Walker refuses stimulus for project

LaFAYETTE, Ga. — Officials in Walker County have said “thanks, but no thanks” to federal stimulus funding for a local water project.

“I think the economic stimulus will be good for the states, but we haven’t found it to be too advantageous to us,” Walker County Commissioner Bebe Heiskell said, using a water project as an example.

A $1 million plan to run water lines into Kensington and McClemore Cove made the stimulus eligibility list, Mrs. Heiskell said. The project would replace about 8 miles of water lines and add 2 miles of line to pipe county water into the McClemore Cove area.

“This was to be a replacement line,” Mrs. Heiskell said. “We thought that when the pipe was laying on the ground it was ‘shovel-ready,’ but to receive stimulus funding would have required a new engineering study.”

Instead, County Coordinator David Ashburn said the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority would fund only the 2-mile extension, using what amounts to a loan.

“We are essentially talking about GEFA providing about $200,000 for the project through a loan,” Mr. Ashburn said. “We would be responsible for paying back 60 percent of the money with an interest rate of something like 3.8 percent.”

An environmental impact study, estimated to cost about $150,000, would be required before the county could receive any federal funding, Mr. Ashburn said. The state doesn’t require a study for this project, he said.

“After we pay for the environmental study, it would be cheaper for us to pay for the project out of pocket,” he said.

Special purpose local option sales tax funds instead will be used to finance the project, he said.

“People are excited when they hear we qualified, but it is more cost-effective to do this without having to meet federal requirements. It would be irresponsible to accept these terms,” Mrs. Heiskell said.

GEFA spokesman Shane Hix said more than 1,200 projects with a combined price tag of about $6 billion were submitted for the stimulus program. It is up to local authorities to review terms attached to federal funding and decide if they want to accept the money, he said.

“We don’t tell communities if they should or should not move forward with projects,” Mr. Hix said. “We just make financing available.”