East Metro Recovery

Tracking Economic Recovery and Stimulus Projects in Ramsey, Washington and Dakota counties

Archive for September, 2009

No wasted energy

Sep 28

Posted by Dakota in Dakota County, Energy, Stimulus | No Comments

Dakota County will receive $658,400 of Recovery Act funds as part of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant.

The funds will be used for five different projects within the county to help reduce energy use.

The funds will be used to conduct energy audits of all major county facilities. Dakota County also plans to install LED lighting systems in some county facilities, replace all hot water heaters over five years old with more efficient units and increase insulation in the Judicial Center roof replacement project and Burnhaven Library remodeling project.

The projects are estimated to save the county about 4,000 million BTUs in energy consumed per year—enough electricity to power more than 100 homes for a year according to the Department of Energy—create or retain 32 jobs, and reduce green house gas emissions by more than 400 metric tons.

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Ramsey County ARRA Update

Sep 28

Posted by Ramsey in ARRA, Ramsey County, Stimulus | No Comments

Public Works project in Ramsey County

Public Works project in Ramsey County

Ramsey County departments have been awarded about $13.5 million in stimulus funds by the federal government under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as of Sept. 23.  Other federal stimulus funds have been awarded to schools and municipalities in the county, as well as to businesses and individuals. Local government agencies will be filing their first quarterly ARRA spending reports to the federal government on Oct. 10. Click here for a spreadsheet of grants applied for and awarded to Ramsey County under the ARRA so far.

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Stimulus Act Spending Reports Due Oct. 10

Sep 24

Posted by Ramsey in ARRA, Stimulus | No Comments

arra-transparentThe Recovery, Accountability and Transparency Board has pushed back to October 30 the publication date for spending reports from hundreds of thousands of recipients of federal stimulus funds. The delay will ensure that needed corrections are made before the stimulus spending data are made public. State and local governments, academic institutions, and other recipients of grants, loans and other funding under the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are required by law to post quarterly reports of their spending on www.federalreporting.gov.

The data submitted will be made public on www.recovery.gov. Reports for the period from the initial receipt of funds through September 30 are due by October 10. Initially, the Board planned to make these reports public beginning October 11. However, that date has been moved to October 30 to allow for correcting errors in the data. The new release schedule “mitigates the Board’s concern that large amounts of uncorrected data could actually harm transparency rather than enhance it,” said Board Chairman Earl E. Devaney.

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Youth Get Work Experience

Sep 24

Posted by Ramsey in ARRA, Jobs, Ramsey County | No Comments

Teens-Working

The ARRA Summer Youth Employment Program, directed by Ramsey County Workforce Solutions, provided 444 youth, ages 14-24, summer jobs ranging from landscape work to daycare assistants.   Five community-based organizations were given $970,000 to make this happen.  There is an additional $750,000 of ARRA stimulus funds to assist  375 low income, at-risk youth  residing in Ramsey County with mentoring, job-readiness and retention skills, work experiences, job shadowing and job placement from April 2009 to March 2010. An additional  $90,000 of ARRA stimulus funds were acquired competitively to provide mentoring, work experiences  and job placement to more than 50 youth transitioning from Boys Totem Town back to their schools and communities. For information about these and other Ramsey County Workforce Solutions employment programs, visit us on the web.

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Attention: Job Hunters

Sep 24

Posted by Ramsey in Jobs, Ramsey County | No Comments

rc-logo-transparent-50The Ramsey County Human Resources Department has updated the list of job opportunities on our website for which Ramsey County is currently seeking applications as of Sept. 24, 2009.  Several new jobs (including Clerk 4-Community Corrections, Health Educator 2, and Custodial Worker 1) have been added to our list.  We encourage you to take a look at this great, new list of job postings!  You may file your application online using our easy-to-use, secure website.  You may also check the status of previously filed applications.

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Sep 22

Posted by Ramsey in ARRA, Energy, Jobs, Ramsey County | No Comments

Creative Commons-licensed image originally posted at commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Lcarsdata

Creative Commons-licensed image originally posted at commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Lcarsdata

Ramsey County has been awarded $813,900 under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.  Property Management and Public Health co-wrote the application and will work together to ensure the projects identified in the application are completed quickly. The projects will make environmentally sound changes without drawing resources from programs that are already serving people in these tight fiscal times.

