Public and private sources in Northwest Ohio have submitted more than 500 applications to the state of Ohio for funding projects with federal economic stimulus dollars.

About 300 applications were filed from sources in Lucas County, 123 from Wood County, 85 from Ottawa County and 25 from Fulton County as of Feb. 28.

“It’s a pretty good slice of the pie representing local projects that could be funded by economic stimulus money,” said Steve Weathers, president and CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership (RGP).

Ohio expects to receive about $8.2 billion in federal stimulus funds that will save or create more than 130,000 jobs and protect essential state services that people and businesses need daily, according to a release from Gov. Ted Strickland’s office.

More than 13,500 applications have been submitted to the Ohio Department of Development on a special Web site created for that purpose at http://recovery.ohio.gov.

The state will use stimulus funds to make targeted investments in critical sectors of the economy that will create jobs and expand business. Funds provided to Ohio through various federal programs will be awarded to public, private and nonprofit entities for selected projects.

The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority worked with numerous sources to compile a list of 46 major projects from Northwest Ohio totaling $387 million in requested funds.

The list includes 10 projects from the City of Toledo, 10 from Lucas County, nine from UT, several from the port authority and RGP, and three each from the Toledo Science Center and The Toledo Zoo.

UT submitted proposals for nine major projects totaling $190 million, including $40 million for the Alternative Energy Center at the Scott Park Campus. Those projects would create as many as 1,500 jobs, mostly for construction of several new buildings.

Lucas County is seeking $25 million for its Central Power Plant and $5 million for County Courthouse Preservation projects that could create as many as 300 new jobs.

The port authority applied for $6.6 million for the purchase and remediation of the 110-acre Jeep Parkway site. It would be developed as a high-tech industrial manufacturing park as a potential home for companies involved in the manufacturing of alternative energy products.

The City of Toledo’s projects range from $1 million for LED traffic signals to $18 million for municipal buildings retrofit projects. It also asked for $5 million for solar and energy efficiency projects at the Fiberglas Tower in Downtown.

RGP worked with several companies to prepare proposals for alternative energy projects totaling $45.5 million from Xunlight, SuGanit Systems, AP Alternatives, Red Lion Bio-Energy and Sphere Energy.

The Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG) has received information indicating that Lucas and Wood counties will receive $11.75 million for transportation projects from the federal stimulus. Three townships in Monroe County will receive $704,600 for similar projects.

TMACOG has compiled a list of nearly 100 infrastructure and transportation projects that could be eligible for federal stimulus funds. It is accepting applications for additional projects for federal funding consideration.

In addition, there are separate funds, approximately $8.8 million in the Northwest Ohio region, designated for seaports and transit systems, according to TMACOG officials. The transit funding allocation would be jointly administered by the regional transit systems headed by TARTA.

“So many people are asking for funds with great expectations, but will be disappointed when most of the projects receive little or no money from the federal stimulus,” said Congressman Robert Latta.

He believes that the region could receive the most benefit from funds for clean water projects since one-third of the state’s clean water issues are in Northwest Ohio. Latta represents all or part of 16 counties in that region while Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur represents most of Lucas County, Erie and Ottawa counties and parts of Lorain County that border Lake Erie.

State Sen. Mark Wagoner said “It’s new territory and there are more questions than answers. It’s a balance of power issue.”

One of the questions is how the federal stimulus funds will be allocated by the state, Wagoner said.

Strickland wants to distribute those funds through a state controlling board, and the state legislature claims it is empowered to appropriate state funds by law.

The state controlling board is comprised of seven members, including three senators, three representatives and one member appointed by the governor. Wagoner is a member of the controlling board and also serves as vice chairman of the senate’s finance committee.

“We will see some of those funds in Northwest Ohio and make sure we get our fair share,” Wagoner said.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Toledo Business Link.
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