Surface Transportation Reauthorizations and Community Project Funding Submissions
Project Name: US 131 Extension
Project Location: Kalamazoo, MI
Project Sponsor: MDOT
Requested Amount: $14,745,600
Member Certification Form
Project Name: Downtown Streetscape
Project Location: 231 Trowbridge Street Allegan, MI 49010.
Project Sponsor: City of Allegan
Requested Amount: $1,000,000
Project Description: The City of Allegan recently completed the development of a new vision for the downtown. Phase1 of this project, would help reconstruct of the main retail corridor (Brady Street and Locust Street) and replacement of all sewer mains, water mains, and lead service lines.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Free Public WI-FI
Project Location: 80 W. Main Street, Benton Harbor 49022
Project Sponsor: Cornerstone Alliance
Requested Amount: $200,000
Project Description: The Free Community Wi-Fi project seeks to introduce free internet services throughout the community of Benton Harbor, Michigan. This project will target the city's most densely populated residential areas. The project will identify locations throughout the community for the installation of necessary Wi-Fi apparatuses and internet services.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Southwest Michigan Advanced Research & Technology (SMART) Park
Project Location: 121 N. Disbrow, Cassopolis, MI 49031
Project Sponsor: Village of Cassopolis
Requested Amount: $1,000,000
Project Description: A total of 500 acres of property has been purchased in Penn Township and the Village of Cassopolis for the purpose of creating an economic engine to drive economic opportunity to the residents of Cassopolis and the surrounding area. The SMART Park is a collaborative effort between the Village of Cassopolis, Penn Township, and Midwest Energy and Communications (MEC) to transform vacant land adjacent to MEC's corporate headquarters into a world-class business and industrial park.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Kalamazoo Lead Service Pipe
Project Location: 241 West South Street, Kalamazoo, MI, 49001
Project Sponsor: City of Kalamazoo
Requested Amount: $1,000,000
Project Description: The City of Kalamazoo will implement a lead water service line replacement project in an area being referred to as “North Kalamazoo,” which includes the area north of Kalamazoo Avenue to the Kalamazoo Township line between Nichols Road and the Kalamazoo River. This project will benefit approximately 2,000 households and businesses in the City of Kalamazoo and Kalamazoo Charter Township.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Expansion of Clinical Services Offered by the Center for Better Health
Project Location: 1234 Napier Avenue, St. Joseph, MI 49085
Project Sponsor: Spectrum Health Lakeland
Requested Amount: $504,000
Project Description: This Community Project comprises capital improvements to accommodate the expansion of clinical services offered by the Center for Better Health - located in Benton Harbor, Michigan - to include urgently needed primary and cardiac care to a medically underserved community burdened by significant unmet health needs. The improvements will include the build out of clinical and office space, purchase of medical supplies and equipment, upgrading of technology and information systems, and will augment the Center’s existing services which include COVID-19 vaccinations, mental health care, health education and screening, social & legal navigation supports, and telehealth visits.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Distance Learning Enhancements
Project Location: 62249 Shimmel Rd, Centreville, MI
Project Sponsor: Glen Oaks Community College
Requested Amount: $900,000
Project Description: Glen Oaks Community College (GOCC) will use grant funding to enhance its ability to implement safe, effective, and cost-efficient models of distance learning with an emphasis on dual enrollment students who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. This proposal will increase GOCC’s capacity to deliver hybrid and remote instruction to mitigate disease transmission while expanding the use of technology to reduce the cost of instructional delivery. This will include necessary IT infrastructure, equipment for use in synchronous/hybrid dual enrollment courses, and the purchase of video conferencing kits for all classrooms.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: STEM Workforce Collaboratory
Project Location: 1903 W Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49008
Project Sponsor: Western Michigan University
Requested Amount: $1,500,000
Project Description: The United States and Michigan lack the critical college educated STEM workforce needed for economic growth and international competitiveness. The Western Michigan University (WMU) Workforce Collaboratory will provide replicable national models for STEM Postsecondary Education programs. Proven through rigorous evaluation, the program will offer cutting-edge approaches to diversify and expand STEM workforce pipelines. It will include efforts to increase the success of students transferring from community colleges and non-traditional students. Using insights from local STEM employers like Pfizer and Stryker, technologies in the targeted fields will be enhanced for hands-on experiences for undergraduate students.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Runway Extension
Project Location: 5235 Portage Rd. Kalamazoo, MI 49002
Project Sponsor: Kalamazoo/ Battle Creek International Airport
Requested Amount: $850,000
