Federal dollars fund projects in Round Rock

Federal dollars fund projects in Round Rock

Written by Amy Stansbury and Mark Collins Thursday, 01 May 2008

Congressman secures funding with earmarks

Round Rock will be able to revitalize its downtown infrastructure, create a quiet zone to silence trains running through the city and expand higher education, thanks in part to funding earmarked for these projects in the U.S. fiscal 2008 budget.

U.S. Rep. John Carter R-District 31, a member of the Appropriations Committee, which decides how federal dollars are spent, helped secure the funding.

What is an earmark?

“An earmark is member-directed initiative spending,” Carter said. “It means that the [congressional] member and his district can recommend targeting a certain amount of spending for a certain project.”

There are misconceptions that earmarked money adds dollars to the federal budget, but these funds are simply tabbed dollars in an agency’s budget, like the Department of Education or the Department of Transportation. If not for earmarks, the money would be spent by the departments as they see fit from a national vantage point.

“The small cities have to be at least in competition at the bureaucrat level with the big cities,” Carter said. “If we end earmarks, it doesn’t mean we end the spending of that money. It only means that we end the local input by the local members for the spending of that money.”

Chief of Public Works Operations Tom Word said the city identifies a large group of needs, then Carter works with that list to see what the opportunities are.

“In some years, with one particular program there might be more opportunities than another,” Word said. “They are all projects that are beneficial to our community, but it’s not like we give him a prioritized, ranked list of projects.”

Good and bad earmarks

Good earmarks are the result of congressmen advocating on behalf of their districts to make sure they are not overlooked. However, earmarks have gotten a bad reputation because of what some feel are inappropriately directed funds.

“I said to the people in my office, ‘Look, whatever we ask for, if it’s not of such a nature that I would be proud to put it on the front of every newspaper in America, then don’t ask for it,’” Carter said.

Carter is involved in a movement to make the earmarking process more transparent.

“If the process can’t be worked out then let’s abolish the process and study it,” he said. “Let’s work it all out so that the American public can feel comfortable with the process.”

The projects for which Carter has secured funding in Round Rock are the kind he feels exemplify how earmarks should be used.

“These projects are not only critical to the economic development of the city, but they also benefit transportation infrastructure, facilities and revitalization in the area,” Carter said.

Downtown revitalization

Of the $1.34 million earmarked for projects in Round Rock, $400,000 of the Housing and Urban Development budget will go toward improvements to the downtown infrastructure. The project includes creating a new route from the IH 35 frontage road to downtown, with an extension of West Main Street and a new bridge over Lake Creek. Utility and sidewalk improvements will also be made.

“We believe in our downtown area and the opportunities that are going to be there,” Word said. “All of those streets down there are old, and so are the utilities that serve the area. So, as that area rebuilds itself, we need to be prepared with appropriate water and wastewater utilities and even the private utilities, making sure we have adequate communications systems in place, and gas and electric systems, and so on.”

The city is still defining the boundaries of what is considered “downtown,” but according to the Round Rock Chamber of Commerce, it will likely extend north at least to Brushy Creek to leverage the natural resource and add to the beauty.

There is no master plan in place for the downtown revitalization effort yet, but Word said the city is interviewing consultants and plans to hire a team to help in the development of one.

Railroad quiet zones

Another $500,000 out of the Department of Transportation budget will help establish a new 3.2-mile railroad quiet zone from CR 172/Quick Hill Road to A.W. Grimes Boulevard. The railroad runs along part of downtown so the project could help with revitalization efforts, but Word sees the project as more of a quality of life issue.

“That railroad line has become extremely successful,” he said. “It is the main connector to the border with Mexico, so more than 30 trains come through here a day. With that, we have a number of railroad crossings and under current federal rules, the train engineers have to blow their horn with every crossing they come to, whether it’s the middle of the day or the middle of the night.”

This new quiet zone supports revitalization efforts for older neighborhoods like Chisholm Valley and Round Rock West.

