A new list of stimulus package projects

There seem to be dramatic changes in what projects are being considered for Federal Stimulus package dollars in Middletown. In December, Mayor Giuliano sent a letter to Governor Rell with a list of projects that Middletown wished to see funded (letter here), this included 8 projects, ranging from a Public Safety storage facility to a Coginchaug River Protection Project.


Now that the stimulus package is winding through Congress towards the President, on through the various Federal agencies, and hopefully eventually to Middletown, a variety of web sites have been set up to monitor the projects being discussed. One of the most useful is the Stimulus Watch web site, which uses a list of projects provided by the United State Conference of Mayors.


According to the US Conference of Mayors, there are 7 projects being considered for Middletown. Surprisingly, very few of those 7 are from the list that was sent by the Mayor to Governor Rell, and there are several new projects that have not been discussed in any depth in recent years, including the "completion" of two 24/7 lighted turf soccer fields and the straightening of Country Club Road (it is not clear if this is the two curves immediately west of East Street, or the two curves between Moody School and Smith Park).

The US Conference of Mayors represents the 1200 cities with a population of 30,000 or more. According to their web site, one of the primary roles of The U.S. Conference of Mayors is to make sure federal policy supports the cities. Their full report, entitled MAINSTREET ECONOMIC RECOVERY, is available.

Thanks to the Middletown Press for pointing to the Stimulus Watch web site.