Federal stimulus funding at Travis Published May 5, 2009 By 2nd Lt. Craig Poulin 60th Civil Engineer Squadron Programs Flight TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- On Feb. 17, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 into law. The spending bill is intended to provide stimulus to the economy through federal tax cuts, social welfare provisions, and domestic spending in education, health care and infrastructure. Of the $80.2 billion allocated for infrastructure investment, Congress designated $2.3 billion for new construction on military bases and $4.4 billion for maintenance, repair, and renovation of existing military facilities. Congress then left it to the Department of Defense to further distribute the funds. Within a month, defense officials determined projects for 80 percent of the funds. Of this, the Air Force was allocated $1.4 billion, at least $13.5 million of which were provided to Travis. The 60th Civil Engineer Squadron worked extremely hard to meet numerous short-notice suspenses and submitted a prioritized list of 43 projects totaling $30.3 million to Air Mobility Command for stimulus funding consideration. As with normal funding, projects to improve "red" (severely degraded) infrastructure were given priority. In addition, submitted projects needed to be "on the shelf." This means they needed to be ready to execute within 120 days of receiving authority to advertise, the point at which the projects were open to bid by contractors. Consequently, the Travis list contained projects with few design requirements, and infrastructure projects such as utility lines, since they use pre-existing engineering plans. Of the 43 projects submitted, 13 were awarded funding to date, totaling $13.5 million. These projects will improve the personnel safety by improving fire-suppression systems and perimeter fencing, adding to the quality of life for Airmen by renovating bathrooms in dormitory 1304, and will eliminate some "red" infrastructure by repairing gas mains as well as electrical and water distribution systems. In addition, seven projects were given special advance authority. This means they were close to the funding cut-off and could be funded in the near future if more money becomes available. These seven projects total an additional $2.2 million of potential funding. Ultimately, the stimulus funding will not only result in projects being completed sooner than expected, but will free up future funding for additional projects to improve our ability to support the mission and our Airmen. Funded Project Title and Estimate Replace Roll-Up Door With Vault Door, P-1 $50,000 Repair Fire Sprinkler System, Bldg. 1205 $250,000 Install Fire Suppression System , Bldg. 247 $275,000 Repair Gas Mains, Main Gate $500,000 Repair Gas Mains, Main Gate to Skymaster $550,000 Repair Gas Mains, Skymaster to Broadway $530,000 Repair Gas Mains, Broadway to Windward $530,000 Repair Gas Mains, 1200 Area and First Street $540,000 Anti terrorism Base Perimeter Fencing $700,000 Renovate Dormitory, Bldg 1304 $750,000 Repair & Replace 600 Ramp, Spot 607 $820,000 Replace Water Reservoir 3 $3,500,000 Replace 5kv Powerlines, Substation A $4,500,000 Total $13,495,000 Special Advance Authority (May be funded) Project Title and Estimate Repair Gas Mains, Windward to Burgan $460,000 Repair Gas Mains, Burgan Boulevard $500,000 Repair Roof, Bldg. 882 $45,000 Repave Parking Lot, Bldg. 21 $295,000 Repair Paving, Suisun Avenue $560,000 Level Sensor at Sewage Lift Stations $20,000 Repair Roof, Bldgs 150/154 $320,000 Total $2,200,000