  • Twelve buildings owned by Ramsey County will have lighting retrofits that will reduce carbon emissions (CO2) by 1,850,000 pounds and 1,100,000 kWh of energy upon completion.  Visitors to these buildings may not notice a change in the lighting, but will know the County is committed to energy efficiency.
  • The systems in nine additional buildings will be evaluated and modified to increase energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption.
  • Twenty electric vehicle charging stations will be installed at five high-traffic and high-visibility locations throughout the County.  Electric vehicles are becoming more prevalent in the County and providing charging options for customers of County services is another way of providing high quality customer service.  This work will be performed by contractors hired by the County and is estimated to create or retain six jobs in private industry.
  • Other activities to be funded by the grant include drafting a comprehensive energy plan, procuring an alternative energy source as a backup energy supply for the County’s new disaster data recovery center, and installation of energy management software on computers.

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Funds helping to keep you safe

Sep 18

Posted by Dakota in Dakota County | No Comments

Recovery Act funds will be used to law enforcement equipment across Dakota County.

Recovery Act funds will be used for law enforcement equipment across Dakota County.

Dakota County and its cities will receive about $314,000 in Recovery Act funds to purchase law enforcement equipment. The grant, from the U.S. Department of Justice, will be used to buy video cameras for squad cars, police cruisers, tasers, computers and other supplies needed to keep our communities safe.

Of the $314,000, about $11,000 will go directly to the county. The rest will be used by city police departments within Dakota County.

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More Transparency

Sep 16

Posted by Ramsey in ARRA | No Comments

arra-transparentFrom Federal Times:

A special panel overseeing the government’s economic stimulus spending will unveil on Sept. 28 a new version of the Recovery.gov Web site that will allow citizens to track recovery spending down to the zip code, contract and grant.

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Big Week for Union Depot

Sep 1

Posted by Ramsey in ARRA, High Speed Rail, OnBoard Midwest, Ramsey County, Union Depot | No Comments

Commissioner Jim McDonough leads a tour of the depot concourse for members of Sen. Amy Klobuchar's staff.

Commissioner Jim McDonough leads a tour of the depot concourse for members of Sen. Amy Klobuchar's staff.

Three significant pieces of news regarding St. Paul’s Union Depot, future home of the East Metro’s multimodal transit hub:

  • From OnBoard Midwest — “The State of Minnesota has submitted a request for $135.8 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to renovate Union Depot as a multi-modal transit hub. The Minnesota Department of Transportation worked with the Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority to submit an Intercity Passenger Rail grant application for Track 1 capital funding. This is another key milestone in the effort to create a high-speed rail connection between downtown Saint Paul and Chicago. Money from the grant request would be used to renovate the concourses, upgrade the tracks, and prepare the building to be a hub for light rail, passenger rail, high-speed rail, and bus service. Union Depot is considered a Track 1 project to qualify for the funding because it meets key standards:
    - It is a capital project
    - The project is ready to begin work
    - Project level environmental review (NEPA) has been completed
    The decision to submit the funding request was based on recommendations from the Aug. 3 Intercity Passenger Rail Forum meeting. MnDOT is also working to prepare an additional request for a grant for Track 2 projects next month that would include funding for corridor development work for the Milwaukee to Twin Cities portion of the Chicago to Twin Cities corridor. This would involve some additional planning and environmental review. On Board Midwest will continue to keep you updated as things move forward. “
  • Staff members from U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s office toured the depot, including the concourse and recently purchased head house, with Ramsey County Commissioner Jim McDonough, chair of the Regional Rail Authority, and Tim Mayasich, its executive director.
  • Ramsey County and its partner agencies published an Environmental Assessment of the Union Depot project Aug. 24, setting in motion a 45-day public comment period. More information about the Environmental Assessment and how to submit comments is listed below.

    • For more information about the Union Depot project, visit the depot web site or the Regional Rail web site.

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