Washington, D.C. – In case you missed it, on Friday Utica Observer Dispatch reported that Congresswoman Elise Stefanik secured $2.75 million in funding for a children’s center in Herkimer County. This funding will provide vital childcare services for employers and workers which county leaders have said is the number one issue facing businesses and employees.
Read the full article HERE.
Utica Observer Dispatch: Millions in federal funding is coming to Herkimer County. How will the money be spent?
By Amy Neff Roth
When President Joe Biden signed a bill on March 9 to prevent a partial federal government shutdown, he also accelerated the timetable of a project in Herkimer County.
The $460 billion package of six annual spending bills included millions for community projects across the country, including $2.75 million for a proposed children’s center in Herkimer County. That money, on top of other grants, was enough to move the project forward.
The Herkimer County Legislative Board voted 10-5 Wednesday evening to authorize construction of the 14,000-to-16,000-square-foot center on part of the former Duofold site in Ilion that is currently across Spruce Street from the main Duofold building.
This artist's rendering shows the concept of the Herkimer County children's center that will be built in Ilion. The building has not yet been designed so its final appearance is still uncertain.
“We’re ecstatic,” county Administrator Jim Wallace said of the federal funding. It was the last thing needed for legislators to put construction to a vote, he said.
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Federal funding
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, whose sprawling district covers Herkimer County and the North Country, sent out a statement on Tuesday touting the $30 million in funding in the bill to benefit projects she supported in her district as well as other causes in the bill that she says will benefit upstate New York.
She called the funding for the children’s center a “huge win and result for Herkimer County.”
In discussions with county leaders, child care kept coming up as the top issue, one that presents challenges to employers whose workers need it, Stefanik said. That’s why she chose to back the project for funding, she said.
In putting in applications for community projects to receive federal funding, Stefanik makes sure to back one project in each county that is most desired by local officials, she said.
Stefanik also supported another project in the county to mitigate flooding in Herkimer. The appropriations bill contained two grants for New York State to be used to fund efforts by the village of Herkimer to widen Bellinger Brook to prevent flooding and to repair and reconstruct parts of the West German Street bridge over the brook.
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Read the full article HERE.
