Congressional cash for Bristol?

If a town of 8,900 in Alaska can get $350 million for a bridge to nowhere from Congress, city leaders figure that Bristol ought to be able to tap into the same budget earmarks system to help get funding for downtown revitalization.
Mayor Art Ward said he’s asking Bristol’s congressman to seek $2 million for downtown and $1 million for flood control efforts in the city.
Ward said that U.S. Rep. John Larson, the East Hartford Democrat who represents the 1st District, “feels he can be very beneficial to Bristol.”
“It’s something we can avail ourselves of,” the mayor said.
Ward said that collecting money through the earmark system can take many months, but it will be worth it if the process leads to more money for Bristol.
Earmarks generally refer to congressional allocations of specific amounts of money for a narrowly defined item – a teapot museum, the repair of a specific building, the construction of a new stretch of highway.
While some earmarks make national news because of the seemingly ridiculous nature of the spending – such as the bridge in Alaska that would provide access for 8,900 people to an airport on a nearby island – most are the routine stuff of government.
Ward said that he’s not sure how the $2 million for downtown would be spent.
But, he said, it could perhaps be used to pay for the streetscape improvements eyed for Main Street.
Getting Larson’s backing for flood control efforts in Bristol could put the initiative to combat flooding along the Copper Mine Brook and Pequabuck River on the fast track.
Army Corps of Engineers officials have told the city that assistance from a congressman can help speed up the measures they can take to lend a hand to control flooding.
Congressional budgets are theoretically completed before the federal fiscal year begins on October 1 so the city likely won’t know for certain until fall whether any money is included for its projects.

*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com