The Fiscal Year 2010 Congressionally-directed funding requests that Congressman Steve King has submitted with the House Appropriations Committee are listed below and are categorized alphabetically by appropriations bill. For each request, information is listed providing the proposed recipient, the address of the recipient, the amount of the request, and an explanation of the purpose of the request outlining how the requested funds will be used and the value of the project to taxpayers.
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
Organization:
Hungry Canyons Alliance
712 S. Hwy. 6 & 59
Oakland, IA 51560-0189 Amount Requested:
$1,000,000 Purpose of the Request:
The goals of Hungry Canyons Alliance are: 1) To provide financial and technical assistance for streambed stabilization projects to the 23 counties of the deep loess region in western Iowa, 2) To conduct research in effective methods of streambed stabilization, and 3) To provide demonstration of streambed stabilization projects for members and for the public. With an estimated construction budget of $1,243,900 for FY10, the HCA will build approximately 18 grade control structures to prevent streambed degradation in western Iowa, protecting $5.27 million in infrastructure and property value and preventing 1.2 million tons of sediment from erosion.
Organization:
Iowa Soybean Association
4554 114th Street
Urbandale, IA 50322 Amount Requested:
$90,000 Purpose of Request:
The public now demands from crop producers both increased production of food, fiber, fuel, and other biobased product feedstocks and increased, documented environmental performance to conserve soils, sequester carbon, improve water quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency and increase wildlife habitat. As independent business persons, farmers in the Upper Mississippi River Basin and across the country need management systems to help them incorporate the best tools of science and business to measure and improve both agronomic and environmental performance while sustaining profitability.
The Iowa Soybean Association’s Certified Environmental Management Systems for Agriculture (CEMSA) program has developed and piloted the basic management system and the technical assistance model producers in Iowa, the UMR Basin, and other agricultural regions need to meet these 21st Century demands. Expanding the scale of CEMSA in FY10, integrating individual planning with watershed planning, linking performance reporting to NRCS’s system, and documenting and providing aggregated performance data to the soy biodiesel and corn ethanol industry on advances in agriculture’s environmental performance and energy efficiency have significant implications in transferability of CEMSA throughout the UMR Basin and in the future of the farm-belt biofuels industry. It benefits farmers by preparing them for participation in USDA conservation programs, helping them improve profitability through better management, helps them effectively implement and evaluate the impact on their business of conservation strategies they hold as top priorities, and verifies their success in achieving environmental and energy efficiency performance gains.
CEMSA is also providing national leadership for advancing production agriculture’s environmental performance. It is one of the ISA programs recognized by the National Academy of Sciences National Research Council’s study on “Mississippi River Water Quality and the Clean Water Act” as exemplary of the performance-based, public-private partnership projects that should be expanded throughout the UMR Basin.
CEMSA’s private sector partnership with a public agency (USDA NRCS) has a positive impact on the agency’s ability to fulfill its mission. This multi-year cooperative agreement has facilitated a strong working relationship which helps diffuse private sector innovation in the local, state, and federal offices and expands agency outreach through ISA’s multi-level outreach to farmers. This public-private partnership designed specifically for ISA’s programs enables flexibility the agency would not have on its own to create resource-centric planning and implementation, rather than program-centric approaches to resources. It has created an effective way to deal with institutional barriers that often hinder effective program implementation, which can best be done by the private sector working with agencies, but is not otherwise supported by the market or by program funding.
Organization:
Iowa Soybean Association
4554 114th Street
Urbandale, IA 50322 Amount Requested:
$60,000 Purpose of Request:
The Iowa Soybean Association’s Watershed Management and Demonstration Program is a continuing project that links public and private resources and expertise to provide technical assistance to individual farmers, groups of farmers, and other stakeholders in Iowa watersheds for the purpose of improving agriculture’s environmental performance and watershed health. The project design employs science-based applied evaluation tools at field, farm, and watershed level (such as water monitoring, soil sampling, and guided stalk sampling) to collect performance data that can be applied in a feedback loop to the planning process. The project supports expert staff to assist watershed organizations and groups of farmers in developing and maintaining these adaptive management plans and in measuring and reporting performance in optimizing fertilizer use efficiency, remediating agricultural pollutants, decreasing soil erosion, building soil carbon, improving on-farm energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing wildlife habitat, and maintaining or increasing yield and profitability. Private-public partnerships among agencies, private industry, producers, environmental groups, all levels of government, water utilities, and the university are fundamental to the design of this project, and those functioning partnerships to achieve the above project objectives are a measure of the project’s success. This project also enables farmers to engage in watershed leadership and planning, employing their expertise and motivating more effective environmental management practices.
