By Mark Fischenich
Click here to see the list of projects.
Taking an attitude of “it never hurts to ask,” cities and schools from across southern Minnesota are eying the federal economic stimulus bill for hundreds of millions of dollars in street construction, sewer projects and building upgrades.
The requests range from $8,900 to replace a culvert on a township road near Alpha to $25 million for a new school in Rushford. The list totals about $600 million for the 1st Congressional District, which stretches along the bottom two or three tiers of Minnesota counties from Wisconsin to South Dakota.
The list is far from comprehensive. It doesn’t include state highways and buildings or projects requested by larger cities such as Mankato and Rochester, which are making their applications through state agencies.
The largest request in south-central Minnesota comes from Waseca — a $17.4 million upgrade of the city’s wastewater treatment center. The city is also seeking nearly $1.7 million for other projects including water tower repairs and street improvements
“We could really use the money,” Waseca City Manager Crystal Prentice said. “And I’m not too proud to beg.”
All of the projects are worthy, Prentice said, but the wastewater treatment problem is the biggest challenge. Under pollution control rules, the city is obligated to make the improvements if it wants to expand.
“If we don’t do it, we can’t grow,” she said.
And if they do it through borrowed money, the annual debt service costs will be $1.1 million that will be imposed on property taxes and utility bills.
“We’re a relatively small city, so that’s a lot of money,” Prentice said.
So is $787 billion — the size of the stimulus bill that passed Congress Friday. As large as the bill is, only a fraction is for infrastructure projects and only a fraction of that is coming to Minnesota. Much of it will be used for highway and rail projects, bridges, the power grid and other big-money projects.
How much will reach cities and schools in rural Minnesota is unknown, but area leaders wanted to at least be on the list.
“Our philosophy was, ‘We have needs that are for infrastructure — shovel-ready projects. Let’s make sure we at least put ourselves in the queue,’” said St. Peter Schools Supt. Jeff Olson.
The school district put forth a list of about $800,000 in asphalt projects to fix parking lots and playgrounds. The district is also connected to a $6.4 million proposal to renovate the former city-owned hospital site for a new city hall, police station and fire hall. The project would also provide expanded space for the Minnesota Valley Education District and associated special education and day care facilities.
Congress avoided identifying specific projects in the bill, and much of the money will be distributed through traditional funding formulas. In other cases, funds will be provided to the states for distribution — a job assigned by Gov. Tim Pawlenty to Management and Budget Commissioner Tom Hanson.
Hanson will have his work cut out for him if cities, school districts, counties and townships across Minnesota were as ambitious in requesting money as southern Minnesota. The $600 million in 1st District requests is likely to be more than will be available for such projects in all of Minnesota.
Despite the high level of competition, St. Peter City Administrator Todd Prafke is hopeful about the list of projects his city has put forward. The projects meet the criteria for the stimulus package of being ready to go quickly and get construction crews to work, he said.
And the city emphasized the energy efficiency that would come from replacing the poorly insulated municipal building and fire hall. Other projects, such as a $1.8 million reconstruction of Old Minnesota Ave. on the north edge of town, are aimed at opening a prime area for retail development — something that would create more jobs if Wal-Mart or other companies develop there.
“We do have some projects that certainly make sense for our area,” Prafke said.
