THE SUNDAY EAST VALLEY TRIBUNE | NOVEMBER 10, 2019
THE SUNDAY
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WATER from page 1
bond issue, utility excise tax bonds or other short mid-term financing, Cannistraro told the Tribune. funded with bonds, the usual practice in Mesa. “The cost for phase one is estimated at $5 million and is funded with current bond authorization in water, natural gas and electric,’’ she told the Tribune in an email. “The funding for citywide deployment is also anticipated to use bond financ-
NEWS
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ing,” she said, adding: “We will explore all options over the next year as we further understand and quantify the anticipated costs and benefits.” A consultant concluded that the city is primed for such a project because of several factors, including its extensive fiber availability, which will make the network needed for the extensive system possible. The consultant’s report said that Mesa had about 229,000 meters last year, including 148,000 water, 63,000 gas and
16,700 electricity. The vast majority of these meters will need to be replaced. Cannistraro said the city is anticipated to recoup its installation costs in an estimated 12-13 years. The savings from the system are estimated to include $1.7 million a year from minimal meter reading; an 80 percent reduction in customer service trips saving 7,900 work hours; $2.7 million per year from timely replacement of inaccurate meters.
need for all of us to be more aware of how much water each of us uses on a daily basis,” Mesa Water Conservation Coordinator Donna DiFrancesco said. “We hope this urges our customers to be more mindful of how they use water in their household and to learn about the easy ways to reduce their use in order to protect this valuable resource.” Typical residential water usage in Mesa ranges from 90 to 190 gallons of water per person per day, including indoor and
outdoor use. The city broke down water use this way: consumption, seven gallons; showers and baths, 13 gallons; toilets, 14; household cleaning, 21 gallons and outdoors, 65 gallons. During the summer, water bills reach their highest due to outdoor use such as landscaping and swimming pools. By November, if homeowners do not overseed their lawns with winter grass, their water use should be much lower, the city said.
to return to their usual jobs eventually after Wilson regains his card, Koelbel said. O r i g i n a l ly, it was hoped Wilson would regain the card DR. CHAD WILSON much faster, after an expedited administrative review on Oct. 18, before the Arizona Board of Fingerprinting. But the state board declined to restore Wilson’s card without a full hearing, which could take three or four months. Koelbel said it is possible that Wilson’s criminal case in Pinal County Superior Court could be cleared up before the fingerprinting board rules on his case. Kuhn was filling in for Wilson, anyway, while he was off-campus. In return for her added responsibilities, Kuhn is receiving a stipend as compensation. “We have regular leadership team meetings where educators get together to toss around ideas,’’ Koelbel said. “The board wants to let Wilson’s due process play out.’’ Because of that reason, Wilson’s pay also was not reduced, he said. In addition, the board has recognized that Wilson’s alleged misdeeds had no connection to EVIT and that the charges
stem from his actions while serving as superintendent of Apache Junction schools. The obstacle with the fingerprint card is another complication from the board’s decision to retain Wilson, despite his indictment. That indictment stems from a state Auditor General’s Office investigation of Apache School Unified School District records. The state Attorney General’s Office used the audit to obtain charges of misuse of public monies, alleging that Wilson arranged for $133,223 in payments not authorized by the Apache Junction Governing Board to administrators during a five-year period, from 2012 to 2016. The $126,000 in “performance payments’’ went to 11 to 15 administrators, while another $3,880 was spent on “professional development instruction,’’ and $2,550 was spent on paying three administrators to attend athletic events on Friday nights. Wilson himself received $480 in unauthorized payments, according to the Auditor General’s report. Despite the indictment and the case pending in Pinal County Superior Court, the EVIT board voted to retain Wilson, with additional financial safeguards in place. An administrator from a Tucson vocational school was loaned to EVIT to handle financial duties.
Library display depicts Mesa water use TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF
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he Mesa Main Library is also thinking about water – and ways to save it. All month it will host a 16-foot-tall, 120-gallon water jug pyramid display to show how much water one person consumes a day in their home. The display will include water leak detection guides and other free booklets on how to save water. “This impressive display illustrates the
EVIT finds way to get superintendent on campus
BY JIM WALSH Tribune Staff Writer
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he East Valley Institute of Technology found a way to get Superintendent Dr. Chad Wilson back to work despite the automatic suspension of his fingerprint clearance card for his indictment on theft and misuse of public money. Wilson, 49, who was promoted from interim superintendent to superintendent in July, has been reassigned to a new position that doesn’t require the card, director of external affairs. The state requires most teachers and superintendents to carry the card if a criminal background check using their fingerprints shows they have no been convicted of most crimes. Dana Kuhn, who previously was an assistant principal at EVIT, was promoted to interim superintendent, a position she is expected to fill until Wilson regains his fingerprint identification card. The suspension of Wilson’s card left his job in a precarious situation. His contract requires him to possess the card as a condition of employment, said Kevin Koelbel, EVIT’s director of legal services. Koelbel acknowledged the job switch is a work-around, intended to get Wilson back to work after he took 16 days of personal leave when the card was suspended. EVIT’s intention is for Wilson and Kuhn