Federal funding will be used to support integration of watershed planning and privately funded conservation practices with planning and performance reporting conducted by USDA NRCS in Iowa; integration of watershed planning with individual producers’ conservation planning in targeted watersheds in 4-6 additional targeted watersheds; development and evaluation of solutions to agricultural non-point source pollution targeted to prioritized Iowa watersheds; and integration of data collection and reporting focused on soil, atmosphere, and energy conservation as indirect attributes of water quality improvement efforts in agricultural watersheds.
One of the greatest challenges to achieving and documenting actual improvements in water quality and watershed health where Rapid Watershed Assessment and Watershed Planning has taken place and where significant farmer participation in conservation planning and implementation is taking place is the lack of sustained funding for planning, technical assistance to farmers and watersheds, and water monitoring implementations. Previous appropriations for this project are helping meet that challenge in at least three major agricultural watersheds in Iowa – Raccoon, Boone, and Iowa River-Upper. FY10 funding will help continue to meet that challenge for the period of time required to achieve and document results and to demonstrate a performance-based model for achieving agronomic, environmental, and economic goals in farm-belt watersheds. The planning and monitoring infrastructure and watershed partnerships developed under previous federal funding are in place, and these appropriations help ensure the necessary scope and scale of implementation and the integration of otherwise discreet programs. The work being done in these watersheds, linked to sophisticated water monitoring and analysis and other resource monitoring tools, can have a significant impact on the ability of farmers and other agricultural watershed stakeholders to achieve and document real advances in watershed health and water quality, if given time to work. This can have significant impacts on the ability of agencies to tailor their program incentives, cost share, and delivery systems to be more effective in helping groups of producers in watershed achieve success in meeting natural resource conservation goals and improving water quality. It will also demonstrate effective models for the private sector’s role in working with agencies to more efficiently and effectively meet environmental performance goals.
Organization:
Sioux Rivers Resource Conservation and Development Inc.
206 First Street
Sergeant Bluff, IA 51054 Amount Requested:
$1,500,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funding will be used to complete an assessment of the Little Sioux Watershed so that agencies and other leadership can use it to direct conservation efforts in NW Iowa and ensure that public dollars achieve the maximum impact for the dollar spent. There has not been an assessment like this done since the watershed’s inception more than five decades ago. After 55 years, it is time to perform an assessment to ensure that programs, funding and construction for the next few decades continue to be targeted in the most beneficial way.
Funds will be used to assess the resource impacts that have occurred over the past 55 years and, target future conservation and infrastructure protection activities. This assessment will be used to ensure that all cost share programs, both state and federal, target their financial resources and efforts to achieve the maximum positive resource impact to the region in the most cost efficient way.
Agriculture technology and transportation concepts have changed dramatically since the original watershed plan was developed. This assessment will incorporate current farming technology in it’s determination of critical needs. It will also evaluate the impact that our nation’s goal of energy independence may have on the region. The area has an exceedingly high interest in alternative fuel and biomass production as well as alternative energy. These issues have a direct impact on agriculture land use and management. The intent is to proactively use this assessment to plan for these anticipated changes and the impacts on conservation for the region.
Organization:
USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service
210 Walnut Street
693 Federal Building
Des Moines, IA 50309 Amount Requested:
$1,500,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funding will be used to reduce flood damage, gully erosion damage, stream channel degradation, and to improve water quality within the Little Sioux River Watershed of western Iowa.
The Little Sioux watershed in western Iowa is an area that is intensively farmed due to productive but easily erodible soils. This funding will help to provide landowners and communities much-needed assistance in installing soil and water conservation practices to slow water runoff and reduce erosion damage to agricultural land, public infrastructure including roads and bridges, and to reduce sediment and associated agricultural nutrients and pesticides being delivered to streams and rivers.
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
Organization:
Heartland Family Service, Inc. Amount Requested:
$600,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funding will be used to continue the development of the Southwest Iowa Methamphetamine Treatment Program, which is a collaborative effort between Heartland Family Services, the Iowa Department of Human Services, the courts, and other social service agencies. It is a clinically managed residential service for substance abuse patients, using Heartland Family Service’s established residential treatment and counseling facilities. The program offers women a residential treatment service, and at the same time allows them to continue parenting their children. Treatment is directed toward applying recovery skills, preventing relapse, promoting personal responsibility and reintegrating the patient into work, education and family life. Services include individual, group and family therapy.
The need for the Southwest Iowa Methamphetamine Treatment Program centers around the epidemic of methamphetamine use. One in three child protective investigations in the Council Bluffs area involves this drug. Some babies are born with methamphetamine in their system, and children are exposed to use of the drug in their home. Some children live in homes where methamphetamine is being manufactured.
This level of care is a missing piece in the substance abuse treatment continuum of care in Southwest Iowa.
This type of residential treatment and targeted case management services will increase the likelihood of successful integration of services and abstinence, or reduced use of substances of abuse and a reduction of harm to the community. The program participant will progress through the described continuum of care, integrating the delivery of services, and through the ability of case managers, will access a vast array of community resources.