“This type of action is an excellent example of possible positive steps in ensuring that our older neighborhoods’ quality of life is not compromised as our communities age,” said city councilman Carlos Salinas. “It is but one aspect of the need for us to seek ways to address quality of life issues, but in this case, one with possible dramatic impact.”

The project includes improvements to two railroad crossings, one at CR 172 near McNeil Road, and the other at Saint Williams Street near McNeil Road. Trains will not be allowed to blow their horns at these two crossings after they are upgraded from two- to four-quadrant gates, which means arms will be installed on both sides of the railroad track to prevent cars from driving around them if they are down.

“It’s something our neighborhoods have been asking for, particularly those along McNeil, for a long time,” Word said. “We just didn’t have a funding source until now, thanks to Congressman Carter. It’s not just about noise. It will significantly increase the safety of those crossings as well.”

The Federal Railroad Administration and railroad crossing experts at the Texas Department of Transportation will help guide the city through the process of determining the most appropriate improvements to make the crossings as safe as possible. The time frame for the project is still being determined.

Round Rock Higher Education Center

The Round Rock Higher Education Center will receive $438,000 from the 2008 Department of Education budget. These funds will be used to establish a nursing program, an entirely new major for Texas State University.

Before submitting a funding request to the Appropriations Committee, Texas State went through its own annual internal process to ensure that any requests for federal funding matched up with the university’s priorities.

“Each year, every college puts together their request of projects to be funded,” said Dr. Billy Covington, associate vice president for research and federal relations at Texas State. “We put together a strategic plan and match our requests for funding with it.”

Covington said health professions are a big priority for Texas State, so the nursing program at the RRHEC was high on the list of projects that needed funding. RRHEC Director Edna Rehbein and Dr. Ruth Welborn, dean of the College of Health Professions, developed the first application submitted to the Appropriations Committee via Carter in the fall of 2006. It outlined plans for the money being requested.

After the Appropriations Committee decides which projects get federal dollars out of that year’s budget, the departments send letters to all the entities approved for funding to request more in-depth proposals. The RRHEC received the letter from the DOE, and Texas State submitted their proposal six to eight weeks ago. They are awaiting final approval and after the 18-month process, they expect the money to come through soon.

“It’s a very slow process,” Covington said. “The proposal is now pending with the DOE. We’ll hear something in the next 90 to 120 days. But eventually, come June or July, the funds will be released to us. They’ll come straight to Texas State and we’ll spend them as we said we would to support the RRHEC nursing program.”

The money is designated for a certain time frame, typically a year, according to Covington. He said that once the department approves the proposal, Texas State will begin purchasing computers and equipment to furnish the laboratories at the new building that will be built for the nursing program at the RRHEC. The building is expected to be complete in the summer of 2010.

Projects in Round Rock receiving $1.34 million of federal funding

• Railroad quiet zone
  • • New 3.2-mile railroad quiet zone
  • $500,000 Department of Transportation
    • Installation of arms on both sides of two railroad crossings
• Round Rock Higher Education Center
  • • New nursing school
  • $438,000 Department of Education
    • Lab equipment
    • Computers
    • Staff
• Downtown revitalization
  • • Build out the downtown infrastructure
  • $400,000 Housing and Urban Development
    • New route between IH 35 frontage road and downtown with an extension of West Main Street and a bridge over Lake Creek
    • Utility and sidewalk improvements

Quick facts

• Carter was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004 and then re-elected in 2006.
• Carter represents Texas District 31, which includes Williamson, Erath, Hamilton, Coryell, Bell, Milam and Falls counties, and the southern tip of Robertson County.
• Districts are determined by the state based on population numbers.

About the Appropriations Committee

• The Appropriations Committee has been in existence since 1865.
• There are 66 members of Congress on the Appropriations Committee.
• Carter was appointed to the Appropriations Committee in 2004 and became active in 2005.