City Receives Stimulus Funds for Roadwork

The Joint Finance Committee awarded the city $437,000 for improvements to Kane Street. The funds are allocated as part of the federal stimulus package, and as such are required to be ready for bid by December of this year.

As there is a lot of press about the “Federal Stimulus Package” and what it means to the average Joe, I thought I would share my thoughts about the processes in place that are designed to award the funds, and thus stimulate the economy. Here are a couple of things that I have noticed from my seat close to the action:

• The process for awarding the funds are being developed as they go. The state has done a pretty good job with providing guidelines for applications and implementing those processes, using mostly existing programs. However as we have navigated through these application processes we have seen deadlines changed, and criteria for projects change as the application process has gone forward.
• While there has been some sentiment that the funds are not being distributed and spent fast enough, I can tell you from my perspective that things are moving forward very quickly, especially for the state government. While it sounds nice in the media, there really aren’t a lot of project which you can call “shovel ready.” Projects that have been designed have to be updated, and have to go through the appropriate approval and review processes.
• I am very proud of our staff and engineering partners. Their hard work has allowed us to meet very tight deadlines and but Burlington in the running for stimulus funds. Regardless of your political persuasions or thoughts about the stimulus package, in my opinion, it would be negligent of the city to bypass available funds for our critical infrastructure needs. In these tight economic times, the property taxpayers of Burlington deserve our best effort in pursuing all available options.
• The stimulus package will offer some local benefits. The theory behind the stimulus package is that if the government pumps a bunch of money into the economy through the states and local governments, then they have to hire people to do the work, which in turn requires them to keep people employed/hire more people, which in turn gives people money to spend. I can tell you from my observations on a local level some of this is correct. The city will be hiring contractors to do needed work because of the stimulus package. However this has to balanced with several other factors. For example, the private sector is not spending on much of anything right now, making the competition for city projects much more fierce. The contracting companies are still losing out on a major portion of their business. Additionally, some branches of government are filling holes in their budget with stimulus funds. These short-term fixes do nothing to stimulate the economy, and in some cases only push back problems one more year.

As a final footnote in this discussion, we received word yesterday that the City may qualify for additional road stimulus dollars because Racine County is designated as an “Economically Distressed” county. This new information came out yesterday from the Department of Transportation, and the turnaround time for applying for these funds in 5 days. Again, I must say I am proud of how the staff has responded to these kind of deadlines. The City of Burlington will be in running again for these funds.

Construction City U.S.A.

I know you have all heard the old joke….”There are two seasons in Wisconsin — Winter and Construction.” Well, that is certainly the case here in Burlington. Our Streets and Sidewalk Program is going full steam ahead right now, with working wrapping up on State Street and beginning on Conkey Street. The Department of Transportation just began work resurfacing Highway 11, and works on the By-pass continues at a rapid pace. While the construction trucks and detours are at a minimum annoying, I ask that you please bear with us this season. The dirt, dust and noise are temporary and the end results are very good.

Another possible way to view this type of situation, is that the City is taking a proactive approach to its infrastructure needs. One of the most critical aspects facing cities in the U.S. is aging infrastructure and a lack of proper maintenance and replacement. Some have called it a “crisis” with billions of dollars in unmet needs being ignored in our nations cities. While we do have some old infrastructure here in Burlington which needs to be addressed, the City’s pragmatic and proactive approach is attempting to address these needs as quickly as possible. The end result is a better system, less long-term costs, and the prevention of major emergencies due to infrastructure failure.

So, please plan for a few extra minutes and bear with us during this “Construction” season.

State Street Closure Next Week

State Street from Highway 142 to Chapel Terrace will be closed during the day while crews replace sewer main and water main located beneath the middle of the street. The closure is intended for the safety of work crews while the work is completed. The closure is expected to last one to two weeks.  Temporarily, traffic will be diverted to Chapel Terrace and Edgewood Drive.