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But there are a few rays of sunshinew in the otherwise drearyspending plan, most made possible by the America n Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. One example is a plan to buildda much-anticipated grocery store in the Park DuValld neighborhood in southwest north of Algonquin Parkway insidw the Watterson Expressway. Abramson’s proposer budget, which would fund Louisville-Jeffersob County Metro Government’s operations from July 1 to June 30, includes nearly $3.2 million to partially fund constructioh of a building that would house the The money earmarked for the project isstimuluw funding. As proposed, the mayor’as budget includes $117.
6 million in recommendefd expenditures forcapital projects, such as the and other things, including improvementsa to sidewalks, roads and home weatherization. Only $8.2 milliom would be allocated fromthe city’s general fund for capitapl projects. The rest is slated to come from state andprivate sources, including community development blocok grants and other programs. Nearlh $58.2 million of the federak funding stems directly from thestimuluw package.
That and otherf stimulus funding funneled through the state or local agencies is expectedc to create or retainabouyt 3,000 private-sector jobs in Louisville through investment in infrastructure and other improvements, accordintg to city officials. “Without the federal stimulue funds, we would not have a capital projectes budget,” Abramson said in a Wednesday “All of that (investment) creates opportunities for peopleto “It’s not just about construction, either,” the mayor “We’re talking about engineers. We’re talkin g about architects.
It’s really opportunities to create jobs, to get money into people’s pockets and to get them spendinf that money in our community.” Abramso n was set to officially announce his budget proposal for the 2010 fiscal year during a special Thursday meeting of the Louisvills Metro Council. The meeting was schedulexd afterBusiness First’s press but the newspaper was provided with a summaruy and highlights of the spendinh plan in advance. Business First agreed not to contact Metroo Council members before they received details of the proposexd budget fromthe mayor.
The councip must approve the budget plan before the end of Cityofficials aren’t yet disclosing all of the specifica of the Park DuValle grocery but Abramson said it is in keepinb with original plans for the $200 milliomn development, a 125-acre community that includees a mix of commercial space, recreational areas, schools, a health facility and a communityh center. Park DuValle is located on the site of twoformerd public-housing complexes.
Bruce Traughber, director of the Louisville economiccdevelopment department, said the city is negotiatingh with a private developer who would build the grocerg store and secure the tenanyt to occupy the The city was not required to issue a requesr for proposals for a developer, he The developer also would create additional commercia l space and would be responsible for some of the developmen costs, according to Traughber. Talks are undeer way with four grocery chains potentially interested inPark DuValle, Traughber He declined to identify the developer or the intereste d grocers. The size of the grocery couldfbe 20,000 to 65,000 squarse feet, depending on the chain Traughber said.
A deal coulcd be completed by the endof June. Stimulus targete d toward public works, infrastructure projectsw Although the proposed grocery represents a relativelytsmall investment, bigger-ticket capital projects are planned as a resulft of stimulus money. Those projects includse upgradesto streets, sidewalks and bikeways and improvements to housing for low-income and elderly Much of the $29.8 million budgeted for publi c works projects comes from the stimulus, as does the $6.3 milliohn earmarked for weatherizing homes.
Theres also are funds in Abramson’w budget, directed from the stimulues package, that are slated to buy hybricd buses and build a more moderb maintenance facilityfor . And $4.1 milliobn in stimulus funding is included in the proposed budget for the purchas e of police cars withupgraded
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