$3 million in stimulus money is en route to Anoka County, and more is sought

Anoka County officials will receive more than $3 million under President Obama's economic stimulus package and are applying for even more for various job training, home foreclosure rehabilitation, economic assistance and other programs, officials said Tuesday.

"It is a good time for stimulus money to come. We are very busy," said Jerry Vitzthum, director of the county's WorkForce Center. He noted that the county's 9.2 percent unemployment rate, much of it from laid-off manufacturing and construction workers, is the highest in the Twin Cities area.

The county will receive $942,090 for job counseling and skills retraining for laid-off workers, Vitzthum said. The money will serve 400 laid-off workers on the WorkForce Center waiting list, he said. He said the county also will receive:

• $345,661 to create summer jobs for youths, home weatherization, park maintenance and other jobs, some of which could be permanent.

• $145,367 for job training for low-income adults or welfare recipients.

• $36,000 to create a handful of part-time jobs for low-income senior citizens.

Karen Skepper, the county's community development director, displayed a 3-inch-thick notebook listing stimulus programs covered by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, which she has scoured to discover eligible county projects.

The $306,671 will go for projects such as rehabilitating foreclosed homes for lower-income buyers or improving neighborhoods by demolishing blighted homes, Skepper said. Preference is given to projects that will begin within four months, she noted.

She cited two cities that will get stimulus funds through the county:

• Coon Rapids will receive $81,709 in block grant money.

• Columbia Heights will receive nearly $132,000 to make improvements to its public housing rental building at 40th Street and Central Avenue.

The county, likely partnering with other counties, will apply for additional Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds to augment the initial $5 million Anoka County has for the program, Skepper said. Stabilization funds will provide $10,000 forgivable loans to low- and middle-income families who buy foreclosed homes and live in them for a decade. The county can also buy and repair foreclosed homes to sell to low- and middle-income buyers, or demolish blighted homes. The stabilization grants must be spent within 18 months.

"In five years we want to walk down the street and see we've made a difference," she said.

The county's Human Services Division will receive more than $1 million in stimulus funds for economic assistance, child protection and support collection, and a juvenile probation officer, said division manager Jerry Soma. Most of the money will replace $588,000 the county had budgeted to cover previous federal cuts in child collection programs. The county will restore about 15 social service and welfare assistance jobs that had been cut, Soma said.

The county also has applied for stimulus funds for part of a $20 million Main Street bridge interchange upgrade over Interstate 35E in Lino Lakes, said Jon Olson, the county's public services division manager. He said the county lacks about $9 million for the project to expand the bridge, and highway on- and off-ramps, to four lanes.

"It looks promising," Olson said.