The City of Nogales completed waterline and street improvements along MacNab Drive and Perkins Avenue this year using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds in partnership with Southeastern Arizona Governments Organization (SEAGO). And more improvements are on the way.
Work on the MacNab line began in 2017, replacing 1,500 feet of the 100 year old waterline. Phase II replaced an additional 2,100 feet. Both projects included higher capacity lines, new water service hookups, new road surfacing and hydrants. This project, completed in February, used City-leveraged CDBG funds administered by SEAGO totaling just over $1 million.
In 2018, Nogales worked with SEAGO to secure $1.2 million in Colonias Set-Aside CDBG funds to replace approximately 3,000 feet of the 120 year old waterline along Perkins Avenue in Nogalitos. The Perkins project also included new hydrants, water service lines, and streets with curb and gutter. The new streets tie into newly-rebuilt Edwards, Vera Cruz and Durango Streets, which channel stormwater from the new detention basin on the East side of Nogalitos. Those improvements, completed in 2018, were also funded through a $1.3 million Colonias award, with the Santa Cruz County Flood Control District as the applicant. These projects have brought significant improvements to the Nogalitos neighborhood.
This year, the City of Nogales secured an additional $840,000 in Colonias CDBG funds for another waterline and pavement project along Noon Street. This project, which will begin construction this fall, will replace 2,800 feet of waterline and pavement in the West Quadrant neighborhood. In addition, the City will use its regular CDBG funds for a waterline and pavement project along Camino del Sol, Ellis Street and Sonoita Avenue. That project, which will begin construction next year, will replace approximately 1,500 feet of waterline and streets.
When the Noon Street and Camino del Sol projects are complete, the City of Nogales will have replaced approximately two miles of water line and pavement using regular and competitive CDBG grants combined with City leverage funds over the last five years. In partnership with SEAGO which administers the rural CDBG program for the region, Nogales has become one of the top recipients of Colonias Set-Aside CDBG funds, a biannual competitive grant cycle averaging $2 million each round. Nogalitos, the West Quadrant and East Quadrants are Colonias recognized by the Arizona Department of Housing as eligible to compete for Colonias funds. Since the program began in 2010, ADOH has awarded $11.5 million in Colonias funds. About 30 percent of that total, $3.4 million, has been invested into the City.