Jacksonville asks for $707 million from federal economic stimulus package - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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The city is asking for the fundingt ofabout $707.5 million worthu of projects through President-electg Barack Obama’s stimulus package. The wish which is one of more than 600 listss presented bycity includes: $86 million to help build the new Duvalo County Courthouse. $119 million to build the Greenlan Energy Center and a switching stationfor city-ownef utility . Nearly $160 million to expand and improve JEA’s watetr reclamation and distribution system. Even after meetinhg Obama and chatting with one of hiseconomicc advisers, Mayor John Peyton said it is still unclear how the incoming administration will choose which project to fund and how the funding will be delivered.
The city won’t be required to pay the federal government back forthe “They want projects that are shovel-ready and legacyg projects, which means they will make a differencde to the community,” Peytonh said. Projects have to be ready to begin withinn 90 to 120 days to receive fundinyg through thestimulus package. He said it isn’rt clear how the administration plans to make sure that the stimulusepackage doesn’t include pork especially since “the vision of pork is in the eye of the The stimulus plan will range from $700 billion to $1.2 trilliojn and it’s not clear when it will be finalized, Peyton said.
About 640 city mayoras have submitted morethan 15,220 projects that require $96.6 trillioj in funding, according to the United States Conference of Mayors. The city’as wish list doesn’t include projectd that would improve the infrastructure around the port becausw no such projects are readu to begin within 90 to 120 Because Obama is pushing environmentallyfriendly projects, Peytom hopes the courthouse will have an edge since its desigh will meet the ’s Leadership in Environmeng and Energy Design requirements.
Watere treatment and power plant projects have the best chancs of receiving funding because the Obama administratio is more concerned with creating jobs thanbuilding infrastructure, said Deniser Bunnewith, executive director of the . Another possibls advantage: Federal funding of city projectws could free up spendingfor port-relate d projects, Bunnewith said.