" and is part of the Downtown Mesa Friday Night Out events. Dress-up as your favorite character from the movie, Night at the Museum. There will be free drawings for movie posters and other give away prizes as well as opportunities to join and renew your museum membership. This event is free and open to the public.

Hohokam! Ancient Monuments of the Salt River Valley
Arizona Museum of Natural History will celebrate a new name and exhibition on Saturday, October 6. The exhibition, Hohokam! Ancient Monuments of the Salt River Valley, explores the history and culture of the Hohokam people in new and comprehensive ways. Arizona Museum of Natural History will have a special day of programming and light refreshments recognizing the museum’s new name and exhibition. Complete details are at www.AzMNH.org.

Library Expands Reference Chat Service Hours
The City of Mesa Library has offered customers the opportunity to ask reference questions by email and online chat service since May 2001. 1,072 email reference questions were answered during FY 06-07. As instant and text messaging gained popularity with the public, chat reference requests increased from 135 to 865 during the last fiscal year. In an effort to expand available hours for chat reference, librarians at all three-library locations were trained to use the chat software. Beginning in September, librarians will be online and available to answer reference questions by chat 57 hours a week compared to 32 hours offered last year. This allows librarians to respond instantly to requests for information online as well as on the phone and in person. To access email and reference chat, go to www.mesalibrary.org. If a librarian is online, a button on the bottom left will say "Ask me now!" If no librarian is available, the button will say "Ask a Librarian" and the question will go to email and be answered within 24 hours.

Arizona Museum for Youth Gallery Shop
Arizona Museum for Youth has expanded the Gallery Shop and moved it closer to the front. The store now offers a wider variety of high-quality artwork, toys, clothing, books and educational merchandise. All items relate to the museum’s exhibits and all proceeds support the educational mission of the museum.

Arizona Museum for Youth Members
Having recently updated our membership offerings, the Arizona Museum for Youth has more than doubled the amount of members we had last year. Our member base now consists of over 1,100 families. In addition to this, the museum is now issuing access cards to our members for easier and faster check-in. At AMY, we try to make your visit as convenient as possible, and now entrance to the museum is just a swipe away.

Are you ready?
September is National Emergency Preparedness month. The City of Mesa is teaming up with Mesa Public Schools, Maricopa County, State Emergency Management and Bass Pro Shops to present a Family Emergency Preparedness Day. Learn how you and your family can prepare for all types of emergencies: terrorist act, natural disaster, major power outage and flu pandemic. The event will be held at Bass Pro Shops, 1133 N Dobson Rd, Mesa, Sept. 29, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. For more information, call (480) 644-3921. Take advantage of this free event to make sure you are prepared if disaster strikes.

Additionally, Emergency Management is partnering with Mesa Public Schools and Maricopa County Public Health to produce an "Are You Prepared" informational safety video.

Fire and Life Safety Specialist recognized for program efforts
Michele Adamczyk, Fire and Life Safety Education Specialist recently received a Fire Safety Commendation Award from the Sons of the American Revolution. Adamczyk, an eight-year employee with Mesa Fire was nominated for her dedication in promoting the Drowning Prevention Program, Life Saver Program, CPR Certification and for her coordination efforts in the installation of approximately 350 smoke detectors.

 

Historic Preservation Office
The Office of Historic Preservation is being relocated to the Planning Division from the Neighborhood Services Department effective September 15, 2007. The Historic Preservation Planner will transfer to Planning once the position is filled. The recruitment for this position opened on September 4, 2007.

Awards/Recognition
Melanie Corkill, Solid Waste Information Specialist and Christine Chu, Information Technology Analyst II were presented with an Exceptional Customer Service Award during the August 26 Management meeting. Melanie and Christine were recognized for their part in creating a Web based database for the Homeowner Landfill Use Program. This new database allows for ‘real time’ data transfer, eliminates the need for Solid Waste administrative staff to physically go to the landfill and provides extra convenience to Mesa residents.

