Missouri Legislature OKs $12 million for a Lambert cargo hub
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
By Virginia Young
05/09/2009
JEFFERSON CITY -- Mike Jones was jubilant Friday. One of the last projects the Missouri Legislature added to a bill to divide federal stimulus money Thursday night was $12 million for a Chinese airline freight hub at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
Legislators "came through 100 percent," said Jones, a senior policy adviser to the St. Louis County executive. Officials hope the proposed cargo hub will attract shipping and light manufacturing firms from China and across the Midwest.
If approved by Gov. Jay Nixon, about $10 million will pay either for a new building or to renovate an old McDonnell Douglas building for the project, Jones said. The rest will help authorities determine what types of goods could be shipped to China on return flights.
The air cargo hub was among several big St. Louis-area projects slated to receive federal stimulus money. The spending plans were included in a bill passed by the Legislature Thursday night that divvies up $381 million in budget stabilization funds, part of about $4 billion in federal stimulus money the state expects to receive.
In Illinois, where the state expects more than $8 billion in stimulus money, the Metro East area will see millions of dollars for construction projects.
Missouri residents should expect Gov. Nixon to trim some of the planned spending, warned spokesman Jack Cardetti.
"In these challenging economic times, the governor will ensure we have a state government taxpayers can afford," Cardetti said. "That's why he expects he'll have to use his line-item veto authority."
But at least two of the St. Louis-area projects are safe from Nixon's veto pen, Cardetti said:
-- $18 million to replace, renovate and demolish dilapidated buildings at Bellefontaine Habilitation Center in St. Louis County.
-- $12 million to restore some of the transit services recently cut by Metro.
"The governor clearly supports the funding for Metro," Cardetti said. "Right now we have Missourians who have jobs who can't get to work."
Metro originally sought $35 million to restore transit service that was slashed on March 30 to prevent future budget shortfalls. The $12 million approved by the Legislature would allow Metro to restore some transit service and recall some drivers who have been laid off.
"Twelve (million) is better than zero. That's for darn sure," said Metro President and CEO Robert Baer. "It is going to allow us to do some things. It will allow us to put some service back, put some people back to work."
The agency intends to ease overcrowding on its busiest bus lines, restore Call-A-Ride service to the elderly and disabled, and restore service to areas where it is most needed.
As for Bellefontaine Habilitation Center, its future has been up in the air for more than four years. Now, mental health officials say they have a solid plan.
About $9.3 million will pay for construction of four, eight-bed group homes for 32 residents who use wheelchairs. The residents now live in the Elliott Building, a large, dormitory-style building where up to four adults must share a bedroom.
Department of Mental Health Department Director Keith Schafer said the new homes will provide features that the medically fragile residents need.
"You have to have a very specialized group home with, for example, tracks in the ceiling where you can lift a gurney and move it from one room to another," Schafer said.
The remaining $8.7 million for the center will finance demolition of vacant buildings on the north side of the campus, as well as repairs to several older structures still in use. In all, the center houses about 150 developmentally disabled people.
The other big infusion for the area would go to the University of Missouri-St. Louis, which is slated to get $28.1 million for a new science building. The Benton-Stadler complex renovation was supposed to be funded through the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority. But Nixon suspended it when the cash-strapped authority stopped making payments.
Illinois, meanwhile, expects about $2 billion in stimulus money will be spent on roads, bridges and mass transit, according to Gov. Pat Quinn's budget office.
In Madison County, $38 million will be spent renovating the interchange at Interstates 55 and 70 under Illinois Route 162, including engineering, bridge work, ramp work and a retaining wall. Another $7.5 million is earmarked for work on the Alton Bypass project. And some $8 million will be spent for resurfacing in St. Clair and Jersey counties, including Illinois Routes 13, 100 and 157.
Various local projects also are being supported with stimulus money, such as the $2.5 million in matching funds that Belleville recently learned it will get for sewer work in the city.
State Rep. Tom Holbrook, D-Belleville, said the impact of the money would be enormous. "There's a lot of road and sewer projects, infrastructure that will be beneficial in the long term ... and then there's this infusion of cash" to offset local unemployment, he said.
