Fresh Loaf

Dave Williams from the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports:

The State Transportation Board instructed the agency’s staff Thursday to put rail projects on its wish list for TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grants, part of the federal economic stimulus program, after learning that the department’s original list contained only highway projects.

“We don’t ever consider (rail projects) as part of our process,” board member Emory McClinton of Atlanta complained during a staff update on the DOT’s plans for federal stimulus funds. “At some point, we have to change this mentality.”

But there’s a catch. Williams has that for you at the Chronicle’s site. Some of the state’s commuter rail projects include the Athens-Atlanta-Griffin (and eventually — hopefully — on to Macon) line and the long-planned downtown train terminal proposed in the Gulch.

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Thanks to some Obamabucks from Washington, D.C., Atlanta residents could see more police officers patrolling the streets — possibly this fall.

Vice President Joe Biden today announced $1 billion in economic stimulus funds to hire 4,700 police officers in cities across the country. The funds will be administered through the U.S. Justice Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, program.

Atlanta’s set to receive $11.2 million of that loot — enough to hire 50 police officers. (You can view a PDF of Atlanta’s award letter here.)

That’s a far cry from the 200 officers Mayor Shirley Franklin had hoped for earlier this year. But after a weekend of high-profile shootings, killings and carjackings, it’s good news for a city that looks safer on paper than it feels on the streets.

In a statement about the funding, Atlanta Deputy Chief George Turner said:

…the goal is to have a recruit class this fall with the 50 new recruits. Once the officers are trained they will be dispatched into the community. The police department is proud and happy to add 50 new officers to the force, said Chief Turner. All the positions awarded under the grant must be used to initiate or enhance community policing in the City of Atlanta.

There’s a catch, however.

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Atlanta City Councilwoman Anne Fauver recently voted against a study to help make the Peachtree Streetcar project eligible for federal stimulus funding. She says the Beltline is better positioned for federal funds, questions the streetcar’s scope, and wonders who will maintain the estimated $120 million project if it’s built.

On July 20, the Midtown and Downtown business associations offered the City a $600,000 grant to do a feasibility study on a streetcar line along Atlanta’s famed Peachtree Street and to prepare the City’s application for $300 million of stimulus money.

I voted against the legislation to accept the grant. It passed 11-3 so the feasibility study and the application for Federal money will be done. My position is based on the following:

The Franklin Administration asked for the legislation to be fast-tracked. Council had not had a work session or public hearing on the project. We never specifically endorsed the Streetcar proposal. The Streetcar is not THE top priority in Connect Atlanta, the City’s first comprehensive transportation plan either.

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The Atlanta City Council yesterday approved a deal that could once again see streetcars running along Peachtree.

The Midtown Alliance and Central Atlanta Progress have offered up to $600,000 for MARTA to study the streetcar project, which last year was placed on hold after the city realized its budget woes.

Yesterday’s deal also allows officials to determine if the project could compete for up to $300 million in federal transportation stimulus cash. According to City Council President Lisa Borders’ mayoral campaign website, streetcars could become a reality in five years.

The $1 billion streetcar project, which includes new parks and streetscapes along the streetcar route, proposes connecting Fort McPherson to Buckhead. The first phase eyed for implementation — estimated at $120 million before the market tanked — would connect Midtown to downtown and include an east-west tourist loop stretching from the King Center to Centennial Olympic Park.

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Wilkinson County, a county of 10,000 people 30 miles east of Macon, is receiving more stimulus money for transportation projects than Fulton County, home to more than 1,000,000 people.

Wilkinson’s getting $56,366,518 in federal stimulus money for transportation projects.

Fulton is receiving $50,068,562.

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Georgia roadbuilders — well, Marietta, Ga.-based C.W. Matthews, in particular — had something to smile about yesterday. Gov. Sonny Perdue, flanked by newly elected Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Vance Smith and U.S. Deputy Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari, made the smoggy skies rain with Obamabucks on Tuesday as he kicked off the Peach State’s first foray into stimulus spending.

On Tuesday state and federal transportation officials gathered in Hapeville to celebrate the first stimulus-funded road project to go under construction in metro Atlanta, a repaving expected to pump $940,841 into the Georgia economy.

The project is to pave 4.2 miles of Ga. Hwy. 3, a commercial corridor in Clayton and Fulton counties near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Contractors said work is scheduled to begin Monday night.

C.W. Matthews scored the project because it is God.

Now, you can argue about the stimulus all day long. Hard truth though is that it’s here, so you best spend it wisely. And a new study by self-explanatory think tank Smart Growth America and its partners says, whoa, Georgia’s made some good choices in how it spends the cash.

The rest of the country? Meh.