Project Description: The completed project will lengthen the runway by approximately 1,150-feet. The project also includes the realignment of an existing railway as well as reconfiguring taxiway intersections to bring the runway and taxiway system in line with current FAA standards.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Residents Implementing Our Plan – Collaborative (RIP-C)
Project Location: 612 N. Park Street, Kalamazoo MI 49007
Project Sponsor: Northside Association for Community Development
Requested Amount: $1,000,000
Project Description: Northside Association for Community Development seeks funding to tie together investments to further develop several blocks in the Northside Cultural Business District. The project is shovel-ready; demolition, environmental studies, and architectural site plans are complete. NACD will construct four affordable single-family homes and six micro-apartments for youth struggling with housing insecurity. The NACD neighborhood-based training center will build an extension of its existing building to make space for a technology classroom/lab.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Asset, Limited, Income Constrained, and Employed (ALICE) Friendly Workplace Project
Project Location: 709 S Westnedge Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49007
Project Sponsor: United Way of Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region
Requested Amount: $50,000
Project Description: The purpose of the ALICE Friendly Workplace Project is to create workplaces for the ALICE population that are empathetic, equitable, and ultimately provide space for individuals to be able to step out of ALICE. Part of the project will be the development of an ALICE Friendly Workplace Toolkit that will guide employers to evaluate and change current policies that may be harming their employees. The toolkit will be informed by local data and research about ALICE in the region.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Restore Ox Creek
Project Location: 200 E Wall Street Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022
Project Sponsor: City of Benton Harbor
Requested Amount: $4,000,000
Project Description: The City of Benton Harbor will undertake a revitalization of Ox Creek by cleaning up the water, building trails, pedestrian bridges, and bike paths.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Youth Mental Health Workforce Enhancement and Training Consortium
Project Location: 1903 West Michigan Avenue Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008
Project Sponsor: Western Michigan University
Requested Amount: $1,818,152
Project Description: WMU will develop and launch a multi-disciplinary Consortium to train practitioners to meet the complex current and future mental and behavioral health needs of southwest Michigan’s children and adolescents. This Consortium will provide students with cross training and interprofessional experience to increase the quality and capacity for mental health care, such as trauma recovery, autism evaluations, psychological evaluations, and psychological treatments. This Consortium will collaborate across disciplines at WMU including the Resiliency Center and the WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine. Additionally, the Consortium will partner with community-based behavioral health clinics, to provide training and stipends to psychology, social work and allied health students, all while meeting increased demand for mental health care and substance use disorder care.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Launching A Legacy Capital Program
Project Location: 260 Dyckman Avenue South Haven, Michigan 49090
Project Sponsor: Lake Michigan Maritime Museum
Requested Amount: $1,500,000
Project Description: The Launching a Legacy campaign, started in 2019, represents nothing less than a transformative opportunity for the Museum. With the recent acquisition of adjoining property, the former Jensen’s Fishery, the Michigan Maritime Museum has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to double the size of its campus, function as a year- round destination, and take its strategic vision to the next level. The $8 million, 2-phase campaign is nearing the completion of Phase I of the project and is fundraising to complete Phase II. Phase I included the purchasing of the adjacent property, a former historic commercial fishery, and the construction of a new Maritime Heritage Center, set to open in the summer of 2022. Phase II includes rehabilitation of the working waterfront, renovating and revitalizing two historic fishery buildings on the new property, constructing a 2-story facility on the new property for exhibits, educational programming, and events, building two additional docks for Museum vessels, visiting boats, and research vessels, and landscaping for multiple outdoor locations on the Museum campus. This project suffered multiple setbacks as a result of unprecedented high water and erosion, the COVID-19 pandemic, and resulting price increases and supply chain issues. Despite these obstacles, through dedicated fundraising efforts, the Museum has been able to raise $7.5 million, fully funding Phase I and going into Phase II. Because of the setbacks, the overall project budget increased to $9.5 million. The Phase II estimated budget is ~$2.3 million. With what the Museum has raised already, it will need an additional $1.5 million to complete Phase II and fully complete the project.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Indiana-Michigan River Valley Trail Extension (Section 1)
Project Location: 2015 Lakeview Avenue St. Joseph, Michigan 49085
Project Sponsor: United Way of Southwest Michigan
Requested Amount: $912,000
