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The Navajo County Board of Supervisors authorized the submission of an application for the 2019 State Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, selecting three of the six projects that had been submitted prior to the public hearing held on Jan. 22.
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The three projects selected totaled $475,000, enabling the county to potentially use all of the $470,000 allotted through the CDBG funds. Those three projects include a water line with fire protection in Snowflake for $125,000, the Hall Street Project in Show Low for $175,000 and the remodeling of a building for a homeless shelter in Show Low for $175,000. The board also selected the request from Alice’s Place in Winslow in the amount of $36,620 to be the back-up project.
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As outlined by Isabel Rollins, CDBG manager with the Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG), Navajo County is allotted CDBG funds every four years, which must be used to serve low-to-moderate income residents within the county. Navajo County is expected to receive approximately $470,000 in Fiscal Year 2019.
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“As a board, you can choose up to three projects with a fourth project as a back-up in case a project fails to qualify or more funds become available,” said Rollins. “While the CDBG funds can be used for a wide number of projects, the funds must be used to benefit low-income persons and areas, alleviate slum and blight or address urgent need. You will probably want to pick two construction projects to make sure the funds are used up.”
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The six projects reviewed by the board were:
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Alice’s Place in Winslow, which provides sexual assault and domestic violence support services throughout Navajo County, came with a request of $36,620 to hire one full-time victims’ advocate whose duties would include emphasis on sexual assault services and outreach. This project would benefit approximately 80 low-to-moderate income persons.
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The Town of Snowflake submitted a request for $125,000 to install an eight-inch water line with fire protection to the existing water line on 81 W. First St. Low-to-moderate income families in the area will benefit from water service installation with proper fire protection. The town is willing to match the grant up to $125,000.
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The Navajo County Historical Museum put in a request for $230,000 for repairs to the roof of the museum as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility. The museum is located at 100 E. Arizona St. in Holbrook and serves all residents and visitors to Navajo County.
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The White Mountain Coalition Against Homelessness requested $175,000 for funding to remodel and upgrade a building in Show Low that will be used to house 30 plus homeless individuals and families as well as provide training rooms to further the program. Renovation would include installing a fire sprinkler system, adding walls and bathrooms as well as enlarging the kitchen and adding appliances.
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The Hall Street Project in Show Low, with $175,000 requested for the construction of sidewalks, curbs, gutters, parking and drainage improvements on the east and west side of Hall Street from 11th Street terminating at White Mountain Road. This project qualifies as a slum/blight improvement that is located within the Show Low Redevelopment Zone established by the city in 2012. The city will match the grant up to $175,000.
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The White Mountain SAFE House, domestic violence shelter, requested $50,000 for operating costs of staff who advocate and provide guidance, vocational training, group counseling, transportation and otherwise care for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in the Show Low area. Shelter is open to Navajo and Apache Counties as well as White Mountain Apache Tribal members. This would serve approximately 255 victims of domestic violence.
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Several people spoke during the public hearing on behalf of their project. Theresa Warren with Alice’s Place shared that the funding would continue to support the victims’ advocate position as well as provide a few items like a computer. “While we are located in Winslow, we serve the entire county as well as the Navajo and Hopi nations,” said Warren.
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County Manager Glenn Kephart noted that the improvements for Navajo County Historic Courthouse were submitted by the county staff. “The old courthouse is a very valuable facility that we need to preserve through partnerships with the City of Holbrook,” said Kephart. “The building is in need of roof repair and ADA improvements. The roof repair is defined with specific estimates of $230,000. But it will be very challenging to define the population served by the museum as per CDBG guidelines. The likelihood of meeting all the requirements is an extreme challenge and I would suggest that we move this project to lower on the list.”
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Several people spoke for the White Mountain Coalition Against Homelessness, including Tom Brown and William Bujnowski. The coalition is a group of individuals, churches and organizations, with a mission to eliminate chronic homelessness in the White Mountains of Arizona, through helping those enter the program to recover from the problems they are having.
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Brown said, “We help people break the cycle of homelessness and these funds would go a long way to providing a better facility. Our success rate is about 78 percent and we would like to do more.”
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In the end, it was decided to put the Navajo County Museum sixth on the list because it did not qualify.
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Supervisor Steve Williams noted that while the White Mountain SAFE House was a blessing to a lot of people, it was under ChangePoint Integrated Health Care for now and had more potential funding available than Alice’s Place.
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“Alice’s Place is a great project,” continued Williams. “But I don’t want to lose money by placing it third. We want the most bang for our buck so that we can use the full amount. Homelessness is a regional issue and it makes sense to support that. Snowflake and Show Low have qualified for CDBG funding in the past. Those three get us to the $470,000 mark.”
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Chairwoman Dawnafe Whitesinger said, “I agree with the comments and looking at the needs of the surrounding communities, our priorities are to look at the applications as well as the regional support and needs.”
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The board voted unanimously to approve the resolution as well as the three projects.
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