Organization:
Sioux City Police Department
601 Douglas Street
Sioux City, IA 51101 Amount Requested:
$2,000,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used to continue the operations of the Sioux City Police Department’s National Training Center (NTC). The NTC maintains a vision of providing the most current and relevant training in the area of narcotics law enforcement. Our mission is to support the overall effort to control and reduce methamphetamine production, trafficking and distribution on the local, regional and national level. The Sioux City Police Department is providing the leadership in developing training now and for the future.
The majority of the training done is geared toward the line level officer or investigator. The NTC not only offers classroom training, but puts an emphasis on scenario based training. This training allows officers to get as close to the real stresses they will be subjected to in a potentially deadly encounter without experiencing the real situation. By giving officers the chance to practice these types of scenarios during training, they will have an experience to draw upon should they find themselves in a similar situation during the course of their duties. These types of training experiences have been shown to increase those officers’ chances of survival in a potentially deadly encounter.
With the experience gained through ten years of continuous operation, the training center has been able to make connections with the premier educators and trainers from across the country in fields of expertise related to methamphetamine, prevention, mitigation, enforcement and prosecution. During this period the federal government has made significant investment in theprogram and the reputation of the National Training Center has grown throughout the country. With the infrastructure in place, an experienced staff and contacts with leading instructors in the field, the National Training Center is ready to continue providing the high level of service law enforcement professionals have come to expect.
Organization:
Visiting Nurses Association
300 West Broadway
Council Bluffs, IA 51503 Amount Requested:
$100,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funding will be used to help establish the VNA Home Visitation Program, which proposes a system of coordinated care that triages both health and social services to clients in an individualized manner -- specific to the needs of each client -- so that long-term outcomes and benefits will be improved for this population of high-risk pregnant and parenting mothers and fathers in Pottawattamie county. Services will always be described as voluntary with length of service provision individually determined by client need.
In order to promote safety, permanency and child and family well-being, home visitors will:
- Assist families in establishing a medical home (defined as primary care that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective) for mother and child;
- Assist families in identifying informal support networks and utilize existing supports to facilitate the attainment of service goals;
- Provide and assist with referrals to community resources as needed;
- Provide information on prenatal health, newborn care, and child development;
- Provide developmental guidance to families and caregivers, including adoptive parents through the use of developmental curricula; and
- Provide referrals, when appropriate, to Iowa Medicaid.
Home visitation services will be delivered via a multi-disciplinary service model integrating the nursing and social work disciplines. Rather than arbitrary assignment of the same home visitation services (e.g., nursing, social work, or mental health) to all clients, this approach will align the most appropriate and cost-effective resource with each client’s individualized needs. Regular, ongoing oversight by a multi-disciplinary team consisting of two Bachelors level Family Support Specialists, four Public Health Nurses, one Licensed Mental Health Practitioner, and a Masters level Coordinator will ensure integrity to the model, monitor client progress towards service goals, and ensure that coordination with other providers occurs when needed.
The goal of the VNA Child Abuse Prevention Program is to combat intentional and unintentional child abuse. Moreover, it would promote safety and child & family well-being to ensure safe, happy and healthy families. This is an inter-disciplinary home visitation model with the following objectives:
- Decrease the incidence of child abuse and neglect for referred families;
- Increase the capacities of at-risk families to nurture their children in healthy environments;
- Reduce the number of children removed from their homes;
- Improve the health of the mother to increase her ability to care for a child; and
- Improve the health of babies and increase the appropriateness of care related to the pregnancy whenever possible.
Energy and Water Development
Organization:
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
205 E. 9th St
Des Moines, IA 50319 Amount Requested:
$2,341,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funding will be used to continue the joint project between the Storm Lake Improvement Group, The US Army Corps Of Engineers and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to improve the aquatic species habitat in the Storm Lake watershed and to restore the wetland function of Little Storm Lake.
The 190 acre Little Storm Lake is located in the northwest corner of Storm Lake in Storm Lake, Iowa. Little Storm Lake originally had the ability to remove much of the sediment from incoming waters. Unfortunately, the ability to accomplish these tasks has dwindled due to the reduced vegetative diversity. Rehabilitating the ecosystem will require addressing loss of native plant communities, nutrient and sediment loading, and resuspension.
Restoration of the wetland function of the Little Storm Lake is an essential component of the Storm Lake restoration project, which has been undertaken to improve the water quality of Storm Lake. The water quality of Storm Lake is vital to the local community as annual visitors to the Lake spent an average of $10.14 million annually that in turn supports 728 jobs and $9.79 million of labor income in the region.
