PETERSBURG – Township Administrator Gary DeMarzo told the Upper Township Committee recently that the township has a high number of grant applications in the pipeline.
Mayor Jay Newman agreed, saying the recent total of grants applied for is close to 20.
The total amount of potential grant money the township could receive from these applications could exceed $7.25 million, not including congressionally directed spending, federal funds directed into the township by members of the state’s congressional delegation.
“Over the past two years the committee has stepped up its effort to obtain all grant funding that will benefit our community,” DeMarzo said.
The administrator said at the Nov. 27 committee meeting that the grant programs are used to address particular problems in the township and have very specific parameters for how the grants may be used.
He said some grants are a “heavy lift that won’t have a benefit” to the township. Many require a municipality to match a certain dollar amount. He said there are grants the township doesn’t apply for due to the cost to the township.
“Grants can also be complicated,” he said. “We do look at the grants, and some we don’t apply for.”
DeMarzo said the Living Shoreline Grant, as offered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is required in order to apply for certain other grants. It is not on the list because it is part of a process to get certain grants, DeMarzo said.
The Safe Routes to School Grant from the state Department of Transportation required Upper Township to partner with Middle Township schools, as well as supply support letters from the Middle Township School District and Cape May County. The Safe Routes to School Grant is, DeMarzo said, just what it sounds like. In Upper Township the vision is for a green carpet bike path from Beesley’s Point Park to the Upper Township Elementary School on Old Tuckahoe Road, including sidewalks and pedestrian corridors, he said.
In a press release on the grants, Newman acknowledged the grant-writing team for its work, saying, “The process is not an easy one, and Upper gets turned down more than we are accepted, but that does not stop us from applying. It’s like the lottery – you have to be in it to win it.”
Deputy Mayor Kimberly Hayes said in the press release that she supports all recreation, Americans With Disabilities Act or public safety and improvement grants.
“Our grant team submitted an application of close to a million dollars for our most recent submission – DOT Safe Routes to School Grant,” Hayes said. “Projects like Safe Routes to School have an immediate benefit, and grants return the tax money we send to Washington and to the State House back into the community. It is truly a team effort from the grant writers, the engineers to the paper pushers. If there wasn’t a total commitment we would not be as successful.”
DeMarzo said there is a host of people who make up the grant-writing team, including Chief Financial Officer Barbara Ludy, the finance team and department teams. He said Triad Associates is the project manager for grants.
A partial list of grants for which the township has current applications:
- Emergency Management Agency Assistance Grant – $10,000;
- Municipal Alliance Committee – $37,788;
- Municipal Alliance Committee New Jersey Department of Human Services, Division on Mental Health and Addiction Services Grant – $3,634.26;
- Cape May County-American Rescue Plan Act Infrastructure Grant – $400,000;
- Fiscal Year 2024 Congressionally-Directed Spending (from each of the members: U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, U.S Sen. Corey Booker, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez) – project and amount to be determined;
- New Jersey Department of Transportation Fiscal Year 2024 Municipal Aid for Roadway Preservation – $111,279;
- Cape May County Historic Preservation Trust Fund Grant – $29,500;
- New Jersey Lead Grant Assistance Program – $7,200;
- New Jersey Department of Agriculture Spotted Lanternfly Grant – $15,000;
- NJDOT Safe Routes to School Grant – $925,998.04 requested. Announcements expected in the first quarter of 2024;
- Cape May County Historic Preservation Trust Fund Grant – $72,000;
- New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Small Cities Public Facilities Grant Fiscal Year 2023 – $400,000 to make ADA improvements at Amanda’s Field (application was not funded);
- Resubmission of NJDCA Small Cities Public Facilities Grant FY 2024 – $400,000 to make ADA improvements at Amanda’s Field;
- NJDCA Firefighters Assistance Grant – $69,500 for the purchase of a new SCBA compressor;
- Cape May County Open Space Amanda’s Field Skate Park – $771,110;
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Eligibility Determination – no dollar amount requested. Application was to determine if certain sections of the township would be eligible for water/waste grant/loan funding of up to $4 million.
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
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