Red Mountain Freeway – Power Road to University Drive
ADOT has quarantined the area below the Loop 202 bridge span (east of Power Road) over CAP property until after the report of the forensic engineering firm has been completed. The report will address the reasons why 9 of the girders fell from the supports. ADOT is looking at a minimum of 12 weeks before they could be completed in this area. The sidewalk area on the east side of Power Road at Preston and the mast arms for the new traffic signal cannot be installed until this work is completed. The girder incident is not expected to impact the freeway opening scheduled for the late summer of 2008 and will not affect the September 23rd opening of McDowell Road across the CAP.

Wire Thefts
Sixteen wire thefts were discovered over the last 30 days at various locations throughout the City. These thefts primarily occurred from streetlight installations. A total of 31,577 feet of wire has been stolen from 30 locations this fiscal year. The replacement cost now exceeds $47,000.

Electric customers get an opportunity to purchase low-cost compact fluorescent bulbs
In the upcoming issue of the Currents newsletter, City of Mesa residential electric customers will receive a coupon for a substantial discount on the purchase of one or two energy-saving, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) from participating local retailers. Customers that replace at least one incandescent light bulb with a CFL can save approximately $30 in energy costs over the average life of the bulb, reduce electric resource demands, and have a positive impact on the environment. The goal of Mesa’s demand-side management program, which includes the CFL campaign, is to minimize peak demand and reduce the costs of purchasing electric energy resources.

City celebrates 90 years of safe, reliable electric and natural gas service
City of Mesa customers are invited to an open house to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Mesa’s acquisition of its electric and natural gas systems from Dr. A.J. Chandler. The event also kicks off Public Power and Public Gas Weeks, which run from October 7 – 13. The event will be held October 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Utilities Building. For more information, call (480) 644-2265.

Utilities staff helps Mesa Public Schools with video on emergency preparedness
Utilities Department staff took part in the development of a safety video that Mesa Public Schools is producing to use during September, which is National Emergency Preparedness month. The utilities messages included how much water families should store to be prepared for an emergency, and what to do if the power goes out.

Mesa’s water reclamation plants are good as gold
Mesa’s Northwest and Southeast Water Reclamation Plants have been recognized with Gold Peak Performance Awards for outstanding wastewater treatment efforts. Presented by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, gold awards are given to member agency facilities that achieve 100 percent compliance with their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for an entire year.

University outreach to future construction managers
For the second time in two years, Burt Williams, Gas Construction Coordinator with the Utilities Department, has been invited to speak at Arizona State University. Burt's presentation entitled "Trenchless Construction Methods," will give future construction managers the opportunity to hear about the issues related to damage prevention efforts at the City of Mesa. Burt's presentation, scheduled for September 11, will provide examples of actual damaged gas lines and include discussions about state law and other critical national damage initiatives such as the new 811 Know What's Below – Call Before You Dig campaign. Since 1993, Burt has been actively involved with the state's one-call operations and damage prevention efforts through Arizona Blue Stake. Mesa has initiated various programs to reduce the risk of damaging vital underground infrastructure that have proven very successful. As co-chair of the Arizona Common Ground Alliance (CGA) Regional Partnership, Burt has been active in promoting to construction students an understanding of the numerous utilities, infrastructures, and risks/hazards that exist in the subsurface environment.

Mesa takes part in western regional gas conference
Representatives from the Utilities Department recently participated in the Western Regional Gas Association Conference on August 21 and 22 at the Tempe Mission Palms. The conference is hosted by the Arizona Utility Group (AUG), a nonprofit organization representing Arizona natural gas utility providers. Mesa is a founding member of AUG and the conference, which provides a forum for the exchange of information between natural gas companies and their associated industry members, consultants, manufacturers, and vendors. This year's conference drew more than 270 attendees and 42 separate vendor booths and displays. Attendees chose from a variety of sessions, including pipeline safety rulemaking, damage prevention, pipeline infrastructure security, and maximizing liaison programs with public safety organizations. The annual conference draws top regulatory and industry speakers from across the nation. Included in this year's lineup were three speakers from the Gas Division: Jennifer Codd, Marketing and Communications Specialist, Bill Norton, Gas System Inspector, and Tony Cadorin, Gas Planning Engineer.