Subdivisions seek improvement district for new sewer system

County accepts petitions from Orange Grove, rancho Mesa Verde residents

The Yuma County Board of Supervisors accepted petitions asking for the establishment of an improvement district for the Orange Grove and Rancho Mesa Verde subdivisions, which are located adjacent to Somerton.

This proposed district would specifically raise funds for the design and construction of a new wastewater collection system.

The petition was signed by 54.4% of the persons owning property within the boundaries of the proposed district, and which accounts for 53.65% of the property within the proposed limits of the district.

The next step is a public hearing, which the supervisors set for April 18, with the regular session starting at 9 a.m. The hearing will give residents an opportunity to have their questions answered regarding the district formation and future wastewater development for their area.

The county since 2013 has been working with the residents in this area on their water and wastewater needs, according to a staff report.

In 2014, the county grants staff assisted Somerton in securing $1.2 million in Arizona Department of Housing funding for the water improvement portion, after the city purchased the existing water system.

Both subdivisions are now on city water, however, the subdivision streets remain unpaved due to sewer issues. Nancy Ngai, the county’s now-retired community planning coordinator, previously explained that “to pave (those) particular two streets, we have to realign the sewer because they are currently on septic systems. Leech lines were allowed back then, with the leech line going through the street and roadway, and because of that, we are unable to pave those streets up to standards.”

Also in 2014, the county used $110,000 in Community Development Block Grant federal funds to conduct environmental and preliminary engineering studies for a new sewer system. In 2016, Somerton completed the water

system improvements and Statnec Engineering completed the reports.

At that time, the cost of the project was estimated at about $11 million. However, construction costs have increased by more than 30% since and could potentially be $20 million today.

Per federal requirements, the county needed to establish current costs for construction in comparison to the previous cost estimate.

In addition, six years lapsed since the environmental and preliminary engineering reports were first completed and need to be updated.

Since water and sewer projects are eligible for American Rescue Plan Act federal relief funding, Ngai noted that this might be the time to move the project forward.

At the insistence of Supervisor Martin Porchas, the Orange Grove/Rancho Mesa Verde sewer system project was tagged on to the list of approved projects to be covered by ARPA funding. The supervisors agreed to cover new environmental review and preliminary engineering design studies with ARPA funds.

Prior to securing funding for engineering design and future construction, the district needs to be formed. Improvement District and grants staff met with residents to provide updated information for the sewer project and worked with district formation petition circulators on their petition drive.

Petition circulators recently completed and submitted the petitions, stated the staff report.

Chairman Tony Reyes noted that an improvement district seems to be the best way to go about paying for costs not covered by grants.

“The message to them should be that we need to find a way to get them some help and the only way to get the help – we’re not in the sewer or water business as a county – but we need to have a tool to get to the point where something gets done,” Reyes said.

“We can help them if they want to help themselves,” he added, noting that an independent sewer system would have been too expensive. Fortunately, he noted, the subdivisions are adjacent to Somerton and the city is willing to connect their new sewer system to its infrastructure.

“I’m glad we can see some light at the end of the tunnel that isn’t a train,” Reyes quipped.

Rachel Stallworth, the county improvement district coordinator, noted that the project would still take a few years to complete.

Porchas said he hoped the project didn’t take too long because “the longer it takes the more money it’s going to cost.”

Porchas also said that he would like the county to explore more options to help move the project along, such as leftover ARPA funds.