Residents of the Chula Vista subdivision north of Nogales watched in 2008 as Army Corps of Engineers contractors dug a wider channel for the Nogales Wash that hugs their low-lying neighborhood. When a relocated sewer line failed, the Corps halted the flood-control project in January 2009 and left the community with a broken road.

Chula Vista resident Martha Ochoa (right) adjusts her hard hat before a tour on March 17, 2009. Ken Zehentner (left) is the former Santa Cruz County project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers project. Photo / Denise Holley

The project could cost $25 million and take years to complete as planned, said Walter Breitenstein, the new county project manager. Instead, he floated an alternative Nov. 3 to about 20 Chula Vista residents.

Don’t replace the bridge the Corps demolished in 2008. Instead, build a new road along Potrero Creek to provide a rear exit from the Chula Vista subdivision to East Frontage Road, build a levee to the south to protect homes from flooding and enlarge the current park.

In addition, the Corps would contribute toward a new fire station for the Nogales Suburban Fire District, Breitenstein said. Since the bridge came down, the Nogales Wash channel separates the station from the subdivision.

“I’m trying to convince the Corps to build these two streets and the park �- and eliminate two bridges,” Breitenstein said. “It’s a win-win situation for the residents and the Corps and the fire district.”

Under this scenario, no homes would be touched, Breitenstein said. The Corps would have to buy neighboring land to build the roads. Since workers enlarged the Nogales Wash channel, water could be diverted from Potrero Creek to the channel.

Breitenstein estimated the cost at approximately $12 million. The county flood-control district has about $1 million in matching funds set aside for the project, he said.

Congress has authorized an additional $1.5 million for the Chula Vista project, said Gwen Meyer, the Corps’s project manager. Under the new plan, the Corps would not have to replace the bridge it took out to improve water flow in the Nogales Wash nor relocate the international sewer line that lies under the channel.

The Corps needs the approval of a majority of residents in Chula Vista and the nearby Pete Kitchen mobile home park, Breitenstein said. Then the county supervisors have to vote to end Old Tucson Road at Chula Vista permanently.

“If the residents can live without a bridge, then the project can go ahead,” Breitenstein said. “The limiting factor is acquiring the property.”

The Corps brought a team of specialists to visit Chula Vista in the last week of October to gather information on the project, “not the way it was, but the way it is now, said Corps’ spokesman Daniel Calderon.

“We haven’t come up with any set options,” Calderon said. “We don’t want to go fast and get it wrong. We want to do the best work we can for the residents.”

The Corps plans to meet with Chula Vista residents in March 2010, Calderon said.

Opposition to the plan might come from the produce industry, Supervisor Rudy Molera (District 2) said at the meeting. When the contractor took out the bridge on Old Tucson Road, produce trucks from Mexico could no longer reach warehouses on the north section of the road.

“Are they going to guarantee we won’t be in danger anymore?” asked resident Evelia Robles. Another resident said he paid $500 a year for flood insurance.

“It (Chula Vista) will be in a special area protected by a levee,” Breitenstein said. “If you have to buy (flood) insurance, it’ll be lower.”

Meyer said the flood-control district would have to buy the land for a new fire station, but the Corps would finance a share of the cost.

“Today is the first time they’ve proposed a new location,” said Carlos Parra, chief of the Nogales Suburban Fire District. His district responds to Chula Vista, Pete Kitchen and Firestone Gardens off East Frontage Road and the section of West Frontage Road from the schools (Bracker and Desert Shadows) south to the Nogales City limits, he said.