Organization:
Lewis and Clark Regional Water System
401 E. 8th St. Suite 306
Sioux Falls, SD 57103 Amount Requested:
$35,000,000 Purpose of Request:
Requested funds will be used to continue construction of the The Lewis and Clark Regional Water System, the objective of which is to build and operate a tri-state water system that will provide high quality water to the region it will serve, which will improve the quality of life and expand economic development opportunities.
When completed, the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System will be a wholesale supplier of treated water to 20 cities and rural water systems in northwest Iowa, southeast South Dakota, and southwest Minnesota.
Lewis & Clark represents a unique regional approach by the three states and the 20 local sponsors to address common problems with area water resources in a more effective and cost-efficient way than each state, town, or rural water system could do alone. Regional water problems include shallow wells and aquifers prone to contamination and drought, compliance with new federal drinking water standards, and increasing water demand due to population growth and economic expansion. Indeed, recently a cheese factory (which created many jobs) opened in Hull, Iowa, which many have suggested would not have been possible without the emergency connection built to the town to support their recent growth.
Organization:
Western Iowa Tech Community College
4647 Stone Avenue
Sioux City, IA 51106 Amount Requested:
$3,334,434 Purpose of Request:
Requested funds will be used to help develop the Wind Energy program of study at Western Iowa Tech Community College, including the acquisition of equipment and technology for the design of the wind power engineering curriculum at the College. Federal funds will be used to purchase a wind turbine and laboratory equipment for technician skills training. The funding will help to provide an enhanced training program designed to attract, retain, and develop skills and competencies at the technician level to maintain and grow the economic competitiveness of the wind energy industries.
Training will encompass understanding the design of a wind farm and the electricity power grid; the erection of wind turbines; wiring the turbines to the electric power grid; and scheduling and performing routine maintenance on the turbines electrical components and columns.
This project will build Western Iowa Tech Community College’s capacity to increase the pipeline of workers for the Wind Energy industry. As a result of this project, the College will have the ability to prepare up to 33 degree-seeking workers annually for employment in the industry. The overarching impact is to increase the educational attainment and skills levels of area residents by positioning them for careers as technicians in the Wind Energy industry.
The development of this program at WIT will also add to local economic development efforts to continue to attract additional employers within the wind energy industry to the region.
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Organization:
City of Sioux City
405 6th Street
Sioux City, IA 51102 Amount Requested:
$2,000,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used to rehabilitate Sioux City’s existing Waste Water Treatment Plant to meet new federal and state guidelines for treatment.
The existing waste water treatment facilities have successfully outlived their useful life and require immediate reconstruction to comply with State and Federal water quality standards. The first phase of construction addressing primary treatment improvements began in October 2006 at a contract amount of $32 million. A contract for digester complex improvements totaling over $10 million was awarded in November 2007. The second phase of plant rehabilitation is expect to be bid this year and will make improvements to the existing aeration basins, construct new basins and new final clarifiers. Estimated cost of Phase 2 improvements is $40M.
Cities served by this facility have some of the lowest per capita incomes and highest utility rates in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Federal funding will lessen the rate burden on our citizens and businesses. The ability to treat the discharge from this facility affects all of the downstream states along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. This has the potential impact on 9 other states.
Organization:
City of Spencer
418 W. 2nd Ave
Spencer, IA 51301 Amount Requested:
$2,000,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used to upgrade Spencer’s sewer system to meet the Federally-mandated Clean Water Act. The project will include the separation of combined sanitary and storm sewers and make improvements to the wastewater treatment plant. The project will alleviate current health hazards to residents served by combined sewers, provide better storm water handling to areas with none, and alleviate the discharge of raw sewage into the Little Sioux River. Federal funds would be used for the Phase I Interceptor Trunk Sewer.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is insisting the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) enforce the Clean Water Act requiring the City of Spencer, Iowa to eliminate three Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO’s) the city has had for years. The city has submitted a Plan of Action to demonstrate how the city will eliminate the CSO’s within the next 15 – 20 years.
These CSO’s discharge untreated sewage into the Little Sioux River during rainfall events causing pollution to the river. In addition, Spencer’s sanitary sewer customers are demanding the city eliminate the health hazards caused from the combined sewers backing raw sewage up into basements, and eliminate the localized flooding that causes property damage and lower property values.
This long term community sewer initiative will include the installation of storm sewers where they currently do not exist, primarily in older parts of the community first. In addition it will address the rehabilitation and/or expansion of the existing sanitary sewer collection system. This system has combined sanitary and storm sewers that are unable to handle heavy rains, causing localized flooding and raw sewage discharges into the Little Sioux River.
Organization:
City of Storm Lake
620 Erie Street
Storm Lake, IA 50588 Amount Requested:
$1,000,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested fund will be used to continue the dredging of Storm Lake in Storm Lake, Iowa. The purposes of the project are to (1) dredge silt from the bottom of the lake, thereby increasing its depth which will result in less suspended silt and turbidity caused by wave action and (2) improve watershed management practices to reduce the amount of silt entering the lake.
