Doug Ryan from Grand Canyon Pump and Supply with Cottonwood Wastewater Manager Deborah Breitkreutz

The city of Cottonwood has recently announced the grand opening of its joint venture project with Yavapai College, and it remains a huge success. The project, which was to provide reclaimed water to irrigate the vineyards at the Verde Valley Campus, was designed and managed closely by the city while funded by Yavapai College. Cottonwood even designed and installed a reclaimed water booster station, which will ensure consistent and sufficient volume to meet the irrigation needs of the vineyard.

Doug Ryan, Cottonwood Mayor Diane Joens and Yavapai College Dean Perry

This joint venture was several years in the making and will establish a highly sustainable, low cost water supply for the vineyard along with a new source of revenue for the city. The use of reclaimed water for irrigating the vineyards negates the need to pump precious groundwater for this purpose and furthers the city’s efforts in the expanded use of reclaimed water.

The grand opening took place on Monday April 7, at the new reclaimed booster facility.

Arizona’s very own City of Avondale was among just 14 cities selected to take part in a series of “Community Conversations” around the country. Partnering with both the National League of Cities (NLC) and the US Dept. of Education, the strategy sessions will bring together local leaders, educators, families, and community leaders to explore learning advancement; enhance student engagement; and offer overall school improvement, including after-school learning experiences and the achievement of post-secondary attainment.

“We are proud to partner with the Department of Education in this extremely important effort to provide better educational opportunities to children nationwide,” said NLC President Chris Coleman, Mayor of Saint Paul, Minn. “This ‘memo of understanding’ expands a local-federal partnership that is focused on supporting local efforts to improve schools and close the achievement gap. Through our ‘community conversations’ with local leaders, families and community organizations, we can formulate actionable strategies that improve educational opportunities for all.”

Avondale was selected because of the city’s diligent efforts to rally the community to develop and create additional opportunities for more meaningful engagement on education. Last May, Avondale held an Education Summit that brought individuals from various entities together to identify tangible goals and strategies that would result in improving the education of Avondale’s youth. To that end, various sectors of the community have come together to develop strategies to improve education in Avondale. Engagement has turned into action through various city departments, local school leadership, non-profit and business sectors and the faith-based community.

Avondale’s Community Conversation is scheduled for Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at Avondale City Hall, and is expected to bring more than 100 people together to participate in a unique “un-conference” for the second year in a row. The event will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sierra Vista’s “home grown” Randy Redmond has been named Fire Chief of the Year by the Arizona Fire Chief’s Association.

Redmond earned the esteemed recognition through dogged pursuit of long term goals and ongoing efforts to increase funding for firefighter training. Other highlights of Redmond’s career include coordinating a statewide mutual aid agreement to allow fire agencies across the state to work closely together, as well as spearheading a consolidation effort with Fry Fire District to better serve the greater Sierra Vista community.

“The community can be very proud to have someone of Randy’s caliber serving as our fire chief, says Chuck Potucek, Sierra Vista city manager. “The fact that Randy is ‘home grown’ shows the professionalism that is embodied within our fire service right here in Sierra Vista.”

Redmond, a resident of Sierra Vista for over 40 years, started his career in the fire service as a reserve firefighter with the City of Sierra Vista in 1982. He later spent 12 years with Fry Fire District before rejoining the Sierra Vista Fire Department as fire captain in 1997, advancing through the ranks to Fire Chief in 2008.

“When you are Chief of an organization there is so much that needs to be done, but when you give of your time to help many others from all over the state, that says so much more about the character behind the badge,” said Mary Cameli, president of the Arizona Fire Chief’s Association, “and Randy has displayed this dedication year in and year out.”

“We are so thankful for all that he does for some many firefighters across the state of Arizona,” she adds.

“It’s an honor to be awarded this recognition,” Redmond says. “I’m privileged to work with many professionals in the fire services and it’s really about supporting each other and supporting our communities.”

AFCA’s mission is to serve chief fire officers by providing leadership through involvement; professional development through networking, education and information distribution; and a forum to improve fire services of Arizona. Visit www.azfirechiefs.com for more information on AFCA.

“NerdWallet,” a website that helps consumers make better financial decisions, has determined which Arizona cities and towns are among the best places to live in. The site conducted a study that would give potential home-buyers a closer look at the current housing market, basing its rankings on key factors like population growth, monthly costs, homeownership rates, and monthly income. The City of Maricopa topped the list, seeing a population increase of nearly 20 percent in two years and an impressive home ownership rate exceeding 80 percent. The town of Queen Creek rounded out the top five, boasting a median home value of nearly $250,000 and an exciting near-future development of a 14-screen movie theater.

It should come as no surprise that Arizona cities and towns continue to show such positive growth. After all, the state itself continues to be one of the fastest growing in the nation, with the US Census Bureau reporting a nearly 220,000 person -jump from 2010 to 2013 alone. The state has already experienced notable points of economic turnaround, but can look especially forward to the increase in job openings and revenue a new Apple plant will bring.

For more information about NerdWallet, visit www.nerdwallet.com.

