Community Project Funding Selections
Community Project Funding Requests
Congressman Neguse has submitted funding requests for important community projects in CO-02 to the House Appropriations Committee.
Under guidelines issued by the Appropriations Committee, each Representative may request funding for up to 10 projects in their community for fiscal year 2022 – although only a handful may actually be funded. Projects are restricted to a limited number of federal funding streams, and only state and local governments and eligible non-profit entities are permitted to receive funding. Additional information on the reforms governing Community Project Funding is available here.
In compliance with House Rules and Committee requirements, Congressman Neguse has certified that he, his spouse, and his immediate family have no financial interest in any of the projects he has requested.
Subcommittee: Homeland Security
Project name: Gilpin County Emergency Operations Center
Amount: $138,557
Recipient: Gilpin County Office of Emergency Management, located at 2960 Dory Hill Rd, Black Hawk, CO 80422
Explanation: Gilpin County is a small rural community with limited resources. Currently they are using an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in a box concept that takes time and energy to set up and valuable coordination time is lost in doing this. Having a permanent location where Emergency Support Functions can activate immediately is critical. In an emergency, every second counts. Building a permanent EOC in Gilpin County will allow for quicker response which means safer situations not only for the first responders but also for the community. In recent events, operational coordination and resource management were major gaps identified. This EOC will be the first step in ensuring they fill these gaps and build a capability that is desperately needed. The Gilpin County Office of Emergency Management has been activated for 399 days straight for COVID-19.
An Emergency Operations Center serves as a facility for all members of the community. These facilities are not designed to be used exclusively by the response community but rather can be used by non-profit organizations. In Gilpin County the Gilpin County Animal Response Team, High Country Auxiliary would be able to utilize the facility to host meeting and trainings ensuring that their important role within the community is sustained. During an incident, the primary role of an EOC is to collect, analyze, and share information; support resource needs and requests; coordinate plans and determine current and future needs; and provide stakeholder coordination and policy direction. Each of these components have a major impact to the tax base as resources to respond to an incident do not come cheap. Within the EOC costs are tracked and documented and reimbursement packets are generated allowing for Gilpin County to be reimbursed through Federal and State funds that have been allocated through legislation such as the Emergency Fire Fund or the State Disaster Fund. Without this consolidation and support from an EOC Gilpin County would be left with using tax payer dollars to cover the costs and greatly decreasing reserve funds.
Letter: here
Subcommittee: Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
Project name: University of Colorado Boulder Rural Outreach Partnership Program
Amount: $266,180
Recipient: University of Colorado Boulder, located at CASE W220, 200 UCB, Boulder, Colorado 80309
Explanation: The Rural Partnership Outreach Department of the Office of Pre-College Outreach and Engagement was created to provide more pre-college programming and outreach to low-income and first-generation students in rural communities across Colorado, including Fort Morgan and the San Luis Valley. The goal of this program is to strengthen and formalize pathways from middle school to high school, and from high school to post-secondary studies by implementing grade appropriate programming to support academic success, persistence, and retention of first generation and low-income students in Fort Morgan and the San Luis Valley. This programming includes college and career exploration from seventh through twelfth grade. Moreover, the program provides access to technology through the purchase of lender laptops, connectivity through hotspots, academic student evaluation and intervention, and the opportunity to engage with local businesses for earned income through the creation of internship/apprenticeship programs. Furthermore, student participants will be provided an opportunity to attend a 2-week academic summer residential program at the University of Colorado Boulder to help familiarize themselves with the physical environment of a college campus during the summer between their Junior and Senior years in high school. This project is a good use of taxpayer funds because it would provide essential resources for first generation and low-income students.
Letter: here
Subcommittee: Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
Project name: Boulder Strong Resource Center
Amount: $271,740
Recipient: Mental Health Partners, located at 1455 Dixon Avenue, Suite 300, Lafayette, Colorado 80026
Explanation: The request supports an expansion of mental health services, while reducing future costs and saving taxpayer funds in the long-term. Exposure to trauma and adverse experiences increases a person's lifelong potential for serious and costly health problems; while effective mental health, addiction, and well-being services in the aftermath of trauma exposure can offset and even prevent other high-cost outcomes.
