US Customs and Border Protection Ajo Housing Development ... - GSA

Comment
7. Involve local developers and
contractors; local jobs matter. Modular
houses promote jobs elsewhere.
8. Integrate new housing into vacant lots
throughout Ajo rather than in a single
site.
9. Integrate new housing into vacant lots
throughout Ajo to improve community
ties with the CBP.
10. Integrate the first phase’s 22 units into
the community and encourage the
market to provide the remaining need.
11. Inquired whether CBP employees
receive housing allowance.
12. Concerned with government
competition with local housing/rental
market. Fearful of subsidized rents to
be offered by the GSA.
The GSA is undercutting private rental
business with low rents. Concerned
with more subsidized housing in the
future.
13. Avoidance of native vegetation
desired, especially mesquite and
ironwood trees on-site. No site map
with species plotted was provided in
the environmental document.
Response
The project construction and related site preparation will be
advertised as a GSA Small Business Set-Aside through GSA’s
FEDBIZOP contracting system. All qualified contractors will be
allowed to apply and bid for this project. Local Ajo contractors
will be encouraged to participate.
Based on a Feasibility Study prepared for the project, the CBP
determined early in the analysis that the acquisition and use of
scattered parcels for the development of government housing
would be impractical and would result in a notable delay in the
provision of government housing.
The proposed housing would not be set apart from nearby
residential units; no walls or gates would be constructed around
the development. The CBP personnel have been a part of the
Ajo community for years and are integrated through daily
activities—shopping, schools, recreation, and community events.
Based on a Feasibility Study prepared for the project, the CBP
determined early in the analysis that the acquisition and use of
scattered parcels for the development of government housing
would be impractical and would result in a notable delay in the
provision of government housing.
No housing allowance is paid to CBP staff, and there would be no
requirement or mandatory directive for personnel to rent
government-owned housing. Personnel choosing to live in Ajo
may select from all available Ajo-area housing (privately owned
and government-owned), including apartments, single-family
homes, and other rentals.
All rents for the proposed housing would be set at market rates
and calculated in compliance with the OMB and the Department
of Interior Housing Policy Office. The OMB Circular A-45 sets
the policy and administrative guidance to set rental rates.
No housing allowance is paid to CBP staff, and there would be no
requirement or mandatory directive for personnel to rent
government-owned housing. Personnel choosing to live in Ajo
may select from all available Ajo-area housing (privately owned
and government-owned), including apartments, single-family
homes, and other rentals.
Section 4.4.1 provides a complete description of the limited native
plants that remain within the parcel. The native plant community
of the project area is foothill paloverde–triangle-leaf bursage–
brittlebush–dominated Arizona upland subdivision of Sonoran
desertscrub; however, nearly all of the native vegetation formerly
occupying terrain within the limits of the original mobile home
park was removed, probably at the time of initial construction in
the late 1930s. Other than the native vegetation along the two
washes that border the site, the remaining vegetation on the site is
limited, and much is associated with landscaping. For this reason
and because there are no plans to remove the native vegetation that
line the two washes, native plant removal resulting from
implementation of the Preferred Alternative would be limited.
As noted in the Draft EA, any plant removal subject to the Arizona
Native Plant Law would be coordinated with the Arizona
Department of Agriculture.
Environmental Assessment 40 Ajo Housing Development Project