FY 2010 Member-Sponsored Project Funding Requests

Project:  Out of Autoclave Composite Processing
Recipient (If funded by the Appropriations Committee) GKN Aerospace - St Louis  (14 JS McDonnell Blvd, St Louis, MO  63042)
Purpose: This request is for the continued development of out of autoclave curing processes for composite aircraft structures.  The taxpayer will benefit from this project by the reduced cost associated with curing of composite structures in large autoclaves.  Using out of autoclave processes negates the need for these large curing vessels and allows for lower cost adaptable ovens to be used in their place.

Project:  Advanced Simulation Tools for Aircraft Structures Made of Composite Materials
Recipient (If funded by the Appropriations Committee): Engineering Software Research and Development
(111 West Port Plaza, Suite 825, St Louis, MO 63146)
Purpose: This initiative will develop and validate tools and guidelines for the simulation of the structural and strength responses of airframe components made of fiber-reinforced composites to reduce life cycle costs, reduce airframe development time, increase structural reliability, and reduce weight.  The advanced simulation tools will be demonstrated in an actual production setting for the FA-18E/F trailing edge flap (TEF).
Acquisition studies have determined that approximately 80% of a product’s life cycle cost are determined by decisions made early in the design phase.  This is clearly evident in current programs such as the F-35 where the airframe development effort is the number one cause of cost and schedule problems.  The Navy needs advanced computer-aided engineering tools and processes for reliable simulation of structural and mechanical systems incorporated in Naval Aviation assets.  Significant cost savings and enhanced readiness will result when this capability exists and can be applied to high-cost and structurally critical components.  

Project:  Wellston Industrial Park Preparation and Infrastructure
Recipient (If funded by the Appropriations Committee)  St. Louis County Economic Council  (41 South Central Avenue, Clayton, MO  63105)
Purpose: Completion of the Wellston Industrial Park is the next step in a comprehensive revitalization effort underway in Wellston, Missouri, a low-income community located in North St. Louis County. The goal of this project is to encourage the expansion and relocation of businesses to an area where employment opportunities are needed.  The Park combines an abandoned former foundry site and former residential area to create a 24-acre pad-ready site.  Demolition and site clearing has already been completed, and the former foundry - a brownfield - has undergone remediation. The requested funds will support significant prior public and private investment that has allowed for utility upgrades, and public road reconstruction along with significant site remediation and clearing.   Upon its completion, the Wellston Industrial Park will create up to 240 new jobs in and economically disadvantaged, older suburban community with access to two bus routes and two regional light rail stations.  Returning this property to productive use will also expand the community's tax base and allow additional improvements in the existing, aged infrastructure. Upon its completion, the St. Louis County Economic Council intends for the Wellston Industrial Park to serve as a model for redevelopment in older, economically challenged inner ring suburbs.

Project:  North St. Louis Community Food and Health Center
Recipient (If funded by the Appropriations Committee): I-70 Northwest Development Corporation (4144 Lindell Boulevard ,St. Louis, MO  63108)
Purpose: The federal funds requested will help support the establishment of a much needed healthy food market in an economically distressed inner city community. The market will bring more than 50 new jobs to a neighborhood that has been historically under served because of a pattern of disinvestment in North St. Louis.  The North St. Louis Community Food and Health Center will offer fresh, healthy food choices at affordable prices and effectively promote improved health in a community beset with high levels of chronic disease such as diabetes and obesity.  The new building will also be an incentive for other private sector investments in the community. The federal funds requested will provide the public equity necessary to complete the project. The leverage of tax dollars will be over 12 to 1.

Project:  Restore Our Homes-Homeownership Center
Recipient: (If funded by the Appropriations Committee)  National Urban League  (120 Wall Street – 3rd Floor, New York, NY  10005)
Project: The current foreclosure crisis is projected to result in the greatest loss of wealth for African Americans since Reconstruction. According to the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), close to 20 percent of African Americans may lose their homes by the time the current foreclosure crisis bottoms out. According to United for a Fair Economy – this loss of homeownership could translate into a total loss of wealth among African American and Hispanic households of between $164 and $200 billion.   To reach these households in time to prevent foreclosures and to provide them viable home retention solutions, the National Urban League plans to launch a wide ranging communications and outreach campaign designed to heighten awareness and drive homeowners and homebuyers to targeted, intensive counseling offered at no cost by certified loss mitigation counselors at the Metropolitan St. Louis Urban League’s Restore Our Homes-Homeownership Center.  This valuable program promises to help families protect their investments and their communities from neighborhood blight, possible crime and vandalism, the loss of neighbors and friends, and economic instability.

