As the grant was constructed, the cost of these services is included in the grant and therefore there is no financial impact to City funds, partners funds, or customers. The contract amounts are "estimated, not-to-exceed" and are over the three-year term of the grant. They are as follows:
Task 1- Project Oversight $14,800
Task 2 - Public Outreach $39,860
Task 3 - Technical Services $54,780
Task 4 - Database Management $41,140
Total $150,580
The City will charge the grant for approximately $28,200 for services provided in-house. These include project coordination and management, required EPA reporting, and required presentations at various EPA functions (including travel).
This leaves $521,221 for the assessment and planning work of the grant.
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Brownfield Definition
The EPA originally defined a Brownfield as real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. It was later expanded to include "abandoned or under-utilized" properties and mine scarred properties, as well as clarifications to include more contaminants such as petroleum and controlled substances.
Route 66 Brownfields
Established in 1928, historic Route 66, known as the “Mother Road,” became the country’s main east-west artery connecting communities from Chicago to Los Angeles with over 2,400 miles of continuously paved roadway. A rich history is tied into Route 66 beyond the road itself. It served as an agent of social transformation and represents a remnant of America’s past. Cities and towns along Route 66 reaped the benefits of the highway with motels, diners, and gasoline and service stations springing up along the way as the country increasingly became a mobile society. Northern Arizona communities flourished and grew from this western movement, first driven by those seeking the prospects of a new beginning during the Great Depression, later by traffic headed west to support the defense industry in the 1940s, and then by the new American phenomenon of the 1950s, the family vacation.
By 1966, the interstate highway system replaced Route 66, bypassing over 200 miles of Route 66 roadway in Northern Arizona. This change coincided with other powerful forces that consolidated highway services, including the advent of traffic interchanges and the creation of national chains of gasoline stations, motels, and restaurants. The abandonment of Route 66 resulted in economic, environmental, and cultural resource implications that continue to plague Northern Arizona communities to this day. National chains that sprang up at the interchanges supplanted the locally-owned businesses along the highway. Route 66 businesses became less viable, even closed, and many properties remain underutilized or abandoned.
The environmental legacy includes over 1,100 known underground storage tanks in our area, about 40% of which have leaked. While a number of these have been properly removed and closed, concerns and suspicions of the potentially-contaminated sites remain. Combined with other sources, such as railroad facilities, timber production sites, and other commercial and industrial operations, we estimate that over 1540 Brownfield sites may exist in the project area. The contaminants likely to be encountered at the sites are a host of petroleum hydrocarbons, as well as volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, and asbestos.
Using Flagstaff as an example, 27 motels along Route 66 are eligible for, or are listed on, the National Register of Historic Places. The other highway supporting facilities, such as the diners and service stations, have not been evaluated, but are likely also eligible. The National Park Service, during the course of their recent study of all of Route 66, identified Route 66 in Flagstaff as the most intact segment in the country. Setting aside the intrinsic benefits of preserving our heritage, these properties have the potential to be exploited for heritage tourism. Heritage tourists stay longer, do more, and spend more than other tourists - approximately 50% more. Albuquerque has successfully converted blighted Route 66 motels into viable businesses catering to heritage tourists.
There is great economic potential for these areas, including redevelopment, infill, tourism, heritage tourism, and more; however, the specter of unknown environmental hazards has hindered redevelopment.
Communitywide Assessment Grants
EPA assessment grants provide funding to the community to inventory, characterize, assess, and conduct planning related to Brownfields sites. Eligible applicants include only governments and certain quasi-governmental agencies. An eligible entity may apply for up to $200,000 to assess sites contaminated by hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants (including hazardous substances co-mingled with petroleum) and up to $200,000 to address sites contaminated by petroleum. A coalition of three or more eligible applicants can submit one grant proposal under the name of one of the coalition members for up to $1,000,000. The performance period for these grants is three years. Assessment grants do not provide resources to conduct cleanup or building demolition activities.
Prior Experience
The City of Flagstaff individually received this same Communitywide Assessment Grant in 2006. The subject area of that grant was much smaller, focused on south Downtown and a portion of Route 66. However, with those funds, the City performed significant community outreach and involvement, inventories area properties, prepared a redevelopment plan for City owned properties on Phoenix Avenue, and prepared a GIS based Brownfield Sensitivity (planning) Map. Importantly, 20 Phase I and four (4) Phase II Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) were prepared for various public and private properties. Approximately $120,000 was directly disseminated into the Flagstaff community in the form of contract awards and Environmental Site Assessments reports. Grant compliance was exemplary and included the preparation of a Quality Assurance Project Plan (AQPP) and a Health and Safety Plan (HASP), quarterly reports, MBE/WBE reports, and ACRES database reporting, as well as presentations given at three national conferences and three Western Brownfield Workshops. |
Preparing the Grant
In preparing the grant, all of the communities along Route 66 in Arizona in all cities and all counties, were invited to participate. Due to time constraints and other considerations, not all were able to do so. Multiple meetings of the interested communities were hosted by the City of Flagstaff to work out particulars, a draft IGA, and to prepare and review the grant application. Each participating community conducted two public meetings in their community to seek review and input on the application. These meetings were noticed on websites, advertised in local newspapers, and were further publicized with handbills and flyers. Numerous agencies and associations were also consulted in the preparation of the application. We received 14 letters of support from these organizations including the Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona and (ECoNA), the Sustainable Economic Development Initiative (SEDI), the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona, the Rotary Clubs of Winslow Flagstaff, the Holbrook Painted Desert Kiwanis Club, and the Standin’ on the Corner Foundation, Inc. Additionally, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality was a vital partner in the development of this application.
During the Grant Term
The work of this grant is divided into four tasks and Task 2 is titled "Community Involvement." The Coalition members will continue to keep the public, business, and regulatory community involved throughout the life of this grant (through mailings, website postings, City Council reports, newsletters, as well as public and one-on-one meetings) regarding the activities planned by the Coalition, schedule information, and utilize means by which individuals and interested organizations can stay informed and involved. Each of the application-supporting agencies and organizations have also committed to assisting with community involvement.
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