Project Description: This project will work towards expanding the existing 17-mile Indiana-Michigan River Valley Trail (IMRVT) that currently routes from Niles, MI to Mishawaka IN. This 8-mile trail extension will connect north to five new municipalities in Berrien County MI. This shovel ready project is for Section 1 of the 8-mile extension in City of Niles/Township, begins in Plym Park at the end of existing IMRVT. The trail section follows the westerly property line of the Plym Park Golf Course, crosses the Dowagiac River, and follows the westerly property line of the Riverfront Park Campground to Pucker Street. The trail follows the old and abandoned interurban railroad bed, currently owned by the City of Niles. The old rail bridge crossing the Dowagiac River will be rehabilitated to facilitate the proposed trail. The foundation, abutments, and beams of the existing rail bridge are in good condition and can be utilized for the proposed crossing.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Extending Sewer and Water Lines to Four Winds Casino Dowagiac
Project Location: 58620 Sink Road Dowagiac, Michigan 49047
Project Sponsor: Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians
Requested Amount: $2,000,000
Project Description: The Pokagon Band is requesting funding under the Economic Development Initiative (EDI) to extend City of Dowagiac (MI) water and sanitary sewer service to the property referred to as the Pokagon Band’s Four Winds Casino Dowagiac property (“Property”). The project is urgently needed due to increasing pressure on the Property’s septic system. The work involves running a 12” water main from M-51 and Pokagon Street 2.6 miles to the casino site and running a 4” forcemain from the City’s wastewater treatment plant 3.25 miles to the Property. The engineers estimate the project could be completed within 12 months. Once complete, the extended water and sewer lines would also support additional planned tribal businesses and non-tribal landowners along the route who may be interested in connecting to the systems. This project has the strong support of both the City of Dowagiac and Pokagon Township.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Expand Project Learn Program
Project Location: 600 Nate Wells Senior Drive Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022
Project Sponsor: Boys and Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor
Requested Amount: $1,500,000
Project Description: The Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor aims to enhance its Project Learn program within Benton Harbor and Saint Joseph, and expand this program to new youth in South Haven, River Valley, Bridgman and Sturgis. In 2021, the Club served approximately1,600 youth. Additional support will help the Club provide programming to an additional 1,000 youth in the coming year. Project Learn reinforces the academic enrichment and school engagement of young people during the time they spend at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor. Through Project Learn, Club staff use all the areas and programs in the Club to create opportunities for high-yield learning activities, including leisure reading, writing activities, discussions with knowledgeable adults, helping others, homework help, tutoring, and games that develop young people’s cognitive skills. Project Learn also emphasizes parent involvement as well as collaboration between Club and school professionals.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Revitalize Downton Sturgis
Project Location: 130 N. Nottawa Street Sturgis, Michigan 49091
Project Sponsor: City of Sturgis
Requested Amount: $1,000,000
Project Description: This project will provide infrastructure needed to support downtown expansion, including housing developments in downtown Sturgis. Core components include parking lot reconstruction, alleyway accessibility/beautification upgrades (including a trailhead for a future non-motorized trail), storm sewer improvements, and electrical utility work (moving electrical lines underground, adding electric hook ups for a food truck court). The project is located in a Qualified Census Tract, traditional downtown, and will lessen financial burden on downtown property owners hit hard by COVID that would otherwise have to cover higher project costs for parking lot work by way of a special assessment. The project is aligned to the city's recent placemaking efforts (added downtown firepit, public art, plaza/streetscape walkway, etc.). The City of Sturgis is confident the project is shovel ready and could be completed within the identified project period.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
Project Name: Expand Public River Access and Ecological Restoration
Project Location: 302 Red Bud Train N Buchanan, MI 49107
Project Sponsor: City of Buchanan
Requested Amount: $400,000
Project Description: This project seeks to assemble and leverage approximately 50 acres of land along Buchanan’s shoreline of the river for the purpose of public access, while employing best practices to achieve banks erosion, a shoreline buffer, ecological restoration by planting of native species, removal of invasive species, the creation of rain gardens, the introduction of pervious paving, and other nature base solutions. The City seeks to create public access and recreational opportunities by creating gentle and efficient access with the construction of a boardwalk system connected to fishing areas, vista points, interpretive and historical signage that will educate residents and visitors about the native flora and fauna, indigenous and industrial history as it pertains to the water, as well access other recreational opportunities such as fishing, birding, picnicking, camping, boat access including a handicap accessible kayak launch facility.
Signed Disclosure Form Available Here
