STA presentation impresses fed brass
Posted: 04/15/2011 07:36:27 AM PDT
Solano County mayors converged on the nation's capitol this week to lobby for funding of high-priority county transportation projects.
The effort was worthwhile, officials said, in that local leaders were able to meet up with federal legislators and advocate for the county.
"We were really prepared and we showed them our plans," said Vacaville Mayor Steve Hardy, reached by phone Thursday at Dulles International Airport in Virginia while en route back to California. "They were pleased that we're really ready to go ... that we're not just back there as individual groups meeting for our own projects. We're all working together to bring the best forward for the region."
Dixon Mayor Jack Batchelor agreed.
"They were pleased with our reports and with what we were doing," he said. "Because we all spoke as one group, they felt that put us head and shoulders above the rest."
Having projects in line with what legislators envisioned seemed to help, as well.
"The plans and improvements to the I-80 corridor is exactly the type of project they are looking for," said Solano County Supervisor Jim Spering. "The good news is they're looking for smaller projects and that's where we compete."
The men were joined in Washington, D.C., by fellow Solano Transportation Authority members Harry Price, Fairfield mayor and STA board chair, and Vallejo Mayor Osby Davis. Batchelor is also vice chair of the STA board.
Also in attendance were STA Executive Director Daryl Halls, STA
Deputy Executive Director/Director of Projects Janet Adams, STA Marketing & Legislative Program Manager Jayne Bauer and Solano Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Mike Ammann.
The team made the annual trip east to discuss funding options for the STA's Fiscal Year 2011 projects including:
• $45 million for Phase 2 of the Interstate 80/I-680/Highway 12 Interchange;
• $5 million for the Jepson Parkway Project/Travis Air Force Base Access; and
• $2 million for Phase 2 of the Vacaville Intermodal Station.
Projects proposed for Fiscal Year 2012 include:
• $2 million for the Dixon Intermodal/B Street Pedestrian Undercrossing,
• $2 million for Phase 1 of the Vallejo Curtola at Lemon Transit Center; and
• $2 million for the Fairfield/Vacaville Multimodal Train Station.
Since no federal earmarks will be made, Hardy explained, officials must vie for grant funding. Following meetings with the staff of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Congressmen George Miller and John Garamendi, both D-Solano, and federal transportation officials, leaders learned of available grant funding. They pledged to start the application process as soon as possible to get a leg up on the competition.
"It'll be tough - we're certainly not going to get all that we want or need, but the legislators we talked to were very, very impressed (with the STA)," Hardy said. "We'll do all that we can to ensure that we're successful."
Reporter Staff Writer Melissa Murphy contributed to this report.
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