Project:  Harambee Institute Arts Workshops
Recipient  (If funded by the Appropriations Committee)  Harambee Institute  (5233 Raymond ,St. Louis, MO 63113)
Purpose: Harambee Institute serves the children of  Missouri’s 1st congressional district, an attend public schools that are currently unaccredited. Many students are unmotivated and falling behind in statewide achievement test. These children need to be engaged in more productive leisure activities. Harambee Institute’s arts workshops help to address this need by conducting educational programs that enhance instructional methodologies. Harambee aims to engage and motivate students by improving their literacy skills thru dance, music and cultural arts.

Project:  Ville Market Place
Recipient  (If funded by the Appropriations Committee)  Ville Market Place  (5172 Raymond, St. Louis, MO 63113)
Purpose: The Ville Market Place, which is the product of a community based effort to provide fresh, locally grown produce and promote healthy lifestyles in this inner city community.  The Ville Market Place was developed by a collaborative process involved in local residents, the American Institute of Architects, the Midwest Development LLC along with other civil and business leaders as part of an effort to revitalize the Ville neighborhood.
The Ville Market Place will be a destination place for vendors and consumers of fresh produce. The facility will also offer community relevant programs related to nutrition, food preparation, physical fitness and healthy lifestyles. A unique aspect of this project is the promotion of agriculture based entrepreneurship opportunities utilizing leading edge technologies such as hydroponics and state of the art greenhouse for growing non-edible crops in urban environments. 

Project:  Prostate Cancer Screening Program
Recipient  (If funded by the Appropriations Committee) Betty Jean Kerr Peoples Health Center (5701 Delmar, St. Louis, MO 63112)
Purpose: According to Missouri Department of Health, African American men in the city of St Louis have a 2.5 times greater risk of dying from prostate cancer than Caucasian men. The People Health Centers (PHC) program will help to overcome this disparity by reaching out and providing information, testing and health care service.  This program will serve 1,549 men annually and provide them with PSA and DRE testing. The PHS staff will track abnormal test results and make appropriate referrals to the Siteman Cancer Center.  This program is designed to serve as a catalyst that will help meet the health needs of underserved men in the St. Louis metropolitan area. The goal of this project is to reduce chronic disease, increase awareness and reduce overall risk of illness by helping men navigate the local health care delivery system and obtain necessary medical care. 

Project:  Reinstallation of the American Art Collection
Recipient: (If funded by the Appropriations Committee)  Saint Louis Art Museum Foundation  (One Fine Arts Drive, Forest Park, St. Louis, MO 63110)
Purpose: This project is vital to preserving this extremely important collection, which tells the story of American life, culture and history.  With its ties to the Museum’s origins and history, as well as to the history of our state and our region, the American Collection is the core of the Saint Louis Art Museum.  Its care and thoughtful presentation are the mission of the museum, and its obligation to the people of St. Louis.  The Reinstallation of the American Collection will be a premier project, and a critical part of the future of the Art Museum.  As part of the re-envisioning of the Museum that will occur with the building of a new expansion for contemporary art, the American Collection will be re-installed in a dedicated area of the third floor of the original building.  Individual paintings will be evaluated to see if cleaning or restorative work is necessary before they are rehung.  In the third floor space, new gallery walls will be fabricated to create a smooth, flowing experience for the visitor, and any mounts or sculpture pedestals will created as well.  Finally, the curator will write new interpretive materials and text panels to accompany the artworks and provide visitors with a sense of context.  In addition, the Museum also holds many sketches and drawings by Bingham, as well as prints of his works made during his lifetime.  The reinstallation of this unique collection will greatly enhance the experience of museum patrons and students, while also preserving this remarkable collection of American works.

