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Tempe to induct eighth sister city on April 3

Tempe Sister Cities will celebrate the induction of its newest sister city, Cuenca, Ecuador, at a “Southwest Tapas” celebration on Friday, April 3, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Hackett House, 95 W. Fourth St. Tempe welcomed its last sister city, Carlow, Ireland, in 1998. 

Cuenca is Tempe’s first sister city located in the Southern hemisphere, as well as first to feature Spanish as its national language. Official visitors from Cuenca will include Richard Boroto, Director of the Abraham Lincoln School in Cuenca, and Luis Gallegos Chiribogo, Ecuador Ambassador to the United States.

In honor of the newest sister city, guests can enjoy fabulous southwest tapas-style cuisine, including southwest paella, spicy pork empanadas, tortilla española, grilled chimichurri beef skewers, flan, lime bars, white chocolate toasted pecan tamales and much more. There will be a cash bar featuring mojitos, sangria, wine, beer and soft drinks.

Admission is $15 for Tempe Sister City members or $20 for non-members. Tickets can be purchased at the Hackett House, or by calling 480-350-8181. Proceeds from the festival benefit the Tempe Sister Cities educational programs, which include the Annual Geography Bee, Cuisines of the World cooking classes, field trips for Tempe schoolchildren, Passport to Understanding children’s multi-cultural programs, the Young Artists program and more.

WHAT:     Induction of Cuenca, Ecuador into Tempe Sister Cities and
Southwest Tapas Celebration
WHO:    Hosted by Tempe Sister Cities Organization   
WHEN:    Friday, April 3, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
WHERE:     Hackett House
                95 W. Fourth St. (one block west of Mill Avenue on Fourth St.)

For more information, visit www.hacketthouse.org.

About Hackett House:
The Hackett House is an organization formed through friendships that helps promote world peace awareness by providing award-winning children’s programs for the City of Tempe. It is the headquarters for the Tempe Sister Cities organization and offers a fun and exciting environment that encourages the exchange of customs and cultures worldwide in a historical setting. 
About Tempe Sister Cities:
In 1971, Tempe and Skopje, Yugoslavia, joined together as “sister cities”, becoming part of the people-to-people program started in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and known today as Sister Cities International. Tempe went on to affiliate with Regensburg, Germany in 1976; Lower Hut, New Zealand in 1981; Zhenjiang, China and Timbuktu, Mali in 1989; Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France in 1997 and Carlow, Ireland in 1998.  Cuenca, Ecuador was added in 2009.

The Sister City concept of citizen involvement is unique in international programs because it provides the opportunity for everyday people of two cultures to exchange ideas and opinions, and hopefully, become friends.

Tempe City Council to consider agreement for Town Lake dam

At its March 26 meeting, the Tempe City Council will consider a tentative agreement with Bridgestone Industrial Products America, Inc. (BIPA) for a five-year replacement of the western Tempe Town Lake dam.

The agreement calls for BIPA to deliver Tempe four new rubber dam bodies and lease them to the city for five years with minimal financial burden on the city. The four rubber dam bodies make up the lake’s western dam. During the five years, Tempe will evaluate and select a permanent replacement system for the western end of the 2-mile lake, and pursue federal, state and county permits before installation.

The original rubber dam bodies were installed in 1999 with a 10-year warranty, which expires in June. In 2007, BIPA notified the city that it was exiting the rubber dam business. The City of Tempe is in the process of evaluating options for a permanent replacement system. The leased replacement dam bodies will give the city the time required to develop and plan for funding of the alternative system.

Tempe Town Lake has become a local, regional and national attraction for sports, arts and cultural activities. Over the last 10 years, private developers have flocked to the lake to build office, retail and residential projects – with many more planned for the future.

“We recognize the importance of the lake to the City of Tempe and what it means to this community,” said James Wheeler, Director of Operations & Finance, BIPA. “The end of the warranty period on the original rubber dam bodies and our company’s decision to withdraw from the rubber dam business left the city with a time crunch for evaluating its options for installing a permanent solution. We were happy to provide this stopgap and to create additional time for the city.” 

The parties also plan to install an overspray system to cool and protect the surface of the rubber dam bodies whenever the dam is not overtopped by lake water. The new spray system, which will use existing lake water to cool the dam and recycle the water back to the lake, will cool the rubber surface of the dam with minimal impact on the city’s operating expenses.

Town Lake’s eastern dam will remain in place, according to the agreement to be considered Thursday.

If the City Council approves the agreement, BIPA would begin manufacturing the dam bodies. Tempe would hire a contractor to install them, at BIPA’s cost, one section at a time using a coffer dam the city already owns. Full replacement with the new rubber bodies would conclude in less than two years. Meanwhile, Tempe will pursue replacement with a permanent solution within five years.

About Bridgestone Industrial Products America, Inc.:
Bridgestone Industrial Products America, Inc. (BIPA) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation in Tokyo, Japan. BIPA is a sales company with its principal office located in Nashville, Tenn.

Golf skills competition for youth in Tempe April 25

Aspiring young golfers ages five through 17 are invited to Tempe Parks and Recreation’s Drive, Pitch & Putt skills competition, a friendly contest that tests individual proficiency in basic golf techniques. The competition is $6 per participant and will take place on Saturday, April 25 from 7 to 10 a.m. at Ken McDonald Golf Course, 800 E. Divot Drive.

