Rural areas getting new attention, approaches for help

Tens of thousands of rural residents could benefit from new initiatives in Washington and Peoria, and improvements may start small, such as a proposal to offer waste and recycling pickup to areas not served by curbside programs.

 * The White House on April 11 announced a multi-agency effort to help rural communities access billions of dollars in funding available through the infrastructure law, and officials’ 30-stop tour of rural areas is promoting a “Rural Playbook” prov with information on the “what, when, where and how to apply” for funds to help with jobs “in every rural community,” plus high-speed internet, wastewater systems, clean drinking water, etc.

 * Weeks earlier, Peoria County started coordinating with rural governments on possibly expanding trash/recycling services.

 * In March, Capitol Hill saw a bipartisan bill introduced that would create a permanent office for rural prosperity issues. According to sponsors U.S. Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), the Rural Prosperity Act would establish the Office of Rural Prosperity to streamline federal services for rural America and coordinate federal efforts to connect rural America to federal resources.

 “What happens when you don’t have a seat at the table? You don’t get served,” comments Colleen Callahan, a Peoria County resident who formerly was the state’s director of Rural Development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 “The Rural Prosperity Act not only invites rural America to dinner but includes us in determining the menu,” continues Callahan, now director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. “Having a permanent office in the White House tasked with connecting rural communities to federal programs and resources should accelerate economic development efforts. And that should mean federal and state programs can synergistically create opportunities to meet needs throughout rural Illinois.”

 If enacted, the measure would create an office led by a Chief Rural Adviser and a Rural Prosperity Council with heads of executive-branch agencies adopting and administering a strategy for economic development.

“Rural communities are an integral part of our national economy, security and identity,” said the Federal Reserve of St. Louis in a 605-page report, “Investing in Rural Prosperity,” published in October.

 “Around 45 million people – about 14% of the U.S. population – lives in rural America [which] plays a key role in food production, and a disproportionate share of the fuel and fiber that keeps our country operational.”

For its part, the Fed suggests planners, entrepreneurs and citizens adopt a “TRIC” framework of Tailoring action to local needs, Resilience to short- and long-term changes, Inclusiveness for all residents, and Collaboration between stakeholders.

 In Washington, Congresswoman Craig said, “It’s clear to me that the federal government needs to lift up rural communities and build a country where every American can benefit from our growing economy. I’m proud to lead this bipartisan and bicameral effort.”

 Tony Pipa, an expert in economic development and co-author of a Brookings Institute report on rural America, told the Center for Rural Strategies, “It provides a vision for how federal support and policy can better enable rural resilience and prosperity amongst that diversity, and also can maintain and sustain those efforts.

 “I think the important thing is to make sure that it’s resourced both with people and money the way it needs to be [so that it] matches actually the mandate and the purview that the office has,” he said.

 Co-sponsoring HR 7019 are four Republicans and six Democrats, including Peoria-area Congreswoman Cheri Bustos. Others are Reps. Cynthia Axne (D-Iowa), Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.), and Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa). The Senate version, S 3803, is backed by Iowa’s conservative Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley, plus liberal Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and moderate Democrat Mark Kelly of Arizona.

  “We really don't need more government agencies, but we desperately need government agencies to work together to better serve citizens,” says Reid Harman, a Trustee with Trivoli Township. “If it becomes a reality, the Office of Rural Prosperity sounds like it could help small towns and rural communities get a leg up on using the mountain of federal resources that are already out there going unused.

 “Americans want more transparency, efficiency and responsiveness from their government,” he continues. “The Rural Prosperity Act promises to deliver in some of these key areas by making it easier for citizens to seek out assistance for their communities. In the past, whenever there has been a shortage of services in rural communities, the federal government stepped up to help: the Postal Service, electric utilities, telephone services… This could be the next opportunity for the government to step up. There is a huge amount of federal funding out there waiting for a purpose, but it can be extremely difficult to access.”

 Steve Garnett, Jubilee Township Supervisor, tells the Community Word, “The bill seems very vague with no real specifics other than to create a high-level government position. Within our township almost all business is farms and there is no mention of that in the bill, although there are other departments to deal with agriculture. I would worry if they provided money to business in our area it would go to wealthy farmers who don't need the money.” 

 People who live in small towns and the countryside between can be an overlooked constituency since neither their numbers nor taxes make up a substantial part of votes or public revenues. Peoria County has about 181,000 residents, and 113,000 live in the City. Unincorporated areas account for another 34,000, says Peoria County Administrator Scott Sorrel, and towns the remaining 34,000.

 “Sometimes rural residents feel ignored, I suppose,” Sorrel says, “but I think it really varies from town to town.”

 The County is trying to be responsive to one immediate need, he tells the Community Word – trash and recycling, which could be on the November ballot. At a focus group convened on March 14 to discuss such services for rural Peoria County, 14 people attended, including representatives from 8 of the County’s 20 townships.

 Sorrel says the County is offering guidance on getting on the ballot, and, if voters approve the idea, creating a Request For Proposals to haulers, and arranging a property-tax line item to collect the waste/recycling fee and distribute it to townships.

 For Garnett, pressing needs for rural areas are internet service, public transportation (especially for seniors), and better county roads.

 “County roads were very good when I moved here about 40 years ago,” he says, but “they are in bad shape now.”

 Sorrel sees the trash/recycling possibility is one way to reduce road deterioration.

“It could save rural roads from damage caused by multiple trips by different garbage trucks, plus alleviate the problem of illegal litter and dumping,” he says.

 Garnett agrees.

 “People dump their old refrigerators into ditches and ravines rather than to pay to have the refrigerant reclaimed,” he says. “Another area is tires. If government provided a location for free tire disposal it would be much better.”

 In Trivoli, Harman sees an economic incentive to work collectively.

 “To compensate garbage trucks for long travel times between customers, rural residents have been paying a premium for garbage collection for years, but rural household recycling collection has never been an option,” Hansan says. “This [proposal] could be an excellent opportunity for different communities to pool their buying power and finally get recycling pick-up services.”

 Whether nationally or locally, helping rural prosperity – or stability, or survival – won’t be a simple fix. Concerning the garbage/recycling idea, Harman says, “The biggest question is ‘How much will it cost?’ ”

Garnett adds, “I am not optimistic that the [Jiubilee] Township Board will even put the trash and recycling issue on the ballot.”

Sorrel says schools are a big part of small towns’ identities, and many communities have parks and libraries. But beyond gas stations and Dollar Generals – and maybe a café, bank and insurance/real estate agency – business districts show opportunities that also are problems: empty commercial spaces. Vacant storefronts or big structures can’t be easily filled, Sorrel says.

“We have a study that shows the United States has 34% more retail space than needed,” he says. “We overbuilt bricks-and-mortar stores. Someone has to get creative to adapt existing building or repurpose them.

 

“It’s all challenging, and it won’t be easy.”