Two county projects make appropriation draft

Miller-Meeks

Norris

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FUNDING

There was a little miscommunication on it, but we were told Friday that we made it through and it now is part of the draft appropriation bill in Congress.”

Mike Norris, SIREPA Administrator

LEE COUNTY – Lee County has once again attracted federal funds for improvements to health care and economic vitality.
Last week the Southeast Iowa Regional and Economic Port Authority was informed by Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ staff that the group has been initially approved for a $2 million appropriation from Congress to further develop the property at Lee County Economic Development Group’s office in Montrose.
SIREPA Administrator Mike Norris said there was a little glitch in the information and some in the area were told that the application from SIREPA wasn’t approved, but he got a call Friday while on vacation indicating the funds indeed had been set aside for the project.
“There was a little miscommunication on it, but we were told Friday that we made it through and it now is part of the draft appropriation bill in Congress,” Norris said Thursday.
The funds are intended to be used to build out and equip the Lee County Career Advantage Center. Included in the project are four new classrooms, a vocational learning area, a new entrance and parking lot; and purchasing industrial tech and healthcare training equipment.
SIREPA was the applicant for the appropriation and owns the building working in close partnership with LCEDG and Southeastern Community College to build out, operate, and equip the center.
The funds still need to be approved as part of votes in both chambers of Congress and be signed by the president. They then would be allocated as expenses are incurred in the project as draw downs, Norris said.
“We would incur expenses and then typically you can make a draw based on that,” he said.
SIREPA has a funding agreement with LCEDG for the current building that was created prior to SIREPA buying the building. The two entities share an account and bills for the facility are paid from that account.
The application for the grant indicated that Southeast Iowa needs a dedicated career center that matches industrial training needs with primarily high school students. The center is projected to train more than 150 students annually. The center also provides adult learners with opportunities for training and placement.
The center is also projecting to place 80 adults and students combined per year with area industries and businesses.
The original application requested $2.2 million with budget lines of $894,000 for the classrooms, $363,000 for the new entrance and parking lot; $670,000 for equipment, $190,000 for engineering and an $85,000 contingency.
In June, Miller-Meeks released a list of 15 projects that she was going to submit for the congressional appropriation. In that list was also $875,000 to help Insight of Flint, Michigan, stand up the shuttered Keokuk Hospital as an outpatient facility and Emergency Room operation. That funding also made it into the draft of the appropriation bill.
Over the past two years, Miller-Meeks has helped secure close to $8 million in capital infusion for Lee County, including the Lee County Health Department/EMS facility in Fort Madison, sewer separation funding for the City of Fort Madison, the 18th Street extension to Keokuk National Cemetery, and now SIREPA and the hospital funding.