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Straphangers and transit wonks can breathe easy, as Gov. Sonny Perdue today finalized a $25 million agreement between the Atlanta Regional Commission and MARTA that will help the transit agency avoid drastic service cuts.

Perdue’s action today was largely just red tape. As governor, Perdue must approve all projects paid for by federal stimulus dollars. The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority approved the ARC and MARTA’s agreement on Wednesday. Perdue had hinted he would do the same.

In exchange for funding to keep its trains and buses running, MARTA will spend $25 million on transit-related projects. ARC stepped up to help the cash-strapped transit agency after the Georgia General Assembly failed to pass a bill that would have allowed MARTA more control of its funding.

Perdue today also approved $121 million worth of other stimulus projects, including streetscape improvements in downtown Atlanta, park improvements in DeKalb County, and oodles of roads.

Screenshots of those are after the jump.

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The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports the Beltline will receive $1 million as part of a $1.8 million grant package from the U.S. government to clean up brownfields.

The grants, which include $400,000 from the federal government’s stimulus program and $1.4 million from the EPA brownfields general program funding, will help revitalize former industrial and commercial sites, EPA said. Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.

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On April 16, President Barack Obama gave rail lovers some long-awaited good news: As part of the president’s stimulus plan, he offered $8 billion to begin linking major U.S. cities with high-speed rail lines — and an additional $5 billion more to improve rail service over the next four years.

“We need high-speed rail,” Obama said. “It’s happening right now. It’s been happening for decades. The problem is, it’s been happening elsewhere, not here.”

By “elsewhere,” the president was referring to Europe and Asia. But he could just as easily have been talking about Southeastern states other than Georgia. Thanks to a lack of vision, little to no funding, and an almost cartoonish addiction to roads, the Peach State’s far behind many of its neighbors when it comes to rail.

Transit and transportation advocates say if the state’s leadership doesn’t work to catch up, Georgia could miss out on a nationwide rail renaissance.

Click here to continue reading this story.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Obamabucks! They don’t just pay for “comfort stations!”

Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports:

Georgia will be on the receiving end of $665 million in federal stimulus funds to help educate students with disabilities or from low-income families.

The Georgia Board of Education unanimously approved the allocations on Tuesday in a special called meeting.

More than half of the federal aid — $351 million — will go to Georgia school districts through the federal Title I program, which provides funding for economically disadvantaged students. The rest of the money will come from a federal program dedicated to students with disabilities.

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Of course he signs it on Earth Day. The legislation, House Bill 473, creates a grant program that provides incentives to businesses that install solar panels, produce heat from geothermal heaters, and invest in energy efficiency.

From the governor’s office:

“HB 473 provides Georgia companies with additional incentives for investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy,” said Governor Perdue. “These clean energy grants will also help the private sector meet the state’s goal of reducing energy consumption by 15 percent.”

HB 473 will be administered by GEFA under similar terms and conditions of the current Clean Energy Property Tax Credit (HB 670) passed last year. Quality standards, such as Energy Star criteria for geothermal heat pumps and a high efficiency standard (exceeding ASHRAE 90.1.2004 by 30 percent) for lighting and buildings, determine eligibility for the grant program. The grants will be available on a first come, first served basis; installation of the qualifying clean energy property must be completed before a grant application can be submitted. The maximum grant for each applicant is limited to the lesser of 35 percent of the cost of the clean energy property or the statutory caps.

There’s a hitch though — the size of the grant program depends on how much stimulus cash our benevolent federal overlords decide to give us this summer.

While HB 473 authorizes Georgia to use ARRA funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy grants to non-residential consumers, the state will not know whether this is possible or how much will be available until its application for recovery funds is reviewed this summer by the U.S. Department of Energy. GEFA is expected to receive a total of approximately $82.5 million for the State Energy Program through ARRA, which will support many other efforts in addition to HB 473.

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The state just doesn’t seem to understand MARTA’s importance to metro Atlanta. The Atlanta Regional Commission, however, just might.

Ariel Hart of the AJC reports:

A committee of the Atlanta Regional Commission on Thursday recommended that ARC divert up to $25 million in stimulus funds to MARTA to meet operating shortfalls. The money had been intended for long-needed metro Atlanta transportation projects.

…

MARTA will still have to follow through with less draconian cuts, General Manager Beverly Scott said Thursday. They will likely include furloughs, raising employee payments for health care and stopping bus and train service at midnight.

An ARC spokesman tells CL that the full board will vote on the recommendation in May. In the meantime, it’s working with MARTA staff to examine its financial situation and to see if the transit agency can use the stimulus funds for operational purposes.

It’ll also be interesting to see what transportation projects might get dropped if the plan goes through.

