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Leaders of communities in Montgomery County hope the federal stimulus package winding its way through Congress spurs local construction projects such as a new senior center in Gaithersburg and a retaining wall in Takoma Park.

"At this point we don't know if any of the money is going to go directly to municipalities or the county government, or if it will go to the state of Maryland," said Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz.

Even before the U.S. Senate passed an $838 billion economic stimulus bill Tuesday, several community leaders had begun compiling lists of projects in their towns that could be considered "shovel ready" in anticipation of the legislation's passage.

The Senate version and a House version passed earlier will go to conference committee for resolution. President Obama has said he hopes to sign the bill by Monday.

About a month ago, Gov. Martin O'Malley urged municipal leaders to compile a list of shovel-ready projects in which the engineering and design work already were completed.

With Maryland poised to rake in an estimated $1.93 billion from the stimulus package, the Takoma Park City Council set out its own priorities Monday night for shovel-ready undertakings.

Top projects on Takoma Park's list so far include street, sidewalk and storm-water system improvements.

City Manager Barbara Burns Matthews mentioned the need for a replacement retaining wall on Linden Avenue. The wall, located on the dead-end road next to Sligo Creek, supports the area's storm-water runoff system, but has suffered erosion and decay. The project could cost up to $150,000, Matthews said.

Projects such as the Watkins Mill Road interchange improvements and a new senior center for Gaithersburg would create jobs, Katz said.

"The United States needs something done as quickly as possible," he said. "When we have 70,000 people lose their jobs in one week, that's like every man, woman and child in Gaithersburg losing their job, plus another 10,000 people"

Garrett Park Mayor Chris Keller said his town has not made plans for projects specifically related to the stimulus.

"But because my predecessor got a capital improvements plan established, we have several projects we could get shovel ready very quickly," Keller said.

The projects include a drainage project for the runoff that occurs on the north end of Kenilworth Avenue, as well as ongoing streetlight replacement and installation of new lights near Penn Place, he said.

Kensington Mayor Peter Fosselman said he did not think any of the town's projects would fall under the current definition of shovel ready, meaning they were fully designed and could be bid out within 90 days.

Town of Chevy Chase Mayor Kathy Strom said the jurisdiction had talked with the county about considering the second phase of storm drain system upgrades as appropriate for stimulus money. The town finished its first phase of upgrades to the storm drains last fall.

The city of Rockville hopes to fund $52.7 million worth of projects from federal stimulus funds. The money would create 232.5 full-time employee positions for water resources and transportation projects, as well as police technology, said Rockville Mayor Susan R. Hoffman.

Staff writers Jen Beasley, Bradford Pearson, Andrew Ujifusa, Contessa Crisostomo and Jeremy Arias contributed to this story.