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City commission reviews several ways stimulus cash can improve local economy
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With $23.9 million already allotted to Madison in grants from the federal stimulus, the Economic Development Commission brainstormed Wednesday ways to spend the money effectively.
Ed Clarke, director of grants and special projects at Madison Area Technical College, said $500,000 from community block grants could potentially be used not for economic development but rather to redevelop and preserve Madison’s environment.
According to Clarke, this is possible because economic development is the only issue not specifically targeted with federal grants.
Economic development funds, as defined by Clarke, are for people with low incomes who would be eligible for housing and suitable living conditions.
“There is a proposal or idea being floated by Smart Growth and [DirectNetworks Inc.] to come up with a formula that encourages affordable housing,” Ald. Mark Clear, District 19, said.
He added the city may make affordable credit available to constituents so they can still pay their mortgages. Clear said he thinks many alders will propose similar plans in the coming month.
According to Clear, a majority of the stimulus money is geared toward capital projects.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz used about $9.5 million of federal stimulus money from the Metropolitan Planning Organization Grant to purchase 18 additional diesel-electric hybrid buses for the city. Currently, the city has five hybrid buses.
In addition to funding new forms of transportation, the stimulus money is also being used to complete other “shovel-ready” projects.
At the City Council meeting Tuesday night, Clear said police were given money from Byrne Grants, specifically set up to aid police via personnel, equipment and technical assistance, to fund the addition of Madison Police Department officers.
“MPD is rallying for [money] in cops’ communities and police services, and we will use the grants to fund additional officers,” Clear said.
Clear added the additional officers would eventually be funded, but federal grants allow the city to pay for the new officers now.
On April 8, City Council members will host an economic forum. Matt Mikolajewski, office of business resources manager for the city of Madison, said the meeting will address the current and future impacts of the economic recession on Madison.
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Hi Heather. Ed’s last name is spelled “Clarke”…not “Clark”. Thanks.
I appreciated meeting Heather at the EDC meeting last night and with so many ideas flying around, I believe that my point on new funds was misrepresented. What I was saying was that there is a specific allocation of stimulus funds coming to the City through its Community Development Block Grant process. In the allowed purposes for these funds, economic development is specifically mentioned. But also mentioned are other important topics such as “suitable living environments” and “affordable housing”. My point was that during these difficult times it would be understandable to focus all available funds on the short term difficulties people are facing. But of the funds we discussed last night, this was the only one that specifically targets economic development, which can create longer term opportunities and conditions for future growth. I noted that I hoped that the Community Development Division would try to balance both of these purposes and not solely focus on the short term.
Ed Clarke