Elementary and secondary schools were allocated $122.7 billion in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The law stipulates that funding is to be distributed as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grants, and education leaders have until the end of the 2023-2024 school year to spend the new revenue.

The U.S. Department of Education is currently reviewing state ESSER spending plans and releasing funds as soon as it approves them.

Although plans are passed through state officials, local school districts have wide latitude to list the projects they want funded. This column provides examples of how a few school districts throughout the country plan to use the new funds. The plans have many common attributes.

District Two of the Dorchester School system has been allocated $40.5 million, and school officials involved their community in drafting a spending plan. The main areas of focus are educational technology, infrastructure support, indoor air quality, facility upgrades, and after-school programs for students.

Pennsylvania – The Port Authority of Allegheny County is fine-tuning its draft NEXTransit long-range plan that features up to $3.75 billion in proposed projects and programs for the next 25 years.

Incorporating public input and infrastructure efficiency needs, the agency prioritized an estimated $177 million to $234 million bus garage, a $168 million to $218 million East/Central Pittsburgh River to River Connection such as an aerial tram, and a $60 million to $118 million downtown transit center.

Port officials said there is an imminent need for $450 million of infrastructure upgrades to ensure the safety and reliability of the current Library Silver Light Rail Line. A proposed study would evaluate the existing light rail infrastructure to determine if or how it can be better utilized. A $47 million to $58 million upgrade to the bus transit system from Homestead to McKeesport also rated as an essential expansion project.

Larger cost projects include a Northside light rail expansion for up to $852 million, an Ohio River light rail extension for up to $826 million, and the construction of an Airport Corridor Rapid Transit line for $325 million.

A project identified in the six- to 25-year range would involve a study on the potential for an estimated $45 million to $54 million two-way North Hills Rapid Transit hub to serve as a connection between Downtown-North Shore and Ross.

The authority will continue to revise the plan as it gathers additional feedback from stakeholders and prepares the draft for final adoption by the board in September.

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) launched a series of programs, collectively titled Investing in America’s Communities, to distribute $3 billion to help communities recover from COVID-19.

American Rescue Plan funding will provide the EDA with resources to start the programs with six Notices of Funding Opportunity:

Under the American Rescue Plan, EDA will make grants available to state and local governmental entities, institutions of higher education, not-for-profit entities, unions, and tribes.

The Build Back Better Regional Challenge will provide a transformational investment to regions across the country that want to revitalize their economies. These regions will have the opportunity to grow new regional industry clusters or scale existing ones through planning, infrastructure, innovation and entrepreneurship, workforce development, access to capital, and more.

Phase 1 of the program will award about 50 to 60 regional coalitions of partnering entities about $500,000 each in technical assistance funds to develop and support three to eight projects to grow a regional growth cluster. The deadline to apply is October 19.

In the second phase, EDA will award 20 to 30 regional coalitions $25 million to $75 million, and up to $100 million, to implement the projects they identified in the first phase. Applications are due by March 15, 2022.

New York – Timelines for the $2.1 billion AirTrain at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) are on track with the recent environmental approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

This final step, referred to as the Record of Decision, allows the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to proceed with its proposal to construct a rail system to provide an automated people mover (APM) option for air travelers and employees at LGA, which is the only major commercial New York City area airport without a direct connection to the local rail system.

The Port Authority has planned the AirTrain to connect LGA to the New York City Transit Subway 7 Line and the Long Island Rail Road Port Washington Branch at Mets-Willets Point. The system will feature passenger walkways connecting to the LGA Central Hall, a parking garage connector, public transportation, and ground transportation facilities.

An above-ground, elevated fixed guideway APM system with three APM stations would connect the airport to the subway and commuter rail. The APM system would include:

Port officials anticipate awarding a design-build-operate-maintain contract in 2022 to the AirTrain developer. The APM system is expected to be fully operational in December 2025.

Colorado – Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is promoting a $450 million infrastructure bond package dominated by a proposed $160 million arena.

In a 2021 GO Bond presentation delivered to the City Council’s Finance and Governance Committee on July 27, Hancock listed projects that would support new jobs, improve mobility, and enhance the city’s cultural institutions, libraries, and parks and recreation facilities.

Construction of the 10,000-seat arena and $30 million in renovations to the Historic 1909 Building would revitalize the National Western Center area.

The 10,000-seat arena is identified as the most economically stimulative project on the bond list. It would be located on the National Western Center campus and designed to host year-round events such as live music, family entertainment, sporting events, and expos.

Renovations to the Historic 1909 Building will transform it into a public market to provide healthy foods to the Globeville and Elyria-Swansea communities for the first time in generations. A historic structure assessment, economic feasibility study, and infrastructure master plan are complete.

Feasibility studies and infrastructure master plans are complete for the arena and public market. Scope specifications have been drafted for both projects, and concurrent site work is underway.

