City seeking stimulus funds for projects

SANDPOINT — If the federal government starts doling out money as part of its proposed $900 billion stimulus package, Sandpoint wants to collect its share.

The city would like to use stimulus dollars to fund as much as $26 million in local infrastructure projects.

The money would go toward street overlay and sidewalk work on Division Avenue, upgrades to the city wastewater treatment plant, sewer collection work and an unfinished portion of the 2008 sidewalk local improvement district ordinance, according to Public Works Director Kody Van Dyk.

The proposed stimulus package, which is still in flux, could net Idaho as much as $218 million. A portion of that money would be dispersed by the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council, a public agency which helps Idaho communities find funding for some infrastructure projects.

With the possibility of such lofty sums of money floating around the state unclaimed, some city officials, such as Councilwoman Carrie Logan, believe it would be in Sandpoint’s best interest to seek out as much stimulus money as possible.

“I think we need to be as greedy and bloodthirsty as possible. I’m just really not interested in only asking for so much because somebody else might need it,” Logan said at Wednesday’s Public Works Committee meeting.

The city had even more projects it would have liked to fund with stimulus money, but regulations in the draft stimulus package make funding most proposals untenable.

Lance Holmstrom of LHTAC said the goal of a stimulus package is to quickly inject money into the economy, and much of Idaho’s monetary allotment would need to be distributed 90 days after the state received the funds. The quick turnaround means only “shovel ready” projects would be eligible for stimulus money.

“Unless a project is already on the shelf and has gone through the very rigorous process of meeting all the federal regulations, they’re not going to happen,” Holmstrom said.

Despite the strict regulations, Holmstrom said a number of communities, such as Sandpoint, have submitted proposals to the organization.

“We’ve entered in about 170 at this juncture, and I’d say out of that 170 there is maybe, who knows, six or seven that can actually be awarded within that 90-day period,” said Holmstrom, who did not specify if Sandpoint’s projects would be funded.

Because the process so unknown and untested, few understand how the funding would be carried out, and Van Dyk said the uncertainly does not give him confidence that all or any of the projects will receive money.

“I don’t know (how stimulus funding will work), and it doesn’t seem like anyone knows,” he said. “A lot of people talk about what they think is going to happen, but no one seems to know.”