City of Buckeye Police Officers Michael Miklus and Jeff Lumadue discuss how they went above and beyond the call of duty serving a resident of Buckeye on Channel 3, Your Life A to Z.

Preparing Mesa’s future generation for a globally competitive workforce is a crucial undertaking, and Mayor Scott Smith has it covered.

Both the city’s Mayor and Vice Mayor Alex Finter joined Cities United for Science Progress (CUSP), a partnership between The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) and DuPont, at Keller Elementary School and Roosevelt Elementary School for the Mesa’s “Science in the School Day.”

Nearly 70 fourth graders and 80 fifth graders worked side by side to build “puff mobiles,” a fun hands-on project exploring basic engineering principles that derived from the popular children’s television show ZOOM. Mayor Smith and Vice Mayor Finter joined the students as they built their mobiles using everyday materials like drinking straws, lifesavers, paper, scotch-tape and paperclips.  The council members closed the program by having the students race their inventions to determine the “fastest puff mobile in the school” and presented the winner with a prize.

Mayor Smith highlighted how events like “Science in the School Day,” while fun and interesting, are far from a simple spin on the typical science lesson: “As Mesa continues to grow,” he said, ” it must prepare our future leaders with a strong math and science background. The students in Mesa will no longer compete with Dallas, but with Mumbai and Beijing.  We anticipate that this experience will spark an interest in our students to consider a career in math or science, and perhaps one day aspire to become engineers.”

CUSP is a partnership between The U.S. Conference of Mayors and DuPont.  Through the $5.5 million Lead-Safe…for Kids’ Sake grant program and the acclaimed Science in the School Day initiative, over 55 cities have received grants, 250 cities have been visited, and over 40,000 elementary school children have participated in the USCM-DuPont partnership.  CUSP provides assistance to mayors in promoting and inspiring student’s interest in science and engineering.

Goodyear Ballpark is gaining notoriety as one of the best spring training facilities in the country and is in contention to be named as the best Spring Training facility in the country.

USA Today’s latest 10 Best Reader’s Choice Travel Award Contest is in the newly-formed Best Spring Training Facility Category and the spring training home of the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians is one of the frontrunners.

The newspaper’s expert panel nominated Goodyear Ballpark for the honor of giving everyone four weeks to vote for their candidate of choice. A person can vote once a day for the run of the contest, which ends Monday, March 24.

Goodyear Ballpark, which has been the spring training home of the Cleveland Indians since 2009 and the Cincinnati Reds since 2010, is a 10,300-seating facility, and was voted the Best Place to See a Spring Training Game in Arizona by readers of the Phoenix New Times for two of the last four years. The ballpark is known for hosting special events for families and fans of all ages. Last summer, the ballpark seta Guinness World Record by holding the largest event with people wearing false mustaches.

To vote for Goodyear Ballpark as your favorite place to catch a Spring Training game, visit http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-spring-training-facility. A person can vote once a day for the run of the contest, which ends Monday, March 24.

Winners will be announced Wednesday, March 26 on 10Best on www.usatoday.com and in USA Today.

The Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona (WIFA) announced that the Town of Clarkdale was selected to receive both of WIFA’s Project of the Year awards. This is the first time in WIFA’s history that both the Clean Water (for wastewater infrastructure) and Drinking Water Project of the Year awards went to the same entity. A special awards presentation will take place at the Town of Clarkdale Council Meeting on March 25th.

The 2013 Clean Water Project of the Year was for Clarkdale’s Broadway Reclamation Facility, a $5.5 million infrastructure project to replace an outdated lagoon treatment system with a recycled and refurbished mechanical wastewater treatment facility. After it was determined that their original plans to construct a new plant were cost-prohibitive, Clarkdale officials decided to purchase and refurbish a decommissioned wastewater treatment plant from a subdivision in Surprise.

“What an incredibly innovative and sustainable solution to improve water infrastructure and protect water quality,” said WIFA Board Chairman Henry Darwin, who is also Director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. “Clarkdale staff really thought outside the box on this one and deserve this award.”

The outdated lagoon system posed significant water quality threats to the adjacent Verde River, designated by Congress as a Wild and Scenic River. The new wastewater treatment plant is enclosed and eliminates any potential discharge to the Verde River. The project was selected based on the significant improvements made to protect water quality, the highly innovative practices employed and excellent project management.

The 2013 Drinking Water Project of the Year award was for Clarkdale’s Twin 5s Water Main Replacement project. Clarkdale borrowed $1.6 million from WIFA, which included $800,000 in forgivable principal, to replace and relocate two above-ground 5-inch steel water mains.

The 90-year old exposed water mains were vulnerable to natural disasters and introduction of chemical or biological agents. By implementing these improvements, the Town of Clarkdale has eliminated the security risk and resolved operation and maintenance issues. The project was selected for the award based on Clarkdale’s exceptional dedication to the project and the significant improvements made to protect public health.

Georgia Lord, Mayor of Goodyear Arizona, and AZ Cities @ Work appeared on Channel 3’s Your Life A to Z on Saturday, March 8, 2014 touting the benefits of Cactus League Spring Training to our cities and towns and the state.