In a series of appropriations bills passed by the Senate last week, Senator Patrick Leahy secured almost $26 million in federal spending for projects in Vermont, including $584,000 for phase one of the DVTA’s transportation center project.
DVTA General Manager Randy Schoonmaker said the federal funding will “kick the process into high gear.” The project has been in the planning stages for more than a decade. “We’ve been trying to get this earmark for many years,” Schoonmaker says. Last year, a $4.4 million earmark for the DVTA project was dropped from the federal funding package in a late night session before the final bill was passed.
Since the project was first proposed, two feasibility studies have been conducted, and the project has morphed from a broad vision of a “multimodal” center to a facility focused more narrowly on the DVTA’s needs.
Over the last year, the cost of the project has been pared down, from $5.5 million to $3.75 million, of which the federal government will pay 80%. The reduced cost not only cuts the amount of federal funding needed, it cuts the amount the DVTA will need to raise for the remaining 20%, from $1.1 million to about $750,000.
Once the $584,000 earmark, and the DVTA’s $146,000 match, are available, the DVTA will have $730,000 with which to start work on the proposed facility. Schoonmaker says phase one will include demolition of the former barnboard factory, the selection of an architect, the preparation of bids, and some site work. “This year we spent about $50,000 on asbestos remediation in anticipation of demolition,” he notes. “We had to tear down some of the pieces to facilitate the asbestos removal, but all of the hazards are now removed.”
But the federal funding also sets the permitting and procurement process into motion. “Now we’ll have the ability to start shopping and getting into the details,” Schoonmaker says.
The structure proposed by the DVTA is a Morton steel building, painted red, and designed to be reminiscent of a barn. The building will have four maintenance bays, an indoor bus wash, a fueling pad, public parking, and room for the DVTA’s offices. Currently, the DVTA’s offices are in Dover, and the transportation facility is in Wilmington. The total cost of $3.75 million also includes the purchase and installation of fixtures and maintenance equipment such as lifts.
The building will be located on the site of the current facility, but situated slightly to the west, and parallel to the Deerfield River.
Several buildings on the site will remain, including a building used for the production of biodiesel and the factory’s distinctive cement block silo. “We’ll tear it down if we have to, but we’d like to find another use for the silo,” Schoonmaker says. “We’ve talked about something to do with music or history. The silo might be the perfect place for a museum if you run a staircase up inside and put the history of the valley on the walls. But we haven’t found a partner for that yet.”
The project includes a trail head and access for the town’s Hoot, Toot, & Whistle walking trail, expected to be completed next year, as well as access to the planned and proposed Riverwalk, should it come to fruition.
Schoonmaker says it’s unusual to get a partial earmark for a project, but he says Leahy’s office has assured the DVTA that the additional funding will be forthcoming. Early in the process the DVTA sought state aid for the project. “The state put up different issues and the process changed from year to year,” Schoonmaker says. “In 2004 we got to a point where, after crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s, they just said ‘no’ to us.”
Although “earmarks” have a bad reputation as “pork barrel spending,” normal federal transportation funding options were out of the question for the DVTA. Schoonmaker says funding through regular channels is tied to population, with the result that funding goes to places with a higher population density.
After their experience with the state of Vermont, the DVTA turned to Leahy’s office for federal help. “We’re very appreciative of Senator Leahy’s help,” Schoonmaker says. “After five scoping studies in 11 years, it’s pretty obvious that there’s a need for this.”
Even so, it will be some time before the DVTA has the money in hand. Schoonmaker says the process from President Obama’s signature on the bill to the day it becomes available through the Federal Transportation Administration takes several months.
Post a Comment