Money from the feds might be free, but there's a lot of people fighting for it.

That's what members of the Amador County Transportation Commission learned Wednesday about the economic stimulus package being pushed by President Barack Obama.

The ACTC also installed new commissioners David Plank (Ione) and Pat Crosby (Sutter Creek), and elected Plymouth Councilman Greg Baldwin vice chairman, while current Chairman Louis Boitano, a county supervisor, retained his seat.

Advice on the $700 billion jump-start package galvanized commissioners to approve a right-now prioritization session on candidate projects, a meeting expected to be held yesterday among officials from the county and its cities.

"The metaphor here is, the early bird gets the worm," transportation consultant Matt Boyer from Dokken Engineering told commissioners.

Projects that are ready to go or nearly so were assured to rank high on the federal funding list, officials agreed.

Commissioner Richard Forster, a county supervisor, said the consideration of ranking suggested the county should get high-ticket projects ready to go on a fast track. "It seems we really need to prioritize," he said.

ACTC executive director Charles Field responded, "County staffs will meet with city staffs (Thursday) on what we can really deliver, then we'll compare that to the moving target out of Washington."

Whatever happens in the still-murky situation, commissioners will be responsible to administer about half of any federal stimulus money that arrives in Amador County, Field said. He said he was concerned that, nationwide, no more than $30 billion is currently expected to fund highway projects around the country. Another half of the package for the county will come through California's State Transportation Improvement Program, Field said.

An emerging concern for Amador, Field cautioned, is competition. "Federal money will be going to so many purposes - schools, water, etc. - that $30 billion nationwide for roads seems small," he said. Field said his current calculations suggested the transportation commission would administer as little as $850,000 in federal money. But, he added, "It's fairly safe to say it will all change again."