Letter: here
Subcommittee: Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Project name: Wildfire Risk Reduction; Implementation & Capacity Building
Amount: $358,000
Recipient: Jefferson County Open Space, located at 700 Jefferson County Parkway Suite 200, Golden, CO 80401
Explanation: Colorado's 2020 fire season was devastating and deadly. Twenty-five separate fires burned a combined 625,356 acres across the state. The Cameron Peak Fire alone burned 208,913 acres, making it the largest wildfire in Colorado history. In total, two people were killed, over 1,000 structures were destroyed, and fire suppression costs totaled at least $266 million. This project is focused on wildfire risk reduction in Jefferson County, Colorado, with a focus on Implementation and Capacity Building.
Implementation: Complete 85 acres of fuels reduction on Jefferson County Open Space (JCOS) Alderfer & Elk Meadow properties. Target treatment areas are adjacent to private subdivisions containing over 4,986 homes and other structures valued at over $3B, four long-term care facilities, two fire stations, 158 miles of named roads, two reservoirs, and four schools. These parks cover 2,793 acres, have 30 miles of developed trails, and provide substantial recreation opportunity for area residents.
Capacity Building: Create a Jeffco Wildfire Education & Mitigation Plan (JWEMP), to include: an inventory of existing community-level wildfire education & mitigation efforts; sharing best practices; reviewing existing countywide approaches (e.g., Boulder County Wildfire Partners), develop & coordinate strategic education/mitigation plans; and plan for continued funding of this work. There will be two positions to support this project; one will sit with CSFS (supporting USPP) and one with JCOS (supporting specific mitigation and education efforts).
Catastrophic wildfire risk in Colorado is extremely high, following decades of active fire suppression that resulted in high forest-floor fuel loads and high densities of trees and ladder fuels. In Jefferson County, fires ignite almost annually with at least 14 significant fires of more than 50 acres which burned 175,341 acres since 1996. The areas targeted for treatment in this proposal rank among the highest priority areas in Jefferson County based on the Forest Health Plan being developed for JCOS by the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute at Colorado State University. The combined populations of Evergreen and Conifer exceed 17,500 people.
A catastrophic wildfire in Jefferson County is a matter of when, not if, without immediate intervention. Jefferson County has the second highest acreage of land in the WUI in Colorado and ranks 10th highest among all western US counties. It has the highest risk to homes and residents of any county in Colorado. The number of residents exposed to high and extreme wildfire risk in Jeffco is expected to increase. The American Community Survey estimated Jeffco’s population at 582,881 in 2019. The Colorado State Demography Office predicts that Jeffco’s population will reach 654,853 by 2050. Additionally, wildfires are becoming more frequent and more severe due to climate change. The potential damages to people, property, and natural resources from wildfires in Jeffco are increasingly catastrophic.
With support from Community Project Funding, Jefferson County can launch critical implementation and planning initiatives to mitigate wildfire risk and improve forest health during the 2022 fiscal year. The target treatment areas for the proposed implementation project are located in Evergreen, the most highly populated community in western Jefferson County. This project will also help protect local - regional water supplies (Buffalo Creek, Evergreen Lake). Evergreen Lake provides significant recreational opportunities and is the primary water source for Evergreen Metro Water District.
Letter: here
Subcommittee: Homeland Security
Project name: Big Springs Emergency Egress
Amount: $600,000
Recipient: Town of Nederland, located at 45 W. 1st Street, Nederland, Colorado 80466
Explanation: The request supports an emergency egress that would increase resident safety in the Big Springs subdivision in Nederland in the event of a forest fire. There are currently limited exit routes from the neighborhood, which could potentially be deadly and pose a risk to residents within the subdivision if a wildfire blocked the existing exit routes.
