Over at the Pueblo Chieftain, Tracy Harmon looked at how stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is being spent in the Upper Arkansas Valley, relying in part on the government website Recovery.gov.
In Chaffee County, stimulus dollars total $8.26 million.
The largest chunk – about $5 million – will go to the Colorado Department of Transportation for resurfacing 12.5 miles of U.S. 24 and U.S. 285 near Johnson Village just south of Buena Vista. The total project is estimated to cost $5,168,609.
In terms of unemployment compensation funds, Chaffee County received $615,621 to help nearly 400 jobless workers.
The Colorado Department of Education will disburse $349,330 to help Chaffee County schools in Salida and Buena Vista maintain kindergarten through 12th grade education programs, $194,090 to aid at-risk students in meeting state academic standards and $1,219 to help disabled students.
In the Salida School District, $27,466 went to provide 1.84 percent cost-of-living raises for staff and to quality-improvement funds for playground equipment.
The governor’s energy office will provide $871,087 in stimulus funds to improve energy efficiency in low-income homes. The Salida Housing Authority was granted $96,627 to replace entry doors, stoves, refrigerators and add insulation in low-income housing, a project that provided eight jobs.
The U.S. Forest Service will receive $616,000 for Pike-San Isabel National Forest programs and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will receive $418,660 for circuit-breaker maintenance in Chaffee County.
Chaffee County’s Department of Human Services was granted $32,471 to provide child-care financial assistance to low-income, working families.
The Salida Area Parks and Open Space group received $25,000 for trail improvements and maintenance.
Salida Police will receive a $16,926 grant for law enforcement programs.
Read the entire article at the Pueblo Chieftain.










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