If MSU receives any federal or state stimulus money for infrastructure improvements, the administration will be “shovel-ready.”
At last week’s meeting, the Board of Trustees approved a resolution identifying several construction projects that could be ready to begin within 90 days of receiving any stimulus funds. Any construction on campus must be approved in the planning and construction stages by the board.
The resolution allows the administration to begin planning preliminary aspects of design on several projects.
“We have different projects that I believe we could have shovel-ready anytime,” MSU Trustee Donald Nugent said. “We always have some in the planning stages or waiting for the next step to be approved. Any of those that we can get (money for) would be beneficial to us.”
When the resolution was drafted in December, trustees thought the federal economic stimulus plan would have $7 billion earmarked specifically for higher education institutions with shovel-ready construction plans. However, that section of the House of Representatives’ bill was left out of the final draft.
MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said although the earmarked money isn’t available as previously thought, there still might be opportunities to receive infrastructure funds. The final stimulus package includes an almost $54 billion State Fiscal-Stabilization Fund that states can distribute to colleges to offset budget cuts or modernize facilities.
“There are projects that can be submitted to various federal agencies that would fit into this category as well as what might be available through the state,” Simon said. “So while the amount of money might be less than what we envisioned when the bill was presented, there still is the need for this kind of resolution.”
Fred Poston, vice president for finance and operations, said two projects the administration is targeting are the replacement of Morrill Hall and the expansion to the Plant Biology Laboratories and Plant and Soil Sciences Building, both of which were given authorization to plan in September 2008.
“What we asked for in the board meeting with the resolution was for the board to lighten up the rules a little bit for us so we can do the preliminary planning on projects and be ready should any of those get picked,” Poston said.
Simon said only existing projects would be targeted as part of the resolution.
“There are projects that we believe are shovel-ready, but if we move through a normal process we could not necessarily qualify for the stimulus package,” she said. “These are known projects and not something we’re just adding to the list simply because of the stimulus package.”
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