Letter: here
Subcommittee: Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Project name: City of Loveland Pulliam Community Building Renovations 2021
Amount: $1,000,000
Recipient: City of Loveland, 500 E. 3rd Street, Loveland, Colorado 80537
Explanation: The funding would be used for renovating the Pulliam Community Building. The facility served as a public gathering space for seventy-two years, until the early 2000’s when it was closed by building officials for noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and building fire/life safety regulations. In 2017, the City of Loveland, in partnership with the Pulliam Community Building Foundation (a private non-profit 501(c)3 organization), committed to rehabilitating the historic Pulliam Community Building to serve as both a community disaster shelter and a community building for Northern Colorado. At this time, if there is a severe weather event or wildfire, such as the recent Cameron Peak Fire, city staff must work with local organizations, such as local churches, to ask for voluntary space to house displaced individuals. Once this project is completed, the City anticipates that the Pulliam Community Building will provide a place to mobilize resources and shelter displaced citizens, thereby minimizing the loss of lives experienced by the City of Loveland and surrounding communities. Additionally, with the completed renovations to the Pulliam Community Building, this city-owned property will provide meeting and community space at an affordable cost to local clubs and residents.
Letter: here
Subcommittee: Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
Project name: Clear Creek County Collaborative Care Center
Amount: $1,000,000
Recipient: Clear Creek County, located at 405 Argentine Street, Georgetown, Colorado 80444; project address: 1965 Miner Street, Idaho Springs, Colorado 80452
Explanation: The request would increase access to healthcare services for residents who have not had stable access to primary care services within Clear Creek County for many years. The Collaborative Care Center would house many healthcare services within one facility to promote efficiency and ease of access to primary care, mental and behavioral health services, Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment CORE Services and access to immunizations through the Clear Creek County Public Health Department. The new facility will support an increased capacity of patients and directly impact many residents in the community through these streamlined services.
Letter: here
Subcommittee: Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
Project name: Colorado State University/Adams State University Mechanical Engineering Partnership
Amount: $1,000,000
Recipient: Colorado State University
Explanation: This project is for the creation of a joint bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, between Adams State University and CSU, delivered on the Adams State campus in Alamosa, CO. An MOU is underway between the institutions, and several CO companies have provided letters of support for this initiative. The proposal will be used to hire faculty and improve curricula. This is a good use of taxpayer funds because the program would help provide STEM opportunities for historically underserved students in rural CO. The proposed program seeks to create a supportive environment for diverse and underserved students to access a local pathway for students to earn a highly sought-after under-graduate degree in mechanical engineering.
Letter: here
Subcommittee: Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
Project name: Search and Rescue Training and Vehicle Storage Facility
Amount: $1,000,000
Recipient: Summit County Government, located at 208 E Lincoln Ave, PO Box 68, Breckenridge, CO 80424
Explanation: This project funding would be used for construction of a search and rescue training and vehicle storage facility. The facility will provide necessary and appropriate training and storage space to both the Sheriff’s special operations group and the non-profit volunteer Summit County Rescue Group. The facility replaces a dilapidated structure that lacks adequate heat, space for vehicles and equipment and offers no appropriate training space. It will allow all equipment and vehicles to be stored indoors reducing response times as equipment will be ready to deploy even in harsh weather conditions that currently require equipment to be warmed up or dug out of outside storage. Training facilities will include classroom space and climbing facilities meant to simulate common rescue situations. Support from this program coupled with Summit County funding and local fundraising support this facility will be a reality.
Summit County Government, the Summit County Sheriff and Summit County Rescue Group provide essential and statutorily required search and rescue services in a community in which demand is growing significantly. Summit County is located within the White River National Forest, which is the most visited National Forest in the country. Although it is rural by definition, Summit County and the Dillon Ranger District are home to 4 world-class ski resorts and perhaps the highest visitation within the White River National Forest, where the year round resident population balloons from 31,000 to 150,000 or more during both winter and summer with visitors from around the country and the world. Most of these visitors participate in an outdoor recreation activity during their visit. The ability to respond when life-threatening situations develop is critical to the well-being of residents and visitors and to the tourism-based economy.
Letter: here
Subcommittee: Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
Project name: Expanding Services to Domestic Violence Victims in Adams County
Amount: $2,000,000
Recipient: Adams County Government, 4430 South Adams County Parkway, Brighton, Colorado, 80601.
Explanation: Adams County lacks important, necessary services for victims of domestic violence and the need for such services is greater than ever. This project would startup a multidisciplinary Domestic Violence High Risk Team to provide life-saving and comprehensive services to domestic violence victims. The project funds the necessary attorneys and staff to provide these services, as well as funding hotel vouchers to provide temporary shelter for victims who cannot safely return to their homes.
Letter: here