I-JOBS board awards $45 million to CR projects

CEDAR RAPIDS - Seven of the first eight projects funded by the state job creation and infrastructure rebuilding program are in Cedar Rapids, a city that local officials say sustained more than half of the damage caused by June 2008 flooding.

The state I-JOBS board approved $40 million in city and Linn County projects and $500,000 for an emergency services building in Elkader during a meeting in Cedar Rapids Monday. Total cost of the projects will be $154 million.

Cedar Rapids received $30 million -- $5 million for the public library, $5 million for the Paramount Theater, $5 million for the public works building, $5 million to help steam customer relief and $10 million for the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library.

Linn County was awarded $5 million for the expansion and reconstruction of a community services building that will house Community Services, General Assistance, Mental Health and Developmental Disability Services, Veterans Affairs, Home Health and Youth Services.

The county received another $10 million in I-JOBS funds for a human services campus in downtown Cedar Rapids that will provide space for United Way and six to nine other not-for-profit organizations that provide services to more than 13,000 people annually.

Cedar Rapids City Councilman Brian Fagan called the awards a "mile marker" in the long-distance race for flood recovery funds. The funds will assist in flood recovery efforts by putting people back to work and helping local facilities to re-open, Fagan said.

I-JOBS will invest $830 million in Iowa's aging infrastructure over the next two years by selling bonds to help finance disaster recovery efforts, improve Iowa's roads and bridges and invest in public works and buildings. It's part of Gov. Chet Culver's effort create jobs during an economic downturn and assist in disaster recovery.

"When tough challenges face our communities, whether those challenges are natural or economic, government needs to take action - quick, decisive action - to help," Culver said in a message read to the I-JOBS board. Culver did not attend the meeting because he was at the funeral of Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas.

Although the goal of I-JOBS is to stimulate the economy in the near term, it could be months before several of the projects awarded funds Monday get underway. The Linn County Board anticipates a decision on engineering and architecture services this week and would like to see construction of the community services/Options building and a human services campus begin this construction season.

Whether projects are "shovel ready" will be a factor in the next round of funding. I-JOBS soon will begin accepting applications for $118.5 million in competitive grants, according to Joseph Jones of the Iowa Finance Authority and I-JOBS board administrator. Those applications are due in August and the I-JOBS board likely will approve, deny or defer those projects beginning later that month, Jones said.

As I-JOBS scores those applications, it also will look at how quickly communities can proceed. That's because one of the goals of I-JOBS is to put people to work as quickly as possible, Jones explained.

The funds awarded today should be available by the end of July. State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald, a member of the I-JOBS board, has moved to structure and sell the I-JOBS special obligation bonds, and Culver expects Moody's and S&P will announced their ratings early this week. The bonds will be priced July 14.

The board also awarded $500,000 to Elkader for construction of a $1.2 million emergency services building to replace one that sits on the banks of the Turkey River and has been flooded several times. City Clerk Jennifer Cowsert said emergency services, especially the ambulance, are critical because the Clayton County community of 1,500 is more than an hour from Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Dubuque.

She also noted that before buying new equipment it must be measured to make sure it will fit in the building. The new building will be larger and outside the floodplain. The building has been designed to meet future needs, she said, including the possibility of having 24/7 staff stationed there if communities regionalize their emergency services.

The project will create or retain 73 jobs in a county where the May unemployment rate was 7.3 percent.