Earmarks: Interior

Alliance, Nebraska Commercial Area
Purpose: Renovation of the City of Alliance’s main commercial area
Amount Requested: $500,000
Location: Alliance, Nebraska
Recipient: City of Alliance, Nebraska
Taxpayer Interest: renovation of this designated historic commercial district fits within the mission of the Save America’s Treasures program to preserve historic sites, buildings and districts throughout the U.S. Additionally, many cities that engage in this type of renovation experience positive economic growth in addition to the aesthetic improvement.
Letter requesting the earmark:
• Ralph Yeager, Mayor of Alliance

Upgrades at Nebraska Innovation Campus
Purpose: For sewer construction and upgrades at the Nebraska Innovation Campus Site.
Amount Requested: $940,000
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
Recipient: City of Lincoln, Nebraska
Taxpayer Interest: this work will allow for needed wastewater infrastructure upgrades at the Nebraska Innovation Campus which is intended to spur research and foster economic development.
Letter requesting the earmark:
• JB Milliken 

Construction Center Facility in Omaha
Purpose: To design, construct and equip a new construction center in order to systematically replace aging natural gas and water infrastructure.
Amount Requested: $9,075,000
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Recipient: Metropolitan Utilities District (M.U.D)
Taxpayer Interest: design and construction of this facility will allow M.U.D to add approximately 150 new fulltime jobs as the District replaces approximately 545 miles of antiquated natural gas piping and 1265 miles of outdated water mains over the next 30 years. M.U.D is sensibly coordinating this infrastructure work with the City of Omaha’s Combined Sewer Overflow infrastructure improvements noted above. That way neighborhood disruption will be limited to one construction period while M.U.D and the City complete their work as opposed to seeing the ground torn up once by the City and then again by M.U.D a short time later.
Letter requesting the earmark:
• Thomas Wurtz, President, MUD
Letters in support of earmark:
• Ken Mass, President, Nebraska State AFL-CIO
• Thomas Riley, President, IBEW Local 1521
• David Brown, Omaha Chamber of Commerce

Lewis & Clark Center Educational Programs
Purpose: For development and promotion of new and existing education programs, exhibits, trails and services at the Center.
Amount Requested: $150,000
Location: Nebraska City, NE
Recipient: Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Interpretive Trail and Visitors Center Foundation
Taxpayer Interest: This facility, constructed under a provision of the National Trail Systems Act of 1978, as amended, has national significance as it is located on the historic Lewis & Clark Trail. Programming at the center will educate future generations of the historical significance and scientific discoveries of Lewis & Clark under the direction of President Thomas Jefferson. The National Park Service designed and built this building and deeded the property to the locally based Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Interpretive Trail and Visitors Center Foundation; to be operated in accordance with prescribed National Park Service standards. This transfer of management was explicitly authorized by Congress in the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, Public Law 110-229, which included an authorization of $150,000 a year annually for a period of up to 10 years. The National Park Service has estimated operating costs for the facility to be $574,000 annually so the conveyance of management and operational responsibilities to the local Foundation will save the taxpayer substantially from year to year.
Letters requesting the earmark:
• Doug Friedli, Secretary-Treasurer of Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Interpretive Trail & Visitor Center
• Erv Friesen, Director, Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Interpretive Trail & Visitor Center
Letters in support of earmark:
• Jack Hobbie, Mayor, City of Nebraska City
• Roger Wehrbein, Wehrbein Farms, Inc.
• Rebecca Turner, Executive Director, Nebraska City Tourism & Commerce, Inc.
• Brian Volkmer, Director, Nebraska City Museum Association

Omaha Sewer Upgrades
Purpose: For design and construction of sewer improvements to improve public health and comply with the Clean Water Act.
Amount Requested: $6,000,000
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Recipient: City of Omaha, Nebraska
Taxpayer Interest: Omaha is required by the Environmental Protection Agency to execute comprehensive sewer separation. Additionally, this project will alleviate the sewage backup that currently occurs in some residential neighborhoods during heavy rains due to a sewer system that is more than 100 years old.
Letter requesting the earmark:
• Mayor Suttle of Omaha

Research and Conservation at Rainwater Basin
Purpose: To establish research and conservation measures in the Rainwater Basin wetland complex and Big Ben Stretch of the Platte River in central Nebraska.
Amount Requested: $450,000
Location: Kearney, NE
Recipient: University of Nebraska-Kearney
Taxpayer Interest: The Rainwater Basin is a high priority for the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Targeted research on the invertebrates, a critical food source for migratory birds in the Rainwater Basin and central Platte River, will lead to new adaptive management strategies that will aid wildlife in Nebraska and beyond.
Letter requesting the earmark:
• JB Milliken 
Letter in support of earmark:
• Bob Bettger, Rainwater Basin Joint Venture

Updated 11.15.10