WATERLOO -- City leaders aren't short on ideas for spending Waterloo's possible shares of a federal economic stimulus package.

City staff compiled and submitted a list of more than $256 million in construction projects, hoping at least some of them will qualify for funding under the proposed $825 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, approved Wednesday by the U.S. House of Representatives and expected to be debated in the Senate this week.

"I don't want to call it a wish list because that doesn't do it justice," said Mayor Tim Hurley. "This is all stuff we were going to do later."

Waterloo city staff pulled projects from the five-year capital improvement program and the downtown master plan. They tossed in numerous flood gate and pump station improvements to remedy problems found during the June 2008 floods. And they identified more than $34 million to upgrade the Waterloo Water Works pumping and distribution system.

"This isn't fluff," Hurley said. "This is infrastructure."

Also making the list were projects that have come up in recent discussions: $50 million to elevate the stretch of Highway 218 from West Ninth Street to San Marnan Drive; $5 million for a centralized garbage transfer station and recycling center; $5 million to build a Cedar River marina.

Community Planning and Development Director Noel Anderson said many of the projects included in the list submitted to the state Feb. 16 may not qualify under rules being developed for the federal stimulus package.

The legislation aims to get work going soon, but only about $45 million of the Waterloo projects could be ready to break ground within 90 to 120 days. There also may be an emphasis on permanent job creation, energy conservation or "green" projects and other factors that kick certain city proposals out of consideration.

"We're going to have to wait and see, as the rules continue to be made, which projects stay up at the top," Anderson said. "All the indications we're hearing from the legislative staff is that certain jurisdictions � would be given an amount of money to spend on eligible projects."

The project forms submitted to the state also identify which projects are disaster related. Waterloo has a fresh list of those items, including large pumps to keep water from backing up behind closed gates as it did in the downtown and former Rath Packing Co. area in June.

Several costly projects in the city's request will need to be done, probably with property taxes or fees, whether they get stimulus funding or not.

For example, the waste water treatment plant is facing some $25 million in work to disinfect and reduce nitrogen content of treated sewage discharged into the Cedar River. About $7.2 million will be required to replace the aging Park Avenue bridge downtown.

Many proposals tie into the job creation push by installing infrastructure at existing industrial parks and commercial growth areas.

The list includes $7 million to widen Martin Luther King Jr. Drive; $3 million to widen Elk Run Road; and $19 million to improve water pressure and capacity at the Northeast Industrial Site. Another $23.1 million is included to make road and sewer extensions near the Waterloo Regional Airport, especially work to open the west edge of the airport grounds along Leversee Road, for future industrial development.

Close to $8 million could help make road, sewer and traffic improvements to enhance development around Logan Plaza and Allen Hospital, including an area where Menards home improvement store is expected to put up a building and anchor more development. Another $3.4 million would provide better infrastructure around the Martin Road and Greenbelt Center development areas on Highway 63 south.

About $8 million is aimed at the South Waterloo Business Park, basically an area on both sides of Highway 20, west of Tower Park, which is seeing new business development. That includes money to extend Shaulis Road from Ansborough Avenue to Hawkeye Road.

During a work session last week, City Councilman Harold Getty questioned why the city didn't include a proposal to deepen the Cedar River. But no other objections were voiced.

"I'm concerned about the dredging of the thing to make it deeper," Getty said.

Hurley said the city didn't have time to consult council members before meeting the deadline for projects.

"We gathered information as quickly as we could from staff," he said. "If and when money comes and we reprioritize, council will be involved."

Contact Tim Jamison at (319) 291-1577 or tim.jamison@wcfcourier.com.