By Joseph S. Pete, Daily Journal of Johnson County staff writer
Federal stimulus money could pay for a third Interstate 65 interchange in Greenwood, but state government will decide whether the city will get a share.
An Indianapolis-based law firm will try to persuade state officials to get the city a part of an expected windfall of federal dollars. The Greenwood City Council voted unanimously Monday to hire the law firm Krieg DeVault, which also plans to lobby federal lawmakers.
Greenwood will need the support of state government, especially the Indiana Department of Transportation, if it ever hopes to get a new interchange, widen Worthsville Road out to the Shelby County line and extend sewer lines to State Road 37, Mayor Charles Henderson said.
"We're lobbying the state to do something," Henderson said. "We're trying to get the state to see this our way. When we first started talking about this, when we had our first meeting with congressman (Steve) Buyer, it became fairly evident that we needed to have the state on board with this. I started out thinking this was a lobbying effort at the federal level, but this may be a lobbying effort at the state level and only there."
Henderson often has lobbied state government, but he has mostly made his case to state lawmakers or the governor's office. Krieg DeVault has far more knowledge and experience than city officials working with the various layers of state bureaucracy, he said.
The proposed federal stimulus spending will offer opportunities to cities and towns to get projects funded, but the federal government will give that money to the states, and state government will decide who gets that money, Krieg DeVault attorney Deborah Daniels said.
Greenwood will need the support of state officials, who must decide that there's a need for an interchange so close to the Main Street and Whiteland Road interchanges, Krieg DeVault attorney Thomas New said.
"Engineers like limited-access highways, which are limited-access for a reason," he said. "They do not like to build (interchanges) too close together. This would require some convincing because of the proximity issue."
New, who served as late Gov. Frank O'Bannon's chief of staff, helped Greenwood get the County Line Road interchange during Henderson's first term.
New managed to get the interchange built while working with a Democratic governor, a Republican mayor of Indianapolis and a Republican mayor of Greenwood, so his political finesse could come in handy, Henderson said.
"The stimulus money, whether you think it's the right thing to do or not, is coming," Henderson said. "So we should do anything we can to get that money to spend. And the state's going to get that money to spend. So our efforts, I think, need to concentrate heavily at the state level."
Though it has to subcontract other firms to lobby in Washington, Krieg DeVault is in a better position to get Greenwood money for projects than Bose, McKinney and Evans, which also offered to represent the city, Henderson said.
The city council approved spending up to $50,000 this year to pay Krieg DeVault to lobby on its behalf. The law firm will charge Greenwood $5,000 a month over the next 10 months, and the city could be in a position to end the contract as soon as it achieves its goals, Henderson said.
"The stimulus is supposed to be a one-time thing, but this can have long-term benefits with economic development," he said.