American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Our nation, state and city are experiencing difficult economic times and we are thankful for the opportunity to pursue federal and state stimulus dollars for shovel-ready projects. These projects are designed to jump-start the economy, create jobs, reduce operating costs, improve the environment and enhance the quality of life for Gainesville residents. We are committed to finding appropriate and available grant opportunities that may result in additional federal and state stimulus dollars to accomplish projects in the City of Gainesville.

Our plan is to target applications for stimulus funds toward key projects that can be started quickly and provide an excellent return on investment. During this process, we will manage stimulus funds responsibly to maintain close control over how the funds are being spent to provide our taxpayers with accountability, transparency and verifiable results.

This Web page enables us to quickly share information about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) with you, and will also provide gateway resources which lead to available stimulus funding opportunities and eligibility requirements. Please visit this page often to learn what new opportunities are available and how the City of Gainesville is spending the federal and state stimulus funds we receive.

Where Will the ARRA Funds Go?
The City of Gainesville expects to receive the following funding, totaling $9,768,434:

• Gainesville Police Department:
  • $448,816 from the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant - Funds will be used to continue the production of the television show "Police Beat," provide resources to enhance crime prevention programs in the community, technical equipment for the Investigations Bureau, trauma packs, handheld citation devices, incident command vehicle for large-scale community events, a transportation vehicle for the Reichert House, in-car video cameras for patrol vehicles and scheduling software to enhance staff schedules and reduce overtime.
  • $729,688 from the Internet Crimes Against Children Initiative- This program will create four new jobs and retain two at-risk jobs in the area of investigating technology-related crimes against children. The funds will allow the North Florida ICAC Task Force to hire staff for the next two years. The North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigates crimes involving the victimization of children through the use of technology.
    
    
• Housing and Community Development:
  • $371,003 from Community Development Block Grant Recovery Program (CDBG-R)- The funds will be used for the acquisition and development of the One Stop Homeless Center to provide technical assistance and services to include, but not limited to, expanding shelter capacity to accommodate more homeless individuals and families; to provide medical services, to provide counseling and supportive services, such as, case management, educational and life skills training, and to provide homeless individuals an opportunity to obtain self-sufficiency. View application.
  • $567,404 from the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP)- The funds will be used to provide financial assistance and other assistance to prevent individuals and families from becoming homeless, and help those who are experiencing homelessness to be quickly re-housed and stabilized. This program will focus on housing for homeless and at-risk households, and is designed to provide temporary financial assistance and housing relocation and stabilization activities to individuals and families who are homeless or would be homeless without this assistance. View application.
  • Public Notice of Intent to Apply for Funds
    
    
• Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: The city will receive $1,198,500 from the Energy Efficiency Block Grant.
  • $250,000 for Energy Efficiency Through Behavior Change– The program would involve sending energy usage reports designed to encourage behavioral modifications to reduce individual energy usage in residences. A similar program has been in place in the Sacramento Utility District since 2008, resulting in a 2% reduction in energy usage.
  • $528,500 for Low-Income Energy Efficiency Program– The Low-income Energy Efficiency Program (LEEP) uses a “whole house” approach, one of the most cost effective ways to improve energy efficiency, rather than taking a piecemeal approach. Improvements covered under this program include: attic and/or floor insulation, duct repair, central A/C maintenance or repair, water heater repair or replacement, A/C replacement, programmable thermostats and the use of CFLs. With the requested funding, GRU will be able to complete an additional 162 homes.
  • $160,000 for Traffic Signal LEDs– The city has replaced 60% of the traffic signals with LED bulbs. These requested funds would be used to purchase the remaining 2,430 bulbs. This will provide cost savings through reductions in energy usage and maintenance.
  • $90,000 for Streetlight LEDs– The city would like to replace 200 streetlights as part of a pilot program. LED fixtures are estimated to provide a 40-70% reduction in energy usage. The lamps would be in the Downtown area, and would be a combination of standard streetlights and pedestrian level lighting.
  • $130,000 for GRU Administration Building Renewable Resource Demonstration– In an effort to foster cutting-edge building integrated solar technologies, a portion of the atrium skylight in the GRU administration building will be replaced with semitransparent photovoltaic panels. It will be clearly visible to GRU customers and lobby visitors, and will help enhance the current energy efficiency upgrades to the administration building.
  • $40,000 for Energy Efficiency Audits to City-Owned Facilities– Initial walk-through audits will be done at city facilities to determine if energy consumption could be reduced by upgrading/retrofitting existing systems. The buildings that will be audited are the Northeast Complex, the MLK, Jr. Gymnasium, the Thelma Boltin Center, the Rosa B. Williams Center, the Wilhelmina Johnson Center, the Westside Recreation Center and the T.B. McPherson Recreation Center.
    
    
• Transportation: RTS will receive $2,931,440 from the Transit Capital Assistance. RTS will receive an additional $529,287 from a state allocation and $692,296 from the Surface Transportation Program.
  • RTS will use these funds to purchase 11 buses.
    
    
• Highway Infrastructure: Public Works will receive $2.3 million as part of a highway infrastructure investment. It will be divided as follows:
  • $1,000,000 for the Gainesville-Hawthorne Rail Trail (6th Street Corridor segment) - This project is located within the state-acquired CSX rail right-of-way running from Southeast 4th Street to Northwest 16th Avenue.
  • $300,000 for the Northeast 8th Avenue Mill and Resurface from Main Street to the east side of Northeast Boulevard.
  • $1,000,000 for the Northwest 34th Street Sidewalk (east side only) from Northwest 39th Avenue to US 441.

View Stimulus Bill