Golfers will be divided into four age divisions: 7 years and under, 8-10, 11-14 and 15-17, and will be awarded points based on accuracy of pitching and putting and accuracy and distance of driving. The winning boy and girl in each age division will receive an award, and all contestants will get participation prizes.

Pre-registration is required for the Drive, Pitch & Putt competition and must be received by Wednesday, April 22. Contestants can pick up and drop off registration forms at the Parks and Recreation administrative office on the second floor of the Tempe Public Library, 3500 S. Rural Road, at Rolling Hills Golf Course, 1415 N. Mill Avenue or at Ken McDonald Golf Course. Mailed registrations must be received by Monday, April 20. Participants will be contacted with their individual start time for the competition.

For more information on Tempe’s Drive, Pitch & Putt, please contact youth golf coordinator Mike Bochenek at 480-350-5248.

Free Tempe basketball clinic for 5th - 8th graders March 14, 2009

Tempe Youth Hoops invites boys and girls in 5th through 8th grades to make the most of spring break by taking part in a FREE, grade-based basketball clinic this Saturday, March 14 at Kiwanis Recreation Center, 6111 S. All-America Way.

Experienced coaches will teach participants the key strategies of basketball and help them strengthen and develop their game. No experience is necessary for this clinic, and all attendees will receive a discount for Tempe Youth Hoops' summer recreation leagues.

The clinic for 5th and 6th graders will run from 8:30 - 10 a.m., and the 7th and 8th grade clinic will follow from 10:30 a.m. - noon. Register on site or ahead of time by using course code 15987 for 5th and 6th grades and 15988 for 7th and 8th grades (register online). Call Keyon Cornejo at 480-350-5222 with any questions.

Tempe Lake Desert Sprints Rowing Regatta

From the City Website:

Saturday, 3/7 - Desert Sprints Rowing Regatta: 7am - 5pm.This will be our first Spring boating event. No traffic impact, but parking at the marina will be impacted and the boat ramp will be staged. Parking in the north lot will be limited to regatta volunteers and participants. If you need to park at the marina use the west most high lot. There will be additional parking very close to the marina at: Wilson Electric lot (just east of the Marina on Gilbert), at Papago Park and at the Lake Operation Center (Mill and Curry). If you come with a boat on a trailer or car top there will be spaces reserved in the marina lot for your vehicle and/or trailer.

The boat ramp will be open and available, but the ramp will be staged, as we usually do for this event. The rowing course will be on the north side of the lake from 500 meters east of the East Dam, to the north event boat ramp. Center and south side of the lake will be free and clear as will the far east and west ends of the lake.

Tempe invites community comments on budget balancing effort

Community members can follow the Tempe City Council's efforts to balance the city budget at www.tempe.gov/budgetplan, where updates will be posted about upcoming Council meetings, past meetings will be available to view online, and feedback can be submitted via an online form.

At a series of upcoming meetings, the City Council will discuss how best to balance the city budget while maintaining high levels of service to the community. They began the discussion at their Feb. 19 meeting and continued it March 3, working from a staff-prepared budget balancing proposal as a starting point. These and future meetings also are available for viewing on the budget Web page.

Councilmembers will continue to discuss their priorities and preferences for balancing the budget. The budget balancing measures eventually decided on by Council are the first steps in preparing the city's 2009-10 budget.

The City Council has scheduled the following public meetings as opportunities for further discussion. The meetings will take place in City Council Chambers, 31 E. Fifth St. If you plan to attend, please check the City Clerk's Web page (www.tempe.gov/clerk) to confirm these meeting dates and times.

Thursday, March 5 (*cancelled*)
4-5 p.m.

Tuesday, March 24
1:30-4 p.m.

Thursday, March 26 (if needed)
3-5 p.m.

In addition to the public meetings, employees and community members may submit their feedback via an online form at www.tempe.gov/budgetplan.
All comments will be compiled and provided to the City Council for their review and consideration. Comments will be public records subject to release to media or other requestors. Comments will be posted on the www.tempe.gov/budgetplan page for public viewing. Names are optional on the feedback forms.

Survey results improve in many areas from 2007 to 2008

City of Tempe residents have voiced positive feelings and constructive feedback about the services, programs and facilities provided in their community. 

More than 800 residents weighed in on questions dealing with water service, parks, trash collection, public safety and more. Their ratings give the City of Tempe important information about how well it is providing services. In most areas, Tempe residents rated the city higher in 2008 than in 2007. Complete survey results are available at www.tempe.gov/2008residentsurvey. 

Kansas-based ETC Institute conducted the survey and compared Tempe to its database of cities across the country. Tempe ranked in the top five percent of cities nationally when it came to the satisfaction of residents. Survey respondents expressed overall satisfaction levels of
92 percent - that's 34 percent above the national average.

Highlights of the 2008 survey include:

• Satisfaction with city water services rated 21 percent above the national average (91 percent in Tempe vs. 70 percent in U.S.)
• Satisfaction with the condition of city streets rated 25 percent above the national average (81 percent in Tempe vs. 56 percent in U.S.)
• Satisfaction with enforcement of traffic laws rated 19 percent above the national average (71 percent in Tempe vs. 52 percent in U.S.)

 

An ETC Institute representative will be present at the Tempe City Council's 6 p.m. Issue Review Session this Thursday, March 5, to review the survey results. The meeting is in City Council Chambers, 31 E. Fifth St.

Phoenix area real estate listings at lowest levels in 18 months

Phoenix area real estate listings started March 2009 at 49,433.  That is the lowest number in 18 months, and a drop of 2,132 from last month.