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Cities hoping for stimulus help
Published May 2, 2009
SURFSIDE BEACH — When someone asks Todd Hoffman whether his project to rebuild 14 miles of dunes at Surfside Beach is “shovel ready,” he laughs.
Hoffman said his project is the epitome of that expression now famous after the February passing of the $787 billion federal stimulus bill. Much of the funding is geared toward projects that are ready to implement.
“We feel like ours has a really good chance,” Hoffman said.
Like Hoffman, cities and school districts have applied for stimulus funding from the state agencies and now are waiting to find out whether their projects will see a shovel.
Clute, Richwood and Angleton officials are hoping to get funds to upgrade sewage systems and buy generators for lift stations during emergency situations. Brazosport ISD is looking to create new teaching positions while Columbia-Brazoria ISD wants to make facilities more accessible for special education students.
While many cities and school districts want the stimulus funds, they also have to prepare for various conditions attached.
Though Hoffman’s plan is definitely “shovel ready,” the grant requires the project get going within three months of receiving the funding, he said.
Richwood officials have applied for several forms of stimulus funding, including up to $60,000 a year for a new police officer. Those funds would pay for an officer for up to three years, City Secretary Karen Schrom said.
“Then you have to pay for 12 months after that,” she said.
DUNES STIMULUS
Hoffman, a Houston resident who owns a home in Surfside Beach, applied for $9.9 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through his nonprofit organization, Scene of the Accident, which provides training for first responders.
Hoffman wants to restore and re-vegetate dunes obliterated by Hurricane Ike because sea turtles need them to lay their eggs, he said.
“If there’s no sand dunes, they make two or three attempts,” he said. “Then they drop their eggs in the water.”
Hoffman’s plan would hire 195 people for 12 months to build and re-vegetate the dunes with local plant life. The 4-feet-high and 20-feet-wide dunes would be built from the Surfside jetties to Treasure Island, he said.
Hoffman is prepared to get permits from Surfside Beach and Brazoria County officials quickly if his plan is approved.
“We have a lot at stake here,” he said.
Hoffman hoped to hear from NOAA on Friday about whether his plan is approved. The call never came.
“It could be next week or next month, you never know,” he said.
TREATING WATER TREATMENT
Brazoria County cities are applying for funds for water treatment systems from the Texas Water Development Board.
Before the stimulus passed, the board usually received about 180 requests a year for funding, Public Information Officer Leslie Anderson said.
“This time, we received 1,300,” she said. “We received over $10 billion in need when we have $330 million to give.”
Clute applied for $10.5 million in improvements, including installation of a de-watering system and a bar screen, which traps solids at a wastewater treatment plant, City Manager Kyle McCain said.
Some of the improvements have been needed for several years and it is not known how they will be funded if they don’t get stimulus help, McCain said.
“Not even a remote guess,” he said.
The Water Development Board should put out a list ranking which entities are eligible for funding by next week, Anderson said. The board plans to have hearings in June to allow applicants a chance to question the rankings, she said.
Projects will be ranked largely on need and how “shovel ready” they are, Anderson said.
Rejection by the Water Development Board might not necessarily mean the end of the line for those seeking help, Anderson said.
“We’re really talking to the entities to see if they qualify for other stimulus funds,” she said.
SHOVELING FUNDS FOR SCHOOLS
While cities and other organizations hope for funds to hire constructions crews, school districts want the stimulus money to hire more teachers, expand programs and purchase supplies.
The Texas Education Agency is distributing the money either as Title I funds or for special education, said Lynn Grell-Boethel, executive director for federal and special programs at Columbia Brazoria ISD.
Districts must be careful with the money because it only lasts for two years, and like much of the stimulus funding, it has conditions, officials said.
Title I funds, for instance, cannot be spent on construction, Boethel said.
Brazosport ISD might have to eliminate teaching positions next year due to a declining student population and a possible drop in revenue, Assistant Superintendent Dennis McNaughten said.
The stimulus funds can be used only to create jobs and not to replace local funding, McNaughten said. If positions are eliminated, the district hopes to use about $1.4 million in stimulus funds to hire teachers in areas where they are most needed, he said.
“In that sense, you’re creating a job,” he said.
The district does not know when the funds will be made available but, “the theory is it will be available next month,” McNaughten said.
Columbia-Brazoria ISD hopes to use about $600,000 in special education funding for wheelchair lift stations and to renovate existing spaces for special education needs, Superintendent Carol Bertholf said.
As for the $290,000 they are projected to receive for Title I funds, the district is looking to spend money for teaching resources such as software licenses, supplies or possibly hiring a specialist to help at-risk children, Boethel said.
“We asked principals to survey their staff,” she said. “We have all of those ideas on our Web site, and we’re voting.”
John Tompkins is senior reporter for The Facts. Contact him at (979) 849-8581.
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