By Cathy Rymer, Chandler Water Conservation Coordinator

In 2012, 199 Chandler water audit participants saved over 10 million gallons of water after following advice from the city’s water conservation staff. That’s a lot of water and it also means hundreds of dollars saved by residents.

A water audit is simply a free on-site evaluation of water-using fixtures, hardware, equipment, landscaping, and management practices to determine the efficiency of your home’s water use. Once an audit is requested a Chandler Water Conservation Specialist will tour the property to show how you can locate leaks and learn practical ways to repair them.  You’ll even receive money-saving rebate and incentive information. Best of all, your appointment can be conveniently scheduled M-F between 6:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.

This citywide program is offered free-of-charge to Chandler water customers. A separate program for HOA’s and commercial properties also is available and includes preparation of a water budget to help determine landscape water efficiency. The results of eight water budgets tracked in 2012 resulted in estimated savings of 7,963,000 gallons.  Conservation programs such as water audits recently garnered Chandler recognition from NerdWallet, a consumer advocacy website out of San Francisco (http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/2013/cities-with-innovative-green-initiatives).

Other water-saving programs include high water use notification post cards sent to residents who used more than twice as much water as the month before. This proactive approach helps catch leaks as soon as possible.  In 2012 more than 1.5 million gallons were saved due to this program.  The landscape conversion rebate program provided rebates for the removal of unused grass areas replaced with desert adapted plants.  Residents saw a 25 percent reduction in their landscape water use due to conversions in 2012 or a total of 1.3 million gallons. Non-residential conversions had an estimated savings of 472,700 gallons in 2012.

The use of smart irrigation controllers also produces significant water savings.  Besides receiving a rebate of up to $250, non-residential customers saved an average of 717,872 gallons per year. Residents also saw reductions in their water use with average annual savings of 31,681 gallons.

When the new Goodyear branch of the Maricopa County Library system is completed near the end of this year, it could include space for the business leaders of tomorrow to work and brainstorm through a partnership in an incubator program with Arizona State University.

During the Goodyear City Council work session on July 8, Tracy Lea, Venture Manager at Arizona State University’s SkySong incubator center unveiled its Alexandria Model, a program that is planned inside an approximate 1,000-square-foot room in the new Goodyear branch library to serve as an entrepreneur and innovation center for those pursuing ideas and business projects.

City leaders were excited to see the presentation for the program, which will help to provide entrepreneurs the tools, resources and mentors to get on the pathway of development. Goodyear City Council will vote on finalizing the agreement with ASU and the county for the center sometime after it returns from its summer break next month.

“We appreciate SkySong because we know of its successes,” Goodyear Mayor Georgia Lord said. “I’ve heard of and seen the successes there, and we look forward to having our successes here.”

Having a business “incubator” in Goodyear is one of City Council’s initiatives and the city’s Economic Development Department has been working with SkySong in south Scottsdale to make center a reality in Goodyear for six months.

SkySong’s Tracy Lea said the center also could have a military focus.  Luke expects to see $260 million of construction over the next decade and other support businesses are expected to open with the arrival of the F-35A fighter pilot training program next year.

During the meeting, Lea said, “The Alexandria Concept will create a wonderful pipeline for development.  “It’s been extraordinary working with this group of people in this city, and I believe this is such a rich environment for this to take flight. The West Valley has some amazing growth right now. Goodyear is creating a terrific growth pattern in and of itself.”

The library, budgeted at $1 million, will include 9,600-square-feet that will feature a 1,600-square-foot multi-purpose room in addition to the 8,000-square-feet of library space.

The library will replace the current one at North Litchfield Road and Van Buren Street.  Design work for the new library is on schedule to be completed by the end of July and construction beginning as early as August.

Florence Mayor Tom J. Rankin was voted in at the Wednesday, June 19th Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) Regional Council meeting as the newest member to MAG’s Transportation Policy Committee (TPC).  The vote was unanimous. Congratulations to Mayor Tom J. Rankin!

You can find more about Mayor Rankin’s new position below:

http://www.florenceaz.gov/index.php?option=com_acymailing&ctrl=archive&task=view&mailid=515&key=6908a5fbaec078dd9169d0bf8620051d&subid=201-a68755507547037c79ff6975bdc65886

The Valley Metro and Valley Metro Rail transit boards have chosen new officers for fiscal-year 2013-14.

The regional public transportation authority for Phoenix, Valley Metro elected as its board chairman Scott Somers, who is a Council member for Mesa, AZ. Also elected were Chandler Council Member Trinity Donovan as vice chairman and Avondale Council Member Jim McDonald as treasurer.