The Storm Lake Dredging Project is a joint effort between the Federal Government, State of Iowa, Buena Vista County, City of Storm Lake, City of Lakeside, and the Lake Preservation Association to dredge 1500 of the 3100 acres of Storm Lake, improve the watershed to prevent silt from re-entering the lake and to encourage other improvements in the watershed to permanently reduce the amount of run-off into the lake.
Through decades of ground erosion and silt freely entering Storm Lake water levels in the lake diminished. Due to the shallow water, silt lake bottom and heavy wave action there was increased turbidity and sediment suspension causing Storm Lake to be placed on the impaired waters list. In order to remove the silt and prevent the continued inflow of silt the Lake Restoration Project was started to dredge a large portion of the lake and to develop watershed protection practices.
Storm Lake is the fourth largest natural glacier lake in the State of Iowa and is currently listed on the State's impaired waters list. The lake is home to seven different kinds of fish including Walleye which are netted and milked each year to provide eggs which are hatched in a facility in Spirit Lake. Once these eggs are hatched they are then shipped to other lakes in the region for stocking purposes. Additionally Storm Lake is a unique glacial lake in that its watershed is relatively small for this type of lake; small enough that improved watershed management practices can create a distinct impact on water quality and clarity.
Water quality within the Lake is vital to the local community. Approximately 167,965 annual visitors to the Lake spend a total of approximately $10.14 million. This, in turn, supports 728 jobs and $9.79 million of labor income each year in the region. As such, Storm Lake is an essential part of the local economy, and its ability to remain as such depends heavily upon the efforts to continually improve the quality of the Lake's water.
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
Organization:
Briar Cliff University
3303 Rebecca Street
Sioux City, IA 51104 Amount Requested:
$200,075 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used to help fund the Nursing and Health Education Improvement Project at Briar Cliff University. Since 1930, Briar Cliff University has provided superior healthcare education to students, which has positively affected the quality of life for the citizens of the Siouxland region. Many healthcare professionals in the region were educated at Briar Cliff University. In keeping with this legacy, Briar Cliff University is inaugurating a new center for gerontology during 2009. In support of this program and the nursing and healthcare programs of the university, this project will provide state-of-the-art nursing simulation equipment, science laboratory equipment, and instructional technology (including distance learning technology) to enhance access and academic quality for students. Providing $200,075 to assist in this critical project will help ensure the quality of education for the healthcare graduates of the university and prepare well-qualified professionals in fields that serve seniors.
Organization:
Buena Vista University
610 W. Fourth St.
Storm Lake, IA 50588 Amount Requested:
$200,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used for course development needs, faculty development needs, assessment needs, and network hosting needs associated with Buena Vista University's online distance learning degree project.
As it continues to develop, BVU's on-line degree completion and master's program will serve as a national model for how high quality interactive web-based education should be developed, implemented and assessed. The continued development of BVU's online degree program is particularly significant for rural areas of the country, like western Iowa, where access to high quality higher education is limited by geographic considerations.
Organization:
Christian Home Association-Children’s Square U.S.A.
North 6th Street & Ave E
Council Bluffs, IA 51502 Amount Requested:
$500,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used to assist in the construction of psychiatric residential treatment facilities to replace three existing, outdated cottages.
In Iowa, 6-11% of the children in Iowa (upwards of 80,000) are reported to experience serious emotional disturbance. With early identification and an array of appropriate interventions and treatment services including Psychiatric Residential Treatment programming through Children’s Square U.S.A., children living with emotional, behavioral and mental health disorders can get the help they and their families need and go on to live productive lives.
Children’s Square U.S.A.’s Psychiatric Residential Treatment Program is an accredited and licensed facility that meets the specialized treatment needs of seriously emotionally disturbed children and adolescents. This program has been offered since 1991. Forty-two children are in placement at a given time and about 100 different children are served each year. The current 40-year-old living units are outdated. The design is inadequate to meet the safety, supervision and therapeutic needs of the children served. More individual bedrooms and bathrooms are required along with eyesight supervision of all rooms. Space for family visits does not currently exist. This programming space must be integrated to support family-driven care and other best practices which in turn lead to shorter lengths of stay, improved outcomes and cost savings.
Organization:
Graceland University
1 University Place
Lamoni, IA 50140 Amount Requested:
$386,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will provide Graceland University with the resources necessary to establish a nursing patient simulation lab to train 80 -100 nursing students every year. This lab will allow Graceland University to better prepare its 40 to 50 nursing graduates every year to enter the field and care for a diverse group of patients they may never have had the ability to care for without such technologies as simulation. This training will help to address the acute nursing shortage that the rural midwest is expected to experience in the coming years. Graceland also plans to make the lab accessible to other health care training programs in the area, including a school of osteopathy, fire departments, hospitals, area vocational health programs. This will allow for an even greater leveraging of the federal funds invested in Graceland's Nursing simulation lab.