Other proposed bond projects include:

The city also would spend: $61.22 million on transportation projects; $52.72 million on parks and recreation construction and renovation; $30 million to acquire, convert, or construct homeless shelters; and $7.4 million to purchase the 48th Avenue Shelter. Another $14.2 million would fund accessibility improvements in city facilities, and $3.44 million would go toward expansion of the Hampden Branch Library.

Councilmembers are set to host readings of the proposed bond package in August and consider referral to the ballot on August 23.

Kentucky – The Office of Technology for the state of Kentucky issued a request for information (RFI) regarding Mainframe as a Service (MaaS) hosting solutions.

Through the RFI, the state intends to obtain information and suggestions regarding the acquisition of data center hosting with built-in disaster recovery capabilities for MaaS, including all servers and hardware, systems software and related utilities required for processing and storage. Redundant and diverse Wide-area Network communications to the state’s data centers in Frankfort and Florence, Kentucky, are required.

The state also is seeking information on full-service technical support including partnering with a current vendor to perform migration services, hardware and software installation and maintenance services, production monitoring and response, technical support, specialized application consulting and debugging, maintenance of all configuration and operations procedures, performance tuning, project, incident, annual disaster testing exercises, and account and project management.

This input will assist the state in determining the viability of preparation of a request for proposals or request for bids and a potential subsequent contract.

RFI responses are due on August 27.

Strategic Partnerships, Inc. (SPI) clients will benefit from consultant Michael Thompson’s two-plus decades of experience in government. He has expertise in public affairs, relationship management, strategic development, legislative and regulatory rule making advocacy, state and local engagement initiatives, and issues management. 

Michael served as director of government and public affairs for subsidiaries of an international oil and gas company, a position he held for eight years. He was responsible for annual strategy for all public efforts in Oklahoma. 

From 2012 to 2018, Michael served as chairman of Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association’s Legislative Committee and coordinated annual policy planning for the industry. Earlier in his career, Michael served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and was chosen for key leadership positions including deputy majority whip, chairman of the Transportation Committee, and later chairman of the powerful Energy and Utility Regulation Committee. During his service, he earned a reputation for serving as an effective, positive, persistent, and reasonable public official who could work across the aisle to pass legislation. 

Michael is a third-generation Oklahoman who graduated from Oklahoma City University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration. He completed a Master of Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma. 

Mike’s work in both the private and public sectors has earned him several recognitions that include Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce’s 2008 Champion for Business, Journal Record’s “40 under 40” Honoree, and Oklahoma City Community College’s Alumni Hall of Fame Inductee. He is a graduate of Leadership Oklahoma and served as a board member and Vice Chairman of the Energy Committee for Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce. 

The SPI Team of consultants, researchers, subject matter experts and clients will all benefit from the experience, expertise and insights that Mike brings to the team. 

Michael Barrett is an information technology leader whose 40 years of managing complex technical organizations and leading IT implementations will be of high value to clients of SPI. 

Michael is an experienced manager with a proven track record. He is versed in strategic planning, system life cycle methodologies, and business process optimization. He also has expertise in change management on a global level. His work in high performance computing, large scale research network infrastructure, data center operations, cloud computing architectures, and managed services is enviable.  

He recently retired as chief information officer from Florida State University (FSU) where he was responsible for the direction and oversight of the Central Information Technology and Services organization that supported the university. 

With a staff of over 400 and a $65 million annual operating budget, Michael led the strategy, direction, and management for university-wide technology functions, including business support services, infrastructure and operational services, the Research Computing Center, technology support, telecommunications, and video services for the university. He also had oversight of the Northwest Regional Data Center, an enterprise that provided IT services to over 100 public-sector customers in Florida. 

Michael served as an officer and board member for the Florida Lambda Rail (FLR), an organization that owns and operates a 1,600-mile fiber optic research and education network providing internet services to more than 90 public-sector and private educational entities in Florida. It also provides access to the Internet2 national research and education network. 

In addition to his most recent position, Michael held other technology management positions and the experience he brings to the SPI Team and its clients is extremely significant. 

Maryland – Gov. Larry Hogan’s pursuit of a public-private partnership (P3) to deliver a new, wider American Legion Bridge and new high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on the Capital Beltway secured a critical vote from a regional transportation board on July 21.

The Transportation Planning Board of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments advanced the Traffic Relief Plan and Capital Beltway Accord. Its members had previously excluded the I-270/I-495 Capital Beltway project from consideration.

Under the new Recommended Preferred Alternative (RPA) recently identified by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA), for the Managed Lanes Study focuses solely on building a new American Legion Bridge and delivering two HOT lanes in each direction on Interstate 270 to Interstate 370.

This alternative would deliver the new bridge as the primary link between key economic centers in Maryland and Virginia and would add a bicycle and pedestrian connection.

Existing general-purpose travel lanes throughout the corridor will be retained and will remain free for use by all motorists. Drivers with less than three occupants in the vehicle would only pay if they were to choose to use the HOT lanes that would allow carpools, vanpools and other vehicles carrying three or more people to travel in the new HOT lanes free of charge any time of day. Buses and motorcycles would be granted free passage on the new HOT lanes.