Valley Metro Rail, which operates, maintains and expands the light-rail system in the greater Phoenix area, has elected Shana Ellis chairman and Dennis Kavanaugh, vice chairman. Shana Ellis serves on the Tempe Council and Kavanaugh, on the Mesa Council.

Read more about The Valley Metro and Valley Metro Rail transit’s new officers here:

http://tempe.gov/index.aspx?page=31&recordid=1668&returnURL=%2findex.aspx%3fpage%3d185

July is National Park and Recreation Month! The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) wants you and your community to celebrate parks and recreation! NRPA is encouraging the public to show how much fun parks and recreation are, while learning about the many benefits they bring to the community. There are several national initiatives planned to help accomplish that. Visit NRPA’s website below and tell them what you love about parks and recreation.

http://www.nrpa.org/july/?utm_source=Homepage&utm_medium=Coverflow&utm_content=ParkRecMo560x204&utm_campaign=Homepage_Coverflow_2013

In support of NRPA’s effort, AZ Cities @ Work is featuring Arizona’s cities and towns that help their communities stay active this summer. Read these articles to see why parks and recreation are so vital for our lives!

Find out how Tucson was recognized with rankings in two national top ten lists for bicycle friendliness! Great job Tucson!

http://cms3.tucsonaz.gov/announcement/tucson-ranks-top-10

Mesa Moving Forward: Mayor Scott Smith highlights the unique partnership between the City of Mesa and Mesa Public Schools

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3D1YgrM2zk&feature=youtu.be

Vote for your park! The search for America’s Favorite Park is on, and your votes could make the difference.

https://parks.livepositively.com/parks/index.html#findpark?searchterm=arizona

Flagstaff’s Recreation Department brings you Touch -A- Truck

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=644636342232902&l=b4f21175b2

By Donyelle Kesler, Digital Information Specialist

When Engineering Technician Salamatullah Sayeed looks at Queen Creek, he said he sees a community with enormous potential for growth and development. Those were things he also said he saw for himself with the opportunity to work with the town’s Development Services department.

“Queen Creek is a community growing at a very fast pace. With my academic background and experience, I felt I had a lot to offer and saw a great opportunity to be part of that expansion,” Sayeed said.

Since joining the town staff in January 2013, Sayeed has taken on a number of responsibilities. He reviews engineering plans and retention basins, issues encroachment permits, and works with custom home and general subdivision developments issuing permits throughout the construction phases. He works closely with Engineer Marc Palichuk, Senior Inspector Todd Sautter and other divisions to ensure operations run smoothly.

Sayeed received his bachelor’s degree in engineering in 2008 from Arizona State University. His previous work experience in the private sector and with the city of Tempe’s Public Works Engineering Division make him instrumental in the town’s efforts to be responsive to customers, according to Development Services Director Chris Anaradian.

“Sayeed is part of our next generation of technical specialists who will help us increase the quality of life for all in Queen Creek as the town experiences the next leap of growth and development,” Anaradian said. “He is providing the kind of added value that prevents problems from happening when they are on paper, before becoming costly delays on a construction site. Everyone benefits from that kind of assistance.”

“Having professional individuals like Sayeed working for our community makes us stronger as a town and a more appealing place for developers to build quality projects,” said Queen Creek Mayor Gail Barney. “We’re fortunate to have such qualified staff whose attention to detail is unwavering.”

Sayeed says the biggest challenge he’s faced since starting with the town was beginning work on a number of subdivision projects already in progress while still becoming familiar with the layout of the town. He says he is also looking forward to future projects he will have the opportunity to assist on, including working towards town plans for a possible hotel and public transportation.

“There’s lots of variety with my job that I really enjoy,” Sayeed said. “I like being able to take on multiple tasks and no two are the same, so I’m constantly interacting with different people. It keeps my job from being repetitive.”

Settling into his new position, Sayeed said one thing he has observed and enjoyed most about being part of the town staff is the dynamic among employees and their ability to work closely as a team no matter which department they belong to.

“With every department in one building and working so closely together I think it has a positive impact on the town,” Sayeed said. “It seems that everyone shares the same vision of where we want Queen Creek to be five, 10 years from now. We have people who have come from other places and know the challenges growing communities encounter and how to best deal with them and then there are people who have been here for a long time that really understand the community and can share their knowledge.”