In addition, Graceland has requested funding to complement the new educational opportunities offered through the creation of its Nursing Simulation lab with the purchase of two pieces of lab equipment that play a key role in medical education and research: A Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer (the forerunner of the MRI) and a Gas Chromatograph / Mass Spectrometer.
Organization:
Iowa Western Community College
2700 College Road
Council Bluffs, IA 51502 Amount Requested:
$553,662 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used to increase the number of highly skilled nurses in the state of Iowa through continued development of Iowa Western Community College’s Nursing Center of Excellence. Iowa Western Community College’s graduates have passed the state nursing certification test on the first attempt, which is better than many of the states, as well as the region’s, four-year institutions. Because Iowa Western Community College currently graduates many of the state’s top dental assistants, dental hygienists, practical nurses, registered nurses, surgical technologists, medical assistants and emergency medical technicians, enrollment could be greatly increased to meet demand if the college had the necessary equipment and expanded faculties. Therefore, Iowa Western Community College proposes a new Iowa Western Nursing Center of Excellence, with multiple laboratories and high-tech equipment on which to train thousands of future nurses within the next decade. The college, community and private donors have recently committed at least $10,000,000 to the Center’s construction. The college now reaches out to the Iowa congressional delegation to respectfully request that the laboratories be equipped with the finest nurse training technology available, which is expected to cost the college $1,560,901.
The new laboratories and equipment will strongly enhance substantial job creation within Iowa, improve access to health care for Iowans and expand the creation of a scientifically qualified workforce in the medical and health services arena. By greatly enhancing the teaching environment, as well as the physical learning space and equipment, Iowa Western Community College will alleviate the region’s nurse shortage and double the number of nurses it trains annually by 2013.
Organization:
Visiting Nurses Association
300 West Broadway
Council Bluffs, IA 51503 Amount Requested:
$350,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used to purchase home health monitors and to train nurses on best practices protocols for the management of chronic illnesses in seniors in the Council Bluffs area through the Visiting Nurses Association’s Telehealth Program.
The program has nation and local significance. In Iowa, specifically the Council Bluffs area, many senior citizens suffer from heart failure, diabetes, and other serious chronic illnesses, contributing to millions of Medicare/Medicaid expenditures for costly care. The VNA’s telehealth program demonstrates the capacity to save the Medicare/Medicaid program significant money.
VNA estimates that the VNA telehealth program saved Medicare and Medicaid $932,500 with prevented Emergency Care and Hospitalization costs since 2004.
2004 – Estimated savings $198,620
2005 – Estimated savings of $363,220
2006 – Estimated savings of $370,660
2007 –Estimated savings of $526,840
Total cost savings for Medicare and Medicaid are estimated to reach $1 million over the next 7 years.
The intended benefits are significant: it will save lives; improve the quality of life for chronically ill seniors and their caregivers; reduce hospitalizations; and save federal funding and reduce nursing costs.
The project will have direct economic and safety benefits. VNA telehealth program is a viable solution to the four most pressing concerns in healthcare delivery today including: 1) Skyrocketing healthcare costs; 2) Challenging chronic disease management; 3) The shortage of nurses, and; 4) Consumer & patient demand for more control over health care information and treatment. Research shows that the program save lives, improves the quality of life for seniors and their families, and it save millions of Medicare and Medicaid dollars.
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
Organization:
Iowa Air National Guard
185th ARW
2920 Headquarters Ave.
Sioux City, IA 51111 Amount Requested:
$1,400,000 Purpose of Request:
Requested funds will be used for design and construction of the ADAL Security Police Facility Project. Providing these funds to assist in this critical project will help correct the inadequate facility size for the Security Forces Mission.
Security Forces are 7025 SF or 40% short of their requirement. Security is currently storing equipment in ICU containers outside their existing building. This will continue until additional square footage is added to the current facility. Without the addition and alteration of the existing facility there will continue to be inadequate training, poor morale and lower efficiency. Storing equipment in other base areas will continue to cause a decrease in functionality within the unit. Recruiting and training will be adversely impacted. The grossly inadequate facilities degrade mission readiness and could cause personnel injury. Continued fragmented security operations, degradation of services and security provided to the base and loss of training opportunities.
