Congress yet to decide: More road stimulus projects on horizon for county, towns

Public agencies around Whitman County are preparing to put together projects for another round of federally funded transportation projects.

Unfortunately, the extremely narrow time frame and accelerated schedule for putting qualifying projects together would limit the possibility for local projects, Mark Storey, county public works director, said Monday.

Storey was alerted by the state Department of Transportation last week that the county should to put together a list of nominees for the program.

He was informed the Whitman County apportionment of stimulus funds would be about the same as last year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allotment, around $1.4 million.

However, he was also told that projects would have to be under contract within 90 to 120 days. That time frame is accelerated from last year, when local entities had five to six months to design, bid and contract stimulus jobs.

Storey added Congress has yet to decide on whether or not it will put out another round of funding.

He said state transportation officials asked for a list of potential qualifying projects in case the funding comes down.

Storey then relayed that message to Whitman County towns.

Proposals from those towns would be reviewed and ranked by a local panel. That panel would forward projects to a state panel for consideration.

Last year’s panel included Storey and Julie Banks of the county public works office, Pullman public works director Mark Workman, Colfax city administrator Carl Thompson and county commissioner Greg Partch. The 2010 roster is expected to be the same.