Michigan Department of Transportation stimulus projects
MDOT Stimulus funds are helping to build a new transportation facility in Harrison for the Clare County Transit. The September 25 groundbreaking began the construction of a 44,000 square foot facility that will have space for forty busses with space for dispatch, maintenance and administration. The $3.7 million building, which is, according to Janet Foran of MDOT’s Office of Communications, “expected to benefit the Harrison area and Clare County,” will be funded with $2.5 million in ARRA grants and $1.2 million in Capital Discretionary Program grants.
Completion of the building is expected next summer.
MDOT’s second big project in Clare County was the extension of the Peré Marquette Rail Trail from the Moose Lodge west of Clare through the Village of Farwell. The $850,000 5.5 mile trail paving project began in June and was completed in late July.
Michigan Works! Summer Youth program employs area teens
According to Kelli Nicholas, Marketing Coordinator Michigan Works! Region 7B Consortium, “The intent of our Recovery dollars is to help people find a job or provide training. Currently in our six counties, 467 people are in training.”
She said, “Over the past several months, approximately 299 youth gained workplace skills working in 97 sites in a 6 county area for Michigan Works! Region 7B Consortium. Earning much more than just a paycheck, these youth ages 16 to 24 learned leadership and self confidence skills. Local supervisors served as mentors for many who were employed for the first time. Using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money, youth worked in different non profit agencies and governmental offices during the Summer Employment Program.”
Nicholas said over 53 people were employed in the Clare County Summer Employment Youth Program at 18 worksites. The return on investment can be counted not only in dollars saved but in valuable skills learned.
A team worked at Mid Michigan Community Action operating a floor jack, hi lo and bailer to pack 3,700 Emergency Food Assistance Program boxes and 9,414 Commodities Supplemental Food Assistance Program boxes for distribution. “The experience was not all hard work, but had an educational bent to it as well,” Nicholas reported. “The crew helped decide which plants or seeds would be used in the two community 20 x 50 gardens in Clare and Gladwin. Weeding and watering were only a part of their education as the crew researched recipes on the internet which were handed out along with the vegetables at emergency food pantry distribution sites.”
Direct cost savings can be seen throughout the cities and towns that received extra people power while creating a cleaner and more attractive community, Nicholas continued. “One youth team performed maintenance on 20 buildings and the grandstand area at the fairgrounds saving an estimated $14,000. Another team of three working at the Road Commission assisted with repairs in the garage area and with the daily upkeep of local roads saving $10,000. Other teams could be seen working around Harrison painting, mowing parks and grounds, and removing trash. A few youth honed their office skills by performing administrative tasks including checking library books in and out operating the laminator, proofreading newsletters, completing typing, copying or filing projects for staff and developing customer service skills waiting on patrons.”
The Mid Michigan Community College summer crew helped with the daily care of 20 acres of grounds by planning plants, helping pour sidewalks and assisting with landscape work around The Gillaspy Center. Other youth helped staffs prepare for summer and fall enrollment traffic.
“The Summer Youth program is proof of ARRA money hard at work in Michigan,” said Luann Dunsford, Executive Director of the statewide Michigan Works! Association.
