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Grant OK'd for Lakeview Industrial Park
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By CHUCK CLEMENT, Staff Reporter
| 03/11/2009 |
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Republicans and Democrats argue about the value of earmarks in the 2009 Omnibus spending bill that has landed on the president's desk this week, but one of those earmarks provides a definable benefit for Madison. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., placed a $190,000 earmark in the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development portion of the spending bill that was dedicated to improvements in the Lakeview Industrial Park.
The Lake Area Improvement Corporation will use the $190,000 to help fund infrastructure improvements to the industrial park located on the southeast corner of Madison.
LAIC officials plan to construct streets and install curb and gutter that will connect the west half of the park to the eastern portion, according to Dwaine Chapel, LAIC executive director.
The project will extend S.E. 12th St. eastward from the street's route between the Rosebud Manufacturing and G.A. Murdock plants. The street will end in a cul-de-sac near the new location for James River Equipment, a John Deere dealership currently operating south of Madison.
Construction workers will also build a new north-south street called Industrial Way that will connect the eastern portion of S.E. 12th St. to SD-34.
The LAIC installed water, sewer and utility infrastructure last year in the eastern portion of the industrial park. Chapel said the federal grant would help fund a project with an overall estimated cost of about $1.4 million.
Chapel said the LAIC would meet with the project's engineers to determine a cost estimate for the street project. He expected the bid process for building contractors would only take a couple of weeks.
"Overall, we're looking at making about 80 acres in the industrial park available for development," Chapel said.
According to Chapel, LAIC had originally applied for the grant in April 2008, but delays in the federal budget process pushed the Omnibus bill's passage from September to this month.
During a Wednesday morning press conference, Johnson noted that the Omnibus bill had moved onto the president's desk six months late. In its place, Congress had passed a continuing resolution in September that was scheduled to keep the federal government operating until the end of March.
"This was leftover business from the year before," Johnson said.
The Omnibus bill contained millions of dollars in federal funding for other South Dakota projects and programs, including $27 million for the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System and $23 million for Mni Wiconi water project construction.
"The bill reinforces our commitment to rural communities," Johnson said.
The Omnibus bill's opponents had denigrated the legislation, especially for its earmarks that they believe will cost about $7.7 billion. Johnson said the earmarks amounted to less than 1 percent of the legislation's total cost.
Budget earmarks are spending measures that congressional legislators add to larger bills without having the expenditures go through a House or Senate committee.
The 2009 Lewis & Clark funding did pass through the Senate Appropriations Committee, a committee that Johnson sits on.
In defending the earmark process, Johnson said the funding provided much-needed resources to communities as long as the earmarks are handled responsibly and with transparency.
When he was asked to define a bad earmark, Johnson said, "I think a bad earmark can't stand the light of day...I'm proud of all of the earmarks I've provided for South Dakota."
He added that President Obama had promised to reform the earmark process during his time in office.
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