Project:  St. Louis MO Combined Sewer Overflow
Recipient:  (If funded by the Appropriations Committee):  Army Corps of Engineers-St Louis (1222 Spruce Street, St. Louis, MO 63102)
Purpose: An estimated 226 million gallons of untreated sewage from combined sewer overflows are being discharged into receiving waters in the St. Louis area on an annual basis.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a Notice of Violation to the St. Louis Metropolitan Sewer District in May 2007 which requires posting of signs by all combined sewer overflow surface discharge locations to warn the public of the potential health hazards. This project will address this problem and ensure that St. Louis area residents are protected in the future by eliminating or controlling combined sewer overflows within the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County.  The design of the local sewer system was completed in FY 2004.  Two sewer contracts have been completed, Vandeventer to Grand in February 2005 and Southern Arsenal in September 2005.  The Project Cooperation Agreement for the Old Mill Creek sewer rehabilitation work was completed in November 2005, plans and specifications were completed in FY 2006, and Phase I contract was awarded in February 2009.  Administration policy precludes budgeting for this initiative; environmental infrastructure is not a budget priority.  Current policy requires that funds must be appropriated for the full amount before construction can be initiated.   The Water Resources and Development Act of 2007 authorized an increase in the Federal funding ceiling from $15,000,000 to $35,000,000 and expanded the geographic boundary from St. Louis City to St. Louis City and St. Louis County, Missouri. 

Project:  Coldwater Creek, MO
Recipient: (If funded by the Appropriations Committee): Army Corps of Engineers – St. Louis  (1222 Spruce Street, St. Louis, MO 63102)
Purpose: The Coldwater Creek basin lies in the northern part of St. Louis County Missouri.  The 47 square mile urban watershed empties into the Missouri River at mile 6.9.  Approximately 158,000 residents occupy the watershed and the area represents one of the largest employment centers in the St. Louis metropolitan area.  The Reach 2 project, which is downstream from Lambert St. Louis Airport, is estimated to cost $34,802,000 and includes 7.8 miles of channel widening, five tunnels through a downstream railroad embankment, two small levees, a flood forecasting and warning system, environmental measures, recreation features along the channel widening project and restoration of the lower reaches where the creek enters the Missouri River.  The average annual benefits amount to $2,871,000. The underlying economic and social benefits of the recommended project remain valid today. 

Project:   River Des Peres, MO
Recipient (If funded by the Appropriations Committee) Army Corps of Engineers-St Louis (1222 Spruce Street
St. Louis, MO 63102)
Purpose: The project is located along the River des Peres within the St. Louis Metropolitan area.  This flood damage reduction project will reduce damages affecting 550 structures within both industrial and residential areas.  River des Peres includes two branches, University City and Deer Creek.  The University City portion consists of channel enlargement and stabilization along 2.5 miles of the University City Branch of upper River des Peres and a 1.85 mile recreation trail within the improved channel right-of-way.  The Deer Creek portion consists of 2.5 miles of channel widening and stabilization improvements along with a recreational trail through Brentwood, Maplewood, Rock Hill, and Webster Groves.

Project:  Nanostructured Energy Storage/Delivery System Utilizing Carbon Nanotubes and Conductive Polymers
Recipient  (If funded by the Appropriations Committee): Crosslink, Inc.  (950 Bolger Court, St. Louis, MO 63026)
Purpose: New technologies for fast and efficient energy storage and delivery are required for photovoltaic systems, wind power and hybrid electric vehicles as the United States moves away from reliance on fossil fuels. Energy storage technologies allow for decoupling the generation and delivery of energy from somewhat unpredictable renewable resources, making the generated energy more useful and more valuable. For example, solar power has always faced the question of how to store the energy captured from the sun so that demand for electricity can be met at night or on a cloudy day. Currently available supercapacitor storage systems are based on highly inefficient technology developed in the 1950’s and will not meet the energy and power density demands of the future.  What is urgently needed is a light weight, inexpensive electrical energy storage system that is safe, mechanically sound and provides stable and reliable energy storage that can be delivered rapidly on demand. The combination of new conductive polymer and carbon based nanostructures being developed at Crosslink provide a new platform for supercapacitor systems that will allow for efficient storage of solar, wind and mechanical energy.