Stimulus funds released; Salem-Sun Valley project could benefit

“Salem and Sun Valley are leading the pack for getting ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment) money,” said Walter Ivey, director of environmental engineering with the state Bureau for Public Health. “I think they will get that money.”

Another state official, Bob Decrease, was not so confident that Salem and Sun Valley would receive the federal dollars. He is manager of the Infrastructure and Capacity Development unit for the Bureau of Public Health and administrator for the state Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund,

The state Drinking Water Revolving Loan receives the federal dollars, which are then distributed to the agencies seeking funding.

Although DeCrease stopped short of saying he believed Salem and Sun Valley would receive the funding, he did say the odds are better now then they were in the past. He added that certain criteria need to be met before Salem and Sun Valley would be awarded the money.

“It’s critical for (Salem and Sun Valley) to get this project out to bid,” he said.

He added that the project needs to be out to bid as soon as possible to receive the stimulus money, but that Oct. 1 is the cutoff date.

“If there are other projects that apply for funding that are ready to go out to bid, I may have to divert this money,” he said.

Both agencies have submitted their documentation to the state Public Service Commission attempting to get approval to go to bid, said Terry Schulte, director of the Harrison County Planning Commission. Schulte said the PSC could give the nod to Salem and Sun Valley in as little as 70 days.

Harrison County Commissioner Bernie Fazzini has been working on securing funding for the project for some time. He said this project was important because it would bring water to many residents in the Salem and Sun Valley area.

“We’re waiting on that commitment from the state,” he said.

Fazzini said he believes the state will commit money for the project.

Salem is asking for $1.8 million in federal stimulus funding for the town’s portion of the water project. This money was to be split into two portions.

A total of $900,000 was to come in the form of debt forgiveness for debt incurred because of the project and $900,000 was to come in the form of a loan.

Sun Valley is requesting $600,000 in federal stimulus funds for the project. This funding is to be split in two, as well, with $300,000 coming as a loan and the rest as debt forgiveness.

DeCrease sent commitment letters to both agencies. The letters include language specifying the entire amount would revert back to loans if the stimulus money was not made available to the state or if the projects were not ready to go out to bid before the federal money allocated to the state was gone.

He said he will not be revising his letters to remove this language.