SPIN METER: Biden’s water projects claim a stretch

WASHINGTON — Under pressure to show quick results from the economic stimulus, the White House is taking credit for starting to build hundreds of rural water systems nationwide.

But don’t look for construction crews anytime soon. At most job sites, it could be awhile. Sometimes, a long while.

It all depends on what the definition of “starting” is.

THE SPIN: Vice President Joe Biden said two weeks ago, “We set a goal of starting to build 200 water sanitary systems and wastewater treatment facilities in rural America. We’ve met that goal.” The White House Web site says “We are pleased to report that new waste and water systems are underway in 200 communities in rural America.”

THE FACTS: Wednesday marked the 100-day deadline Biden set in June for his promise. Despite claims that the administration has started to build these projects, many exist only on paper and won’t see construction for some time.

Of the 10 largest projects in the continental U.S. announced by the Obama administration in the past 100 days, none has begun construction. Workers won’t begin digging at many job sites until sometime next year.

Administration officials say words like “starting” and “underway” were used because when money for a project is announced, that starts the ball rolling toward construction.

“When you announce a project, you’ve begun a project,” Department of Agriculture spokesman Justin DeJong said. “Everything is begun.”

Some projects, such as a sewer plan in Monticello, Ind., are more than a year away from construction.

“We’re looking to go bid that job the latter part of the fourth quarter 2010,” said Mike Darter, regional superintendent of the Twin Lakes Regional Sewer District. “We’ll more than likely start construction in 2011.”

In Pickens, S.C., officials don’t even know whether they’re going to take the government’s money. Accepting the $15.8 million in grants and loans would require residents to shoulder a big water rate increase, and City Administrator Katherine Brackett said Pickens may reject the money.

Yet the Obama administration counts Pickens as a project the administration has already started to build.

There’s nothing unusual about the process, just the vocabulary. Even under the administration’s accelerated timeline, water projects can take more than a year to get going.

Why didn’t Biden say that?

Though there are signs the financial markets are recovering, the nation’s jobs picture continues to disappoint. The stimulus was a $787 billion package of tax cuts, government spending and social services, with a primary goal of creating jobs.

If Biden had said, “Towns are beginning engineering and getting permits, and we expect to begin work on 200 projects within the next year or so,” it wouldn’t have had the same political punch as saying the projects were under way.

Most of the projects on the list are in what officials called “pre-construction,” which means towns are completing engineering, acquiring land, getting permits and processing paperwork.

“It’s just a matter of going out for bids and satisfying all the paperwork. Then we’ll be breaking ground. I’d say six months to nine months,” said Evan Capron, city administrator in Columbus, Kan., which will benefit from a $12 million federal aid package.

Elizabeth Oxhorn, a spokesman for the White House recovery office, said the administration is proud of how quickly projects are being approved.

“Some are finishing up engineering and site reviews, some are being bid out for contractors, and some have broken ground,” Oxhorn said. “Many of those where ground has not yet been broken will see such work start in the next 60 to 90 days.”

But some of the project managers who received the money don’t use the administration’s vocabulary.

“We haven’t started yet,” said Mark Lago, project manager in Hood River, Ore. “If things go well I don’t see why we couldn’t start in the spring or summer.”

Paul Warnke, of the Koontz Lake Regional Sewer District in Indiana, said “It would be premature and just totally speculative to say how many jobs we’re adding.”

On some projects, such as the one in Ramsay, Mich., stimulus money can be used to pay for engineering. Jean Verbos, administrator of the Gogebic Range Water Authority, said construction on the water system won’t begin until next year but officials have hired about four people using stimulus money to pay for planning.

On other projects, the stimulus money won’t kick in until construction begins.