Denver officials hope the $787 billion federal stimulus bill will help finance their plans for renovating Denver’s Union Station and a new interchange that would connect the Stapleton neighborhood to Interstate 70 and a nearby shopping center.
But those big-ticket infrastructure projects are just part of their hopes for the federal financing package. They also hope it will subsidize weatherization projects in homes and extend loans for installation of residential solar panels. City officials also want to use some of the money to train low-income workers for new jobs in green- energy production.
Though the bill has been passed in the U.S. House and the Senate and is on the way to President Barack Obama, local communities such as Denver are still waiting to learn exactly what it might contain for their residents.
That’s partly because much of the money will still be funneled through state or federal agencies, and cities will have to compete for it.
Cities and counties also must use complex funding formulas to calculate how much in extra federal aid will be coming for welfare programs, assistance for the working poor and other items, and that math has yet to be done.
What is known is that not everything on Denver’s wish list will get funded.
“Everybody has a hell of a lot more projects than there is money for,” said Kelly Brough, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s chief of staff.
For instance, Denver International Airport is seeking funding for about $84 million in improvements, such as taxiway extensions and drainage projects.
But the bill authorizes just $1.1 billion for aviation projects nationwide. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport submitted nearly $1 billion in requests.
That scenario is getting played out again and again.
“We’ve revised our list constantly,” Brough said.
About $100 million of the state’s stimulus money will flow to metropolitan planning organizations throughout the state, which then will decide their own funding priorities. Denver is working through the Denver Regional Council of Governments, which will have a key meeting Wednesday.
City officials say they will pore over the stimulus package looking to capture whatever is available. Another separate pot of highway money may get carved out of the stimulus package for the U.S. Department of Transportation to control, creating another source of funding, said Denver Public Works manager Bill Vidal.
He said the city is making sure it is plugged into all potential sources.
“We even thought of having a bake sale,” he quipped.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