Organization:
Iowa Army National Guard
Camp Dodge, Building B-61
7105 NW 70th Ave
Johnston, IA 50131 Amount Requested:
$2,000,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used to continue design and construction of an Addition/Alteration to the Shenandoah Readiness Center (RC) to eliminate critical shortages in space and to modernize the facility. Currently, the Readiness Center is rated F3 and Q3 in the Installation Status Report (ISR) ratings which are the lowest ratings for Function (training) and Quality (space and condition). The RC was built in 1956 and does not meet any of the space and quality criteria set by the Army. Renovating and putting an addition onto the existing RC is more cost-effective than building a new facility. Providing $2,000,000.00 to assist in this critical project will ensure we can properly recruit, train, mobilize and retain quality soldiers for the Iowa Army National Guard.
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Organization:
City of Council Bluffs
209 Pearl Street
Council Bluffs, IA 51503 Amount Requested:
$800,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used to improve the existing granular shoulders of the South Expressway in Council Bluffs as well as pavement patching and reprofiling for improved smoothness from the I-80/29 north ramp intersection to the viaduct at 16th Avenue. This route, IA 192, is currently an IA DOT owned and maintained section.
This corridor also has ties to the Council Bluffs Interstate System Master Plan. The route serves as an alternative for interstate congestion and incident management. Although today IA 192 is a state route, the City of Council Bluffs has entered into agreement with IA DOT whereby the City will accept a transfer of jurisdiction for this route when IA DOT is successful in executing the consolidation of railroads as part of the overall reconstruction of the interstate through Council Bluffs.
Also, the current granular shoulders are not consistent with the development in this corridor and present an unflattering entry gateway to the central business district of Council Bluffs. The project intends to pave the shoulders to proper width and restore the necessary drainage patterns to “clean up” the corridor.
Organization:
City of Council Bluffs
209 Pearl Street
Council Bluffs, IA 51503 Amount Requested:
$2,230,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used to reconstruct West Broadway (US Highway 6) in Council Bluffs from 16th Street to 36th Street to update aging infrastructure along this important commercial corridor.
U.S. Route 6 is a main route of the U.S. Highway system, running east-northeast from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts. It is now the second-longest highway in the U.S. The West Broadway Corridor (US 6) is directly adjacent to a $40,000,000 tax base along the length that is proposed to be reconstructed.
The Iowa West Foundation has assisted with funding several corridor beautification projects adjacent to the project. The Iowa DOT has plans to reconstruct the aging Broadway Viaduct (US 6) east of 16th Street starting in 2010. The Council Bluffs Chamber of Commerce’s Pottawattamie County Development Corporation has assisted with the private redevelopment of the corridor from 25th Street to 23rd Street. A new grocery store, and other commercial businesses are planned to be constructed starting in 2009. The City of Council Bluffs has completed several redevelopment studies along the corridor, and is encouraging private redevelopment. These projects are part of an overall effort to update deteriorated infrastructure, and encourage private reinvestment along this gateway to the City of Council Bluffs, and the State of Iowa. It is anticipated that federal funding of transportation infrastructure along this corridor will leverage private funding in redevelopment projects along the corridor.
Organization:
City of Council Bluffs
209 Pearl Street
Council Bluffs, IA 51503 Amount Requested:
$500,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used by the City of Council Bluffs to establish a flexible program to cause reinvestment in historic neighborhoods adjacent to downtown Council Bluffs. The program is intended to address housing rehabilitation needs, preserve the community’s historic resources, enhance the architectural character and vitality of residential areas and reduce the number of multi-family intrusions in single-family neighborhoods. This will be accomplished by direct acquisition and renovation by the City, assisting non-profit or for profit developers, and direct financial assistance to homeowners. The overall goal of these efforts is to increase private reinvestment and improve the structural and visual quality of the properties and ultimately of the neighborhoods.
Organization:
City of Ida Grove
403 3rd St
Ida Grove, IA 51445 Amount Requested:
$1,000,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used to help fund the West Access project in Ida Grove to construct a new roadway into the city from the west. It will not only provide a new access and improve traffic flow through the City of Ida Grove, but it will greatly encourage economic development and community growth within the City and Ida County.
At the current time, all semis and tractor/wagon combinations must travel through the downtown area of Ida Grove in order to access the local grain elevator and a concrete production plant on the west edge of the city. The heavy truck and tractor traffic has caused major damage to downtown city streets and are the cause of major safety concerns. As such, the West Access project will improve the safety and sustainability of Ida Grove's downtown streets. The West Access will also provide new economic development opportunities for the City of Idea Grove and Ida County.
Federal funding is specifically sought to provide for 80% of the cost of construction of two bridges that must be constructed to complete the West Access.
Organization:
Iowa Department of Transportation
800 Lincoln Way
Ames, IA 50010 Amount Requested:
$10,000,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funding will be used to continue construction of four-lane US 20 in northwest Iowa. The Iowa Department of Transportation continues to devote significant funding toward completion of the final 90 miles of this expansion project. Activity ranging from grading to environmental study and design is taking place on each of the 90 miles, with nearly half of those miles in the IDOT's Five Year (Construction) Plan. The requested funds will assist in this critical project to increase traveler safety, economic development and stem population loss in one of the state's most productive regions by providing funding for the continued construction of four-lane highway 20 west of highway 71 in western Iowa.
