Thumbnail photo: Crescent City is using CDBG and Measure S dollars to complete a storm drain replacement project on F Street from the mid block of 3rd Street to 5th Street. | Image courtesy of the City of Crescent City.
With the final two blocks of Front Street nearing completion, Crescent City staff on Monday say they finally have the Community Development Block Grant dollars needed to start another long-awaited project.
It involves replacing the storm drain on F Street between the mid block of 3rd Street to 5th Street. It’s the third phase of the original Front Street storm drain improvement project, Public Works Director Dave Yeager told the City Council.
In addition to extending the new storm drain system to 5th Street with new inlets and junction boxes, new sidewalk will be installed as will ADA-compliant street corners
“We’re trying to abandon the lines that are running underneath private properties and put them on a proper trajectory toward Front Street,” Yeager said.
Four members of the Crescent City Council approved entering into a $1.06 million contract with Tidewater Contractors for the construction portion of the “3.5 to 5th Street Storm Drain” project.
The project’s total budget is $1.179 million, which includes about $30,000 for general grant administration and $34,920 for a labor compliance officer, according to Yeager. The project will be paid for with $1.065 million in CDBG funding and $113,712 in voter-approved Measure S tax dollars.
“A hundred-thousand dollars for a million dollar project seems like a good opportunity to utilize the grant and get the project built once and for all,” he told councilors. “If the Measure S money is not spent, it will remain in the Measure S fund. This $100,000 will not interrupt our schedule of projects that (have been) planned.”
Councilor Jason Greenough agreed with that plan.
“A little bit of buy-in from us to get a $1 million project is a good deal on the city’s part,” he said. “And it’s a good project. It will help increase the efficiency of our drainage in the city.”
Councilman Steve Shamblin was absent.
Crescent City has used a variety of funding sources to pay for the Front Street storm drain improvement project, including CDBG dollars, federal Community Project grant funds, Local Transportation Commission and city general fund dollars.
The project currently underway involves the reconstruction of Front Street from Play to L streets and on K Street from Front to 2nd Street. That project is being funded through a different CDBG grant as well as a Clean California Grant awarded from Caltrans.
In 2020, Crescent City applied for CDBG dollars for the third phase of its storm drain project to be informed that funding wasn’t available, according to City Manager Eric Wier.
The city was put on a waiting list for about three years and was awarded the funds under the 2023 Notice of Funding Availability, according to Yeager. The city was contacted in 2024 and was informed that the project had “come to the top of the list.”
According to Yeager, the CDBG funding expires in March, but the idea is to get the project, which includes six inlets and four junction boxes, completed by the time the rains come.
“The plan is to be done by December,” he said.