Connecticut – The State Bond Commission of Connecticut has authorized nearly $1 billion in bond-funded transportation and school improvement projects. 

Kansas – Gov. Laura Kelly announced 36 Kansas cities will receive a combined total of $23 million to improve highways and intersections as part of the Kansas Department of Transportation’s City Connecting Link Improvement Program (CCLIP).

A City Connecting Link is any routing of the state highway system located within the corporate limits of a city and that fits into one of three categories: surface preservation; pavement restoration; or geometric improvement.

The city of Fairview’s project to make geometric improvements to U.S. 36 will receive $2 million in CCLIP funding. The city of Belle Plaine was awarded $2 million for pavement restorations to K-55.

Other municipalities receiving $1 million each for geometric improvements or pavement restorations include Centralia, Cawker City, Colby, Stockton, Baxter Springs, Parsons, Independence, Hoisington, Kingman, and Garden City. The city of Cimarron will get $600,000 to preserve the surface of K-23.

Under the CCLIP, a city is required to contribute up to 25 percent of the project cost based on its population, though some cities contribute significantly more. Cities under 2,500 in population are not required to provide a match.

North Carolina – The Raleigh-Durham Airport (RDU) Authority board approved an amendment to the fiscal year budget to aid in the resumption of capital projects put on hold during the pandemic in 2020.

Construction projects presented for potential activation include:

Other discretionary capital projects include an expansion of Park Economy 3 and construction of a new rental car storage lot along National Guard Drive and roadway improvements at the intersection of National Guard Drive and Aviation Parkway to accommodate the expansion of parking facilities.

In addition, the airport board authorized additional commercial site development along Aviation Parkway and the Terminal 2 landside expansion program which includes a future expansion of RDU’s international arrival facilities.

Colorado – The Division of Colorado Veterans Community Living Centers is gathering vendor input as it seeks to replace its electronic health record (EHR) system.

Seeking a comprehensive EHR system, including the financial and billing system, the department issued a request for information (RFI) that includes hosting of the proposed solution through a web-based product and recommendations regarding local server, desktop, kiosk, and mobile computing requirements.

The system will have to comply with record requirements associated with federal and state rules and regulations.

RFI responses are due by noon MDT August 6.

Alabama – The University of Alabama (UA) will receive $16.5 million in state funds to build a new electric vehicle facility. 

Subject to trustee approval, the Smart Communities and Innovation Building will house the Alabama Mobility and Power (AMP) Initiative, a partnership between UA, Alabama Power, and an international automobile manufacturer, designed to meet the needs of the booming electric vehicle market and support Alabama’s transportation network. 

The AMP Initiative will serve as a research and development hub for creating and sustaining modern mobility and power technologies, developing charging infrastructure and managing power delivery to support large-scale growth in electric vehicles. 

The project is currently in the design phase, and the Alabama Mobility and Power initiative will also be housed in the building.  

Gov. Kay Ivey on July 23 announced that UA and four institutions across the state would receive $23.5 million from the remaining Public School and College Authority (PSCA) bond issue for infrastructure projects and upgrades. 

Other Alabama institutions set to receive funds are: 

SB 242 authorized the PSCA to sell up to $1.25 billion in bonds and allocated money to every city and county K-12 school system and to higher education institutions. The money was divided with 73 percent going to K-12 schools and 27% going to two-and four-year colleges. 

Massachusetts – Gov. Charlie Baker appointed Jamey Tesler as secretary of transportation and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Tesler has served as acting secretary since January after Stephanie Pollack accepted a federal appointment. Prior to being named acting secretary, Tesler served as registrar of motor vehicles.

Alabama – The Tuskegee University board of trustees selected Dr. Charlotte Morris as the university’s president, effective August 1. Currently the university’s interim president, Morris will succeed Dr. Lily McNair. Before her interim role, Morris served in several roles at Tuskegee University including chief of staff to the fifth president and secretary to the board of trustees. 

West Virginia – The state of West Virginia named Joshua Spence as chief information officer. Spence most recently served as the state’s chief technology officer. Prior to that, he was a cyber operations officer and information systems security manager for the U.S. Air Force. 

Maryland – The Mount Rainier City Council approved Kourosh Kamali as its next city manager, effective August 2. Kamali most recently served as the city’s public works director. Before joining Mount Rainier, he was the chief executive officer of a company that managed water and wastewater projects for international clients and was an engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation. 

California – The County of Sacramento Department of Airports selected Christopher Wimsatt as the deputy director for airport finance and administration, effective August 2. Most recently, Wimsatt held the position of division manager of airport finance and administration for the city of Dayton, Ohio. 

Utah – The Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity welcomed Lance Soffe as its new targeted industries director. Soffe most recently served as a workforce development specialist with the Utah Department of Workforce Services. 

Mary Scott Nabers, Publisher

Devin Monk, Editor

Government Contracting Pipeline, a publication of Strategic Partnerships, Inc., is a free, weekly newsletter detailing important happenings nationwide and the premier source for federal, state, and local government news and contracting opportunities.