Organization:
Iowa Department of Transportation
800 Lincoln Way
Ames, IA 50010 Amount Requested:
$2,000,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used to help fund the replacement/relocation the US 34 Missouri River Bridge between Mills County, Iowa and Sarpy County, Nebraska. The existing 1,440 foot long, 20 foot wide bridge, which was built in 1929, is structurally deficient and functionally obsolete. The speed and weight of vehicles using the bridge is restricted. The new bridge and approach roadways will be four-lane facilities with full access control
The US 34 bridge approach roadway on either side of the new bridge will be relocated. The US 34-Interstate 29 interchange will be reconstructed. A new US 34-US 75 interchange will be constructed in Nebraska
This bridge is a key Missouri River crossing serving the states of Iowa and Nebraska
Overall this bridge will provide a much improved and vitally needed access to many businesses and commercial interests in the southwest region of Iowa. The new bridge will accommodate a projected significant increase traffic volumes and provide a much more efficient, faster and safer route between the southwest region of Iowa and the greater Omaha metropolitan area.
The existing 1,440 foot long, 20 foot wide bridge, which was built in 1929, is structurally deficient and functionally obsolete. The speed and weight of vehicles using the bridge is restricted. The new bridge and approach roadways will be four-lane facilities with full access control
Organization:
Iowa Department of Transportation
800 Lincoln Way
Ames, IA 50010 Amount Requested:
$1,500,000 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used to provide to the City of Sioux City to help it meet required funding obligations to the Iowa Department of Transportation for the relocation of utilities that will be required for IDOT to complete the reconstruction of Interstate 29 though Sioux City.
The Iowa DOT has included the much needed reconstruction of Interstate 29 through Sioux City in the 2009-2012 State Transportation Improvement Plan. The goal of the I-29 improvement project is to enhance the safety and operation of Interstate 29 through Sioux City. A project of this magnitude has many challenges, including the need to relocate utilities existing within the Interstate 29 right-of-way, a very confined area in which to work, as the bluffs border the east side and the river borders the west side, as well as the challenge of staging a interstate project of this size. This project has been a priority for the region for many years. A needs study was jointly completed by the Iowa DOT, SIMPCO, and the City of Sioux City in 1997. The same three entities as well as the City of South Sioux City, NDOR, Dakota Dunes, and the SD DOT have participated in the current planning study started in September of 2004. The project has been identified in Iowa in Motion, Iowa’s 5-year program, Siouxland Interstate Metropolitan Planning Council (SIMPCO) MPO TIP, Iowa STIP, SIMPCO ITS Architecture, and the past/present SIMPCO LRTPs.
The City of Sioux City will incur costs in relation to the much needed reconstruction of Interstate 29. These costs include utility relocation, relocation, connections to the local street system, and aesthetic improvements. The total estimated cost for the project is approximately $250 million. Of this total amount, the City will likely be responsible for approximately $30 million.
Organization:
City of Sioux City
405 6th Street
Sioux City, IA 51102 Amount Requested:
$1,000,000 Purpose of Request:
The federal funds requested would be used for the design and construction of the paving infrastructure to pave gravel roads to construct access to support the development of a manufacturing site for wind energy equipment. With the growing focus on alternative energy and Iowa becoming the leader in the nation in wind power generation, developing a manufacturing site for wind energy equipment in Iowa ensures the continued growth and long term viability of the industry locally. This infrastructure will allow for the immediate creation of hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in new capital investment.
Organization:
Sioux County Regional Airport Agency
335 First Ave North
Sioux Center, IA 51250 Amount Requested:
$6,798,020 Purpose of Request:
The requested funds will be used to construct the Sioux County airport. The project will result in closure of two public owned airports (Sioux Center, and Orange City). These airports can not be expanded due to site constraints. Therefore, the project provides for the construction of a new airport facility that can accommodate turbine aircraft with an approach speed up to 141 knots and a wing span up to 79 feet. The new primary runway will provide a precision instrument approach to one end and a pavement dual wheel loading up to 60,000 pounds. Upon construction of the crosswind runway, the airport will provide in excess of 95 percent wind coverage based on a 10.5 knot crosswind component value. Aircraft storage and maintenance hangars will be constructed. A full range of aeronautical services will be provided.
The airport will serve aeronautical demand over a multi-county area. The nearest airports that can accommodate large turbine airplanes up to 60,000 pounds are located in Sioux Falls, Spencer, Sioux City and Worthington.
The Multi-jurisdictional (Sioux County, Sioux Center and Orange City) approach provides an opportunity to enhance the facility level of service and extends benefits beyond public investment costs.