Another set of state grants has been awarded to help with the further development of Memorial Park and a river trail in Royersford.
And this round of grants also includes $175,000 for improvements to Gerald Richards Park in Lower Pottsgrove.
Last month, state Rep. Tom Quigley, R-146th Dist., announced the awarding of a $200,000 to Pottstown for safety fencing, ADA-compliant playground equipment with a rubber safety surface, a nature-based play area and benches, tables and barbecue grills for a family picnic area near the Fountain of Youth splash park.
The grant was part of more than $12.6 million in grants provided by the Commonwealth Financing Authority to 31 projects in Montgomery County.
That was the same source for the $100,000 to pay for adding nearly 1,800 feet to an existing riverfront trail in Royersford from Arch Street to the borough line and will pay for excavation, clearing, grading and construction of the trail, a rain garden, landscaping, benches, trash containers, and signs.
The grants are funded from the impact fees charged to companies drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formations throughout the state.
More recently, Quigley announced a round of grants from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program for area projects.
The project in Memorial Park received another $70,000 and the riverfront trail in Royersford received another $181,100.
That makes a total of $270,000 for the Memorial Park projects and $281,100 for the riverfront trail.
The grants for the Pottstown park project are more in the spotlight this month because as borough council wrestles with a budget that calls for an 18.61 percent tax hikes, one of the cuts being considered is to a grants writer and the assistant borough manager, both of whom played a role in obtaining these grants.
Justin Keller, assistant borough manager in Pottstown, told council Monday that with those two positions cut, “hundreds of thousands of grant dollars” like those awarded for the park are unlikely to be obtained.
The third grant Guigley announced goes to Lower Pottsgrove Township and is comprised of $175,000 to further develop Gerald Richards Park with the construction of ballfields, a multipurpose field, a pedestrian walkway, stormwater management measures and fencing.
“As parks and trails provide an affordable recreational opportunity for families in Montgomery County, these grants are investments in our communities,” Quigley said. “The leadership of the local governments in Lower Pottsgrove, Pottstown and Royersford have demonstrated great vision and excellent planning to provide a variety of recreational choices for their residents.”
The CCPP is administered by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and includes the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund, the Environmental Stewardship Fund (Growing Greener 1) and several federal funding sources.
The program is designed to provide financial and technical assistance to local governments, river and trail organizations, land trusts and other non-profits for planning, acquisition and development of park, recreation, conservation and greenway projects.
More grant funding will also be coming from the state in the form of the park “mini-grants” that are administered by the Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Planning Committee and funded by DCNR and the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation.
At its Dec. 6 meeting, the regional planning committee was informed by Montgomery County planner John Cover that DCNR has agreed to fund another $300,000 for mini-grant program, matched by another $100,000 from the foundation.
To date, the mini-grant program has provided $365,000 for region’s parks.
