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Stimulus decisions jilt some counties

Champaign, Fairfield, Fayette  3 of 9 counties that received no road funds.

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By Jessica Wehrman, Staff Writer 12:23 AM Sunday, April 12, 2009

WASHINGTON — When the federal government’s giving out money, someone’s bound to feel jilted.

Count Fereidoun Shokouhi, Frank Anderson and Steve Luebbe among those ranks.

They are the county engineers of Champaign, Fairfield and Fayette counties — three of the nine counties shut out from the pot of $774 million in federal stimulus money allocated primarily to road and traffic infrastructure projects in the state.

Every Ohio county except one — Noble, in southeast Ohio — got a piece of the stimulus money, if you include rural transit funds. But much of the rural transit stockpile went for minivans and maintenance, not the shovel-ready road and bridge rehab projects that create large numbers of jobs.

Champaign, Fairfield and Fayette counties all had high hopes of using stimulus money for infrastructure improvements. Each came away disappointed.

“When I didn’t get money I become surprised,” said Champaign County’s Shokouhi, who argues that it would have been more fair to have the money divided among all 88 counties. “After I was done getting surprised, I got really disappointed... Champaign County residents, children and their children are going to be paying for that liability. The frustration is that we are not going to benefit.”

Other counties, such as Highland County, got money for Ohio Department of Transportation projects but nothing for more locally driven projects.

Dean Otwarth, the engineer for Highland County, which has about 14 percent unemployment, requested $4 million for a proposed road connecting two state routes. He didn’t get it.

“There were almost $10 billion in requests and $900 million available,” he said. “I guess I am disappointed, but I don’t guess I’d be doing my job if I wasn’t disappointed.”

To receive stimulus money, projects had to meet stringent federal criteria. Even if they met that criteria, they could get passed over by projects thought to have a greater chance of stimulating the economy. Some 4,602 Ohio projects were eventually pared down to about 150.

Champaign County put in requests for some $53 million worth of road projects, including $4 million to replace a 1920s-era maintenance garage and $625,000 to replace two bridges. Its biggest request was a $46 million request to continue the U.S. 68 project, an ongoing, decades-long project to create a four-lane highway through Champaign County between Springfield and Urbana.

Instead, the county got $49,700 to buy a minivan, a power bus washer and maintenance money. Scott Varner, a spokesman for the ODOT, said the state received $935 million for transportation infrastructure projects. Of that total, $161.5 million went straight to the state’s big cities: Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown. Dayton’s Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission received $17.4 million.

That left $774 million for ODOT to divvy up among 4,602 requests. A special committee within ODOT sent back requests for follow-up information, and the state then started sifting through which remaining projects were eligible for federal dollars. Of all of the projects, 2,222 met the federal eligibility guidelines.

That’s where Wood County in northwest Ohio got knocked out.

Wood County Engineer Ray Huber said he submitted projects only to find out afterward that they didn’t meet the criteria for receiving federal dollars.

Finally, ODOT prioritized projects in economically distressed areas — areas with high unemployment and low income. The state also gave favor to projects with the potential to grow the local economy.

Luebbe, the Fayette County engineer, said he submitted a $2.5 million shovel-ready project to redevelop a highway near an industrial park, but walked away empty-handed. “That was a beautiful project,” he said, saying it would’ve helped the industrial park.

The county has about a 10 percent unemployment rate — lower than most counties but higher than the state average.

Luebbe said he tries not to be bitter about getting passed over but, “I think politically, we’re not on somebody’s list.

“It is what it is.”

Allen $11 million for rail highway safety upgrades

Athens: $150 million for the Nelsonville bypass.

Champaign: No road funds, received rural transit money for a minivan, a power bus washer and maintenance

Cuyahoga: $200 million for the Cleveland Innerbelt Bridge, plus an additional $20 million for the Opportunity Corridor

Fairfield: No road funds, but Lancaster received rural transit money to purchase two light transit vehicles and repave a parking lot, among other projects.

Fayette: No road funds, but received money for two vehicles, two minivans and maintenance, among other rural transit money.

Geauga: No money for roads, but received $750,000 for a dispatching data collection system and $84,078 for maintenance.

Hamilton and Clermont: $20 million for the Eastern Corridor Development

Hocking: No road money, but the county did receive money for one minivan as well as money for dispatch scheduling software.

Lucas: $15 million for new buildings and equipment at the Toledo Shipyard; an additional $6.8 million for a seaport crane at the Port of Toledo

Mahoning: $20 million for the relocation of a rail line near V&M Steel Mill in Youngstown

Monroe: No money for roads, but the county received money to buy three full-size vans and one light transit vehicle. It also received $325,000 for a facility purchase.

Montgomery: $6 million for intersection improvements at Austin Road and Ohio 741.

Noble: Didn’t receive any money. None of the county’s submissions were for federally eligible projects, according to ODOT.

Pickaway: $10 million to rehabilitate five bridges

Sandusky: No road money, but received rural transit funds for two transit vehicles, two minivans and also received $2.7 million for the design and construction of a transit facility.

Summit: $8 million for the rehabilitation of Akron’s Main Street

Wood: No road money, but the county is part of the Toledo Area Metropolitan Council of Governments, and the city of Bowling Green received some money for road projects, according to the head of the council.

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