HANA Articles

"Fight The Bite"

Mosquitoes and Monsoons

Posted by Josh on Wednesday July 21, 2010 6:50 pm

The following comes from the City of Tucson regarding the inevitable emergence of mosquitoes during our monsoon season:

RESIDENTS, BUSINESSES ROLES IN "FIGHT THE BITE" PREVENTION EFFORTS NEEDED THIS YEAR

Eleven human cases of West Nile virus have been confirmed thus far in Arizona. One person in Maricopa County has died from the disease.

There are no human cases of West Nile virus within Pima County at this time; however, one chicken has tested positive. While no mosquito specimens have tested positive for the virus, trapping and collecting are at about half of the rate of previous years.

"Our frequency of mosquito trapping is down. It's likely that West Nile virus is already established in our community and will increase as the monsoon progresses," said Dr. Michelle McDonald, Chief  Medical Officer, Pima County Health Dept. "Now is the time for residents to protect themselves and others."

"Budget challenges, fewer resources and personnel mean that governments, organizations and residents will be relying on each other more in this year's 'Fight The Bite' effort," said Michael Carson, City Public Information Coordinator.

Residents and businesses should exercise prevention and decrease mosquito breeding sites:

• Use repellents when outside (DEET, oil of lemon eucalyptus, orPicaridin or IR 3535).
• Look for and remove standing water from objects around a home or business.
• Keep screens and windows in good repair.
• Report water that has been standing for three or four days and abandoned or green swimming pools to the Health Department’s West Nile virus Information Line by calling 243-7999.
• Report neglected properties, unsecured pools, and excessive trash within city limits at 791-5843.

Web resources:
- Pima County Health Department: www.pimahealth.org/disease/westnile.html
- State of Arizona Department of Health Services: http://azdhs.gov/phs/oids/westnile

Log onto www.pimahealth.org or sign up to receive immediate public health alerts via Twitter. Register for emergency messages and other vital public safety information at  www.myalerts.mystateusa.com.

"Fight The Bite" partners include Pima County, City of Tucson, City of South Tucson, Town of Marana, Town of Oro Valley, Town of Sahuarita, Tohono O'odham Nation, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, The University of Arizona, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and Tucson Unified School District.

Campbell / Ft. Lowell Project Update

Posted by Josh on Wednesday June 23, 2010 4:41 pm

We recently received the following information about the Campbell / Ft. Lowell project from City of Tucson Public Information Officer Michael Graham (520.837.6686).

1. Water line work on Fort Lowell is scheduled to be complete in about three weeks.
2. While crews milled (removed) asphalt on Campbell Avenue, they hit soil cement underneath the asphalt; therefore, additional milling will have to take place. That work is scheduled to take place over the next two weeks.
3. TDOT and the contractor have agreed to temporary stripe the current travel lanes rather than use barricades to separate the travel lanes. Removing the barricades and painting temporary striping will allow for continuous left turn lanes, as well as improve mobility in the work area and provide better access to businesses.
4. The project is scheduled to be complete in February 2011.

A complete time line, current as of June 18, 2010, is available in PDF format using this link. A weekly construction update meeting is being held every Thursday at 9AM on the northwest corner of Campbell and Ft. Lowell. It is open to the public.

Happy Anniversary to... US!

Posted by Josh on Tuesday May 18, 2010 6:34 pm

A billing statement in the mail made me realize that this week marks the one year anniversary of our Hedrick Acres website. We don't have an "official" anniversary date; however, the first article posted in this section that introduced the site was on May 20, 2009. I seem to recall I pushed the site live either one or two days before that.

In the past year, we've added quite a few features: a social networking element via Facebook and Twitter, tips for resolving common neighborhood issues, a Crime & Safety Resources section that includes a neighborhood crime map, and a lot more.

As we celebrate our 1 year anniversary, many thanks to the friends and neighbors who suggested features we've added and who kindly pointed out where I's weren't dotted and T's weren't crossed. As we move forward into our second year, a reminder that this site is here to serve you. If there is anything you would like to see, drop us a line and we'll do our best to include it.

Campbell & Ft. Lowell Project

Posted by Josh on Thursday May 13, 2010 6:14 pm

Sandra Miller from the Richland Heights East Neighborhood atended last night's Campbell & Ft. Lowell pre-construction open house and took the following notes.

The City of Tucson news release about the project is available as a PDF file using this link.

Mike Stilsky, the City of Tucson Construction Project Manager, did most of the talking. Two of the construction guys were also there, one was a Falcone brother, and maybe the other as well.

Mike is the person to contact with questions. His number is 837-6636.

The Falcone Brothers came in with the low bid ($2.1 million). They have done a lot of work for the county and got positive reviews, but this is their first job for the city. There is a large monetary incentive for them to finish on time (in 9 months). They said they usually finish early, but admit that this is their first job at such a busy intersection.

The streets will be taken down 16" (all paving and some underlying dirt will be removed). Tucson Water will be putting in new water lines (they don't want their 50 year old lines under a newly paved street). There will also be new traffic signals to accommodate the wider streets, and temp signals will be used during construction.

The work will be in 3 phases. Phase 1 is the west side of Campbell and the south side of Ft Lowell. This will include the water line replacement. Tucson Water will be starting at Martin and Ft Lowell on Monday. This phase is scheduled to go from May to August.

Phase 2 is the east side of Campbell and the north side of Ft Lowell. This phase is scheduled to go from August to November.

Phase 3 is the middle of both streets. This phase is scheduled to go from November to February, 2011.

During all phases there will be 3 lanes available for traffic, one each direction and a left turn lane.

The City purchased the NW corner lot (where Nico's used to be) for the project, and that is where the construction company will store their equipment, and they say there will also be room there for the workers to park their personal cars so as not to take parking from the surrounding businesses.

Every Thursday at 9:00am, starting on May 20th, there will be a project meeting held at this lot. It is open to the public.

Neighbors expressed concern about cut-through traffic (RHE was especially vocal), and business worry about loss of customers. There are about 200 businesses that will be affected. We plan to get a list of those businesses and distribute it to our neighborhood, encouraging people to frequent the businesses during the construction. We don't want to see a bunch of empty store fronts 9 months from now. A place to start making such a list is campbellavenue.com.

New Section on the HANA Website

Posted by Josh on Tuesday May 11, 2010 3:32 pm

A common theme at neighborhood and community meetings is that folks are not certain about the right way to handle an issue they may have. Who is responsible for weeds in the alley behind their house? What can they do about barking dogs? What can be done about junked cars?

So I recently put together a new section on the HANA site. At the top, right of the screen you'll see a new link reading Issues! This new section has two main parts:

I. Suggestions on Addressing Common Problems

This includes information about what you can do to address issues like:

• Graffiti
• Abandoned/Junked Cars
• Nuisance Animals
• Excessive Noise
  ...and more

II. The SeeClickFix Widget

Some time ago we posted about SeeClickFix, a service monitored by The City of Tucson that allows people to report problems such as potholes, graffiti, issues with abandoned autos and buildings, litter, and more.

We've added SeeClickFix to the Issues! page in the form of a map that shows issues that have been reported in our neighborhood. If you need to report an issue, see if someone else has already reported it. If they have, you can vote to have it fixed (the squeaky wheel gets the grease!). If nobody has reported it, you can do so. It's pretty cool...

As always, if there's anything you would like to see, drop us a line!