| Stimulus money runs in Princeton |
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By Joel Stottrup Federal stimulus money has been flowing into the area. The money has gone for projects ranging from the select cutting of diseased trees at nearby Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge to bridge and road improvements in the areas from Princeton-Zimmerman on up towards Mille Lacs Lake and east of Princeton. What brought out the stimulus money is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA, signed last February by President Obama. ARRA gave $75,000 to the Sherburne Refuge this summer for foresters to select and mark diseased or dead trees and unwanted brush around areas of the refuge. Besides forest management, it was designed to reduce fire danger where homes are near these perimeter areas of the refuge. Sylva Corporation, which makes wood chips in Princeton, is harvesting the refuge’s marked vegetation and Sylva is harvesting it for the wood. The refuge, according to manager Ann Sittauer, is also getting $400,000 in ARRA funds to design and install a geothermal heating system for the refuge headquarters. Stimulus money for transportation The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is investing the $2 million it received from ARRA to help fund $4.5 million in highway improvements across the state that MnDOT says will address the Americans with Disabilities Act. The other $2.5 million is coming from state funds. The work to be done includes pedestrian ramp improvements, sidewalk rehab and connections, and accessible pedestrian signals. MnDOT’s District 3, which covers a large area of central Minnesota including Princeton, received $413,589 of the $4.5 million. Princeton residents will likely recognize some of the area projects that other stimulus money is funding. One is the $1,692,300 project to replace the bridge on Highway 23 in Milaca that is nearing completion. Another District 3 stimulus project is the $1,410,631 bridge replacement on Highway 95 in the Walbo area, 3.7 miles east of Cambridge. A $4,163,703 project has also been visible to travelers heading north of Princeton on Highway 169 starting one third of a mile north of Mille Lacs County Road 13 and going to nearly a half mile south of Mille Lacs County Road 11 lying north of Milaca. The project is a bituminous overlay and shoulder paving. An even larger project, at $4,788,587, is the Highway 169 overlay in the Onamia area, going from a half mile north of the Rum River to a third of a mile north of County roads 103 and 19 south of Onamia. Not far from Princeton is the $469,472 project to replace bridge no. 7130 over the St. France River a quarter mile south of Sherburne County Road 3. It also includes approach grading and surfacing. Refuge employee Nancy Haugen said she was thankful when that new bridge opened in early October, saving her from continued detouring. Those who stray to Grandy that is north of Cambridge, have noticed the $369,849 project to put in a new bridge over Stanchfield Creek. One more bridge project is the one over the Snake River at the southern limits of Grasston along Highway 107 at a cost of $1,322,178. Still another project is the $2,771,586 project to mill off old bituminous and overlay new pavement along Highway 95 from nearly a half mile east of Isanti County Road 2 to the Isanti/Chisago County line, and place a new bridge over a stream. Stimulus money for schools? The Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) office provided the Union-Eagle with information on stimulus money that the Princeton School District could possibly get. It shows close to $1,361,799 in federal stimulus money for supporting the district’s elementary, secondary and post-secondary education, and as applicable, its early childhood education programs. Also according to MMB, the school district could get close to $157,301 to improve teaching and learning for students who are most at risk of failing to meet state academic achievement standards. When the Union-Eagle asked superintendent Rick Lahn about all that money on Monday, it seemed to strike a nerve with him. He began by saying the $1,361,799 does not result in new money for the district. According to Lahn, the state just subtracted that amount from the aid the state would otherwise have given Princeton Public Schools. Regarding the $157,301, Lahn said: “We haven’t received a penny.” He went on to say that the rules are so tough that the money is “extremely hard to access.” Lahn sounded frustrated about the whole stimulus grant process. “The stimulus money,” he said, is “far short of meeting the needs we have [for education in the district].” The rules are so complicated, he said, that “we practically have to hire a full-time accountant [to apply for the stimulus money].” Meanwhile, back at the MnDOT District 3 office in Baxter, planning director Steven Voss sounded pleased with the influx of stimulus money for transportation work. Funds were distributed across the state for highway projects and federal aid eligible programs for county and city projects, Voss said. The money went mainly for collector and arterial streets and “not typically your local streets,” Voss said. All the projects had to be “shovel ready” in order to be eligible for the stimulus money, Voss added. Voss described the influx of stimulus money to his district as “pretty significant.” One important thing it did, he said, was make it so that many of the projects that would have otherwise begun several years later, were moved up to 2009. The stimulus bill was designed to create jobs during this time of high unemployment. Voss was asked about the number of jobs the stimulus money might have created in his transportation district. Voss didn’t have those details. But there is a federal highway formula that estimates an average of 27 jobs are created for every $1 million spent on highway construction. Comments (4)
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written by Cliff , November 02, 2009 "The refuge, according to manager Ann Sittauer, is also getting $400,000 in ARRA funds to design and install a geothermal heating system for the refuge headquarters." For that kind of money, it should heat the whole refuge. ...
written by Laura VanDenheuvel , November 01, 2009 Why are some school districts adding specialty staff from stimulus money? ...
written by bev o , October 30, 2009 How sad everything has become, we should be sooooooo happy that we have some new pavement and this and that...While so many people including me are loseing our homes, can't pay our bills and/or feed our children. Make sure our children can see a Doc. and go to school with ease...How materialistic have things become. things suck....and I myself would drive on a dirt road for a better simple life without all this bull and things we are forced into paying for that we don't even want. ...
written by eve , October 30, 2009 Why not apply for money for the schools - there is a new system supposedly that makes it easier to apply for state funds Write comment
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