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The most tangible component of President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan — transportation projects — is starting to take shape in metro Atlanta and Georgia.

Yesterday, the State Transportation Board today approved 135 projects — most of which involve bridge maintenance and road resurfacing — valued at more than $512 million.

And today, the Atlanta Regional Commission approved stimulus projects totaling more than $270 million — $95 million of which will help metro region transit agencies replace aging vehicles, complete maintenance projects, and improve park-and-ride facilities. MARTA has been allocated $55 million. Some pedestrian improvements are included in each agency’s project lists.

If Gov. Sonny Perdue approves the projects, bids will be solicited. Work is expected to begin immediately thereafter.

Georgia was allocated $1.1 billion in transportation funding under the plan — $931 million for roads and $144 million for transit projects. GDOT oversees 70 percent of that cash. The remaining funds are distributed among metropolitan planning organizations — i.e. the ARC.

After the jump, screenshots of GDOT’s approved projects in Fulton and DeKalb Counties. To view the entire list and monitor how the agency spends Obamabucks, visit its stimulus projects website. To download a PDF of the ARC’s approved stimulus projects, click here. I’d post screenshots for you, dear reader, but since the projects are all local, it’s best to read the list in full.

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NOT A SHOCKER: Last week

Late last fall, Sam Warren lost a client who’d fallen on hard times. That client was the state of Georgia.

The 52-year-old consultant and Powder Springs resident, who made his living writing operational manuals for corporations and government agencies, learned the state was instituting a “hard freeze” on outside contracts. Warren, who says never in his life has he left one job without another firmly in place, started making calls to drum up more business. Then he made some more calls.

Now, friends who told Warren in November that they’d try to help him secure work are looking for work themselves.

“It’s dry,” he says. “Dry and dead.”

Last week, Warren was among the estimated 19,000 people who packed into the Georgia World Congress Center to compete for what’s beginning to seem like an impossible find: a job.

Read the rest of this feature here.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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The answer: 540,000 metric tonnes, equivalent to the household energy use of 150,000 Atlanta residents or 98,000 passenger vehicles. That’s according to Georgia Tech professors and students who helped the city analyze its annual greenhouse gas emissions.

Mayor Shirley Franklin announced the city’s carbon footprint in conjunction with the inaugural report by Sustainable Atlanta, the city’s partner project with a consulting firm. Franklin has set a goal to reduce the city’s carbon emissions seven percent by 2012. The next step involves creating an Atlanta Climate Action Plan.

Some goals — as well as some hopes for Obamabucks — are after the jump.

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The site, which lets residents view how stimulus funds are doled out and spent by Georgia agencies, is different than the state Department of Transportation’s, which focuses on people-moving projects and bridges.

Says Gov. Sonny Perdue via press release:

“The accountability website will allow all Georgians to hold their state government responsible for how we spend their tax dollars,” said Governor Perdue. “I want to be able to point to concrete results when my grandchildren ask me how we spent stimulus money.”

Residents can also use the site to report fraud or waste.

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The Georgia Department of Transportation has unveiled a website to allow residents to track projects that are part of President Barack Obama’s stimulus program.

From the department:

Visitors to the site will find links to topics including Georgia’s stimulus transportation funding chart, project categories, the Department’s current efforts, links to other sites and resources, frequently asked questions and much more. The Web site will be closely monitored and periodic updates will be added continually.

The department’s December call for transportation project proposals generated more than 850 responses from Georgia cities and counties. The president’s $787 billion plan allocated $932 million for transportation projects in the Peach State.

The department says it’s combing through the cities and counties’ wishlists — which totaled more than $1 billion — and will post information about projects once they are approved. That could be as early as Friday or Monday.

(Photo courtesy the gubment)

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Hundreds of people stood in the pouring rain outside the Capitol this afternoon to protest the Obama administration’s stimulus package. The “Atlanta Tea Party” was one of many Tea Party events that took place across the nation today. The idea originated from CNBC analyst Rick Santelli’s on-air rants last week for a new “tea party” to protest the stimulus plan from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange while backed by howls and whistles from traders on the floor.  A You Tube clip of the rave has received more then 800,000 views. At the Atlanta event this afternoon people clumped together under an array of umbrellas, many getting soaked to the bone during the rainstorm. The 40-minute demonstration included speeches by a few members of the Georgia Legislature. The crowd whooped and roared as people from the microphone railed about the “socialists running the country,” called for extensive tax cuts, read the Declaration of Independence and defended the sanctity of the Constitution. The event ended with demonstrators dumping tea bags into a bucket. I guess the revolution starts now?

More photos of the “Atlanta Tea Party” here

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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