By Jeff Weninger, Chandler City Council Member

The city of Chandler’s website recently received high honors from the Sunshine Review, a nonprofit organization whose mission surrounds transparency in local and state government. Of the 6,000-plus government websites that were ranked, Chandler was one of only 214 municipalities to receive the coveted A+ ranking (and for the 3rd year in a row).

As part of the ranking, Sunshine Review looks at a number of transparency criteria including information about budgets, public records, taxes, contracts, and public meetings. Since joining the City Council several years ago it has been my goal to maintain and strengthen transparency in government. I believe that our residents should be kept fully informed about decisions being made on their behalf. Fortunately, the city subscribes to the same philosophy.

In an effort to continue to improve, I asked staff to draft procedures to allow for more transparency and look for ways to expand the delivery of information pertaining to fees and other charges imposed by the city. Currently, when there is a proposal to revise a fee or charge associated with licenses, permits, or other items, it is required that a meeting notice be posted at least 24 hours in advance to meet the Arizona Open Meeting Law. However, this does not allow for much public comment. I would like to see that change.

I am proposing a city code amendment regarding the public notification process for setting fees and charges. Currently, certain charges are required to be posted on the city’s website and published in the newspaper, while others are not. It is my recommendation that the city includes other fees and additionally, uses social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter to help communicate any proposed changes.

In today’s world, information is readily available through these types of mediums and I think that we should utilize them to enhance our transparency and keep the public apprised of city business that could potentially impact their lives. During a recent subcommittee meeting, several council members met with staff to discuss this issue further and look for other ways to improve our communication with the community.

We discussed expanded notice to the public through our website and social media, in some cases providing up to 60 days advance notice. These proposed changes could result in a greater opportunity to receive public comment on the issues at hand. It was a very productive dialogue.

This proposal will be brought forward at a future council meeting for a vote. But regardless of what happens next, city staff is committed to making it easier for the public to locate information. They will continue to modify the city’s website to make information easily accessible from the home page. And, as information pertaining to changes in fees comes available they also plan to post those updates online. Additionally, they will incorporate other fees that were not previously published and place the fee schedule where it is simpler to find. Essentially, these changes will create a one-stop shop for those seeking this information.

As a result of this discussion one thing is clear; when we provide more information than what is required by law it demonstrates the true spirit of transparency. And that will earn us many more A+ ratings down the road.

By Casey Rooney, Economic Development Director

The city of Cottonwood Business Assistance Center (BAC) has been successfully servicing the needs of local businesses for over 2 years. The BAC is a partnership between the city of Cottonwood, the Northern Arizona Council of Governments, Yavapai College and local businesses. The city Economic Development and IT Departments are located at the BAC. The Cottonwood Economic Development Council (CEDC) also calls the BAC their home office. The CEDC is a private, public economic development partnership.

The BAC provides business consulting services. A typical person might enter our doors looking for information regarding opening a new business. We will sit down with this person(s) and discuss their concept. Their business concept will often times lead us to work with our customer to develop their business plan. Sometimes, training needs are identified. Regular training classes are conducted in subjects such as QuickBooks, excel, Photoshop, and general business development. You could consider the BAC as a business connection service where we connect the business with the resources they need to move forward. Between all of our partners we have access to an amazing amount of creative business consulting talent.

In addition to mentoring businesses, we provide office space on a short to medium timeframe. A budding business can come in, occupy an office, and use our technology such as computers, Wi-Fi and printers for business purposes at little or no cost for an hour or an entire day. We have several business housed in our facility for 6-12 months. We charge a modest fee to longer-term occupiers of office space. We have incubated and graduated several business. These businesses leave our facility and move into the commercial office market where they pay market rate for their new space. Our facility is designed to help startups with every advantage they need to start and be successful. The process works!

The city of Cottonwood took the lead, working with the Unites States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Verde Valley Regional Economic Organization to develop a revolving loan fund to help support our BAC clients. One business recently borrowed $150,000 and another deal is about to close for $50,000. Between these 2 BAC client businesses we are creating approximately 35 jobs. That’s economic development!

The BAC can also be categorized as a virtual incubator. Home based businesses use our very professionally appointed board rooms to conduct business. Rather than meet clients at home they can use the BAC for important and strategic face-to-face meetings.

We presently house four full-time businesses in the BAC. One of our businesses is actually two businesses in one office with the same owner. Jamie Fulmer is the CEO of Fire Mountain Wines and Blue Stone Strategy Group. Jamie will be opening a wine tasting room shortly in Old Town Cottonwood. His Blue Stone Strategy Group is a business consulting company where the primary clients are tribes located throughout the United States and Canada. His consulting company employs approximately 20 high level business consultants. His story is a success story.

The wine industry is an emerging industry in Arizona and Cottonwood is the economic center of activity in the Verde Valley. The Verde Valley Wine Consortium (VVWC) is a trade association for the local wine producers, tasting rooms, etc. VVWC is headquartered at the Business Assistance Center.

All of the companies that graduated out of the BAC and all the present companies located at the BAC continue to be successful. That is a pretty good batting average.

By Gilbert Staff

The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) announces that Gilbert, Arizona has been recognized as the first Arizona economic development organization, the second municipality and one of just 35 economic development organizations in the nation accredited by IEDC as an Accredited Economic Development Organization (AEDO).

“The Gilbert Office of Economic Development displays the professionalism, commitment, and technical expertise that is deserving of this honor,” said IEDC President and CEO Jeff Finkle.

The AEDO program is a comprehensive peer review process that measures economic development organizations against commonly held standards in the profession. The program consists of two phases: a documentation review and an onsite visit. Each phase is designed to evaluate information about the structure, organization, funding, programs, and staff of the candidate economic development organization.

Earning the AEDO designation tells the community and prospects that the Gilbert Office of Economic Development has attained a measure of excellence assuring that their trust is well-placed and their business is in good hands.

“In Gilbert, economic development is not an afterthought,” said Mayor John Lewis. “It is at the forefront of the community’s strategic plan in which all employees play a role in the economic development effort. The AEDO designation reinforces Gilbert’s commitment to ensuring excellence in all of our business practices for our community, clients and our stakeholders.”

“As a business leader in the town of Gilbert, I’ve had a number of opportunities to work with the Gilbert Office of Economic Development and have always found them to be excellent partners in economic development,” said Todd Werner, CEO of Banner Gateway Medical Center and Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center. “Banner Gateway Medical Center and Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center understands that by having a strong municipal partner that knows our business needs and our industry trends are paramount in today’s global business environment.”

Gilbert’s attainment of the AEDO designation could not have been accomplished alone. State and Regional partners including the Arizona Commerce Authority and Greater Phoenix Economic Council as well as business ambassadors including Banner Gateway Medical Center, Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, Ernst & Young, Heliae, Howard S. Wright, LGE Design Build, Maricopa Community College District, Orbital Sciences, Salt River Project, and Unicon contributed to Gilbert’s achievement.

“Congratulations to Gilbert’s economic development team in its steadfast pursuit of receiving this distinguished designation – the first AEDO designation for the state of Arizona,” said Sandra Watson, President and CEO, Arizona Commerce Authority. “This announcement is a testament to Gilbert’s ongoing commitment to best practices and continues to highlight Arizona’s commitment to excellence in economic development.”

“As the Gilbert Delegate to the Greater Phoenix Economic Council Board of Directors, I am pleased to have been part of Gilbert’s IEDC AEDO accreditation process,” said Ron Butler, Arizona Managing Partner of Ernst & Young. “The AEDO certification is a milestone for both Gilbert and the state of Arizona. Gilbert’s dedication to achieving the highest standards of excellence through the process is a testament to the community’s desire to be collaborative, innovative and truly best in class.”

Maintenance of the AEDO status is required every three years and is accomplished through documentation submission and/or onsite visits by a team of the AEDO subcommittee.

By Todd Henderson, Utilities Management Assistant

In May 2009, the town of Marana implemented Cartegraph software, an asset management system that gives staff the ability to track the condition and value of assets and create a proactive work management and inventory control system. This system gives the town the ability to create an enterprise-wide asset management tool that increases efficiency and transparency.

The Utilities Department began implementing Cartegraph by creating a work management system while Public Works simultaneously started collecting and rating town assets. One year later, the roles were switched; Utilities collected all of its assets and Public Works created a work order system. Both departments kept track of every asset’s maintenance history by attaching work orders to the relevant assets in the system.

Four years later, the town is realizing significant savings by virtue of proactive maintenance schedules versus reactive response. An example includes the Pavement Preservation Program adopted by the Town Council that was created from the numbers generated by Cartegraph’s pavement rating system. This program assists the town in identifying and scheduling treatments that preserve roads years past their normal lifespan and saving the town millions of dollars.

A fully implemented asset management system that tracks labor, equipment and materials saves municipalities money and provides efficiency, transparency and accountability to residents. This type of progress and innovation is reflected in the town’s strategic plan and is one of the driving forces behind Marana’s success.