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UDC Awards 2009 Technical Assistance Grants
NARROWSBURG – The Upper Delaware Council (UDC) has awarded $16,700 in Technical Assistance Grants for eight projects that will further goals and address needs identified in the River Management Plan for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River.
The latest grant round brings the cumulative amount to $656,392 that the UDC has given to its member municipalities since 1988. In all, 188 projects have been funded through the Technical Assistance Grants (TAG) program.
Combined requests totaled $44,600, competing for a maximum $20,000 funding pool that the UDC budgeted for Fiscal Year 2009.
Member municipalities submitted applications by a July31 deadline. A special meeting of the Project Review Committee to deliberate over the applications took place on August 11. The full Council approved the recommended slate at its September 3 monthly meeting.
Technical Assistance Grants are available for research, planning, and studies conducted by the UDC’s eight member New York towns (Hancock, Fremont, Delaware, Cochecton, Tusten, Lumberland, Highland, and Deerpark), five Pennsylvania townships (Damascus, Berlin, Lackawaxen, Shohola, and Westfall), and the encompassing river corridor counties.
Buckingham and Manchester Townships would also be eligible to receive this member benefit if they joined the UDC. TAG awards can provide seed money for a municipality to embark on a project without having to dip into local tax dollars.
This year’s recipients of TAG awards are:
Damascus Township, PA – $1,000 for training and installation costs for an e-mail document server that will facilitate the work of the Damascus Township Planning Commission.
Town of Delaware, NY – $1,700 to make all local laws and ordinances available to the general public on the town’s website at www.townofdelaware-ny.us.
Shohola Township, PA – $500 to assist with travel expenses and the printing of a water quality testing database related to a “Gas Wells and Private Wells” educational program to be presented by Penn State Cooperative Extension.
Town of Lumberland, NY – $3,500 to re-write the Town of Lumberland Zoning Law to coincide with the town’s updated Comprehensive Plan.
Pike County, PA – $1,200 to update and print 2,000 copies of a revised Map/Brochure describing the benefits of Best Planning Practices and mapping existing residential developments of 15 lots or more in Pike County dating back to the early 1900’s.
Lackawaxen Township, PA – $1,800 to produce and distribute two issues of a Lackawaxen newsletter that will be provided to all residents of the township as an informational tool.
Town of Cochecton, NY – $4,000 to update the Town of Cochecton’s Zoning Law to address green building standards, and the impacts of natural gas exploration and drilling on infrastructure and other
community facets.
Town of Tusten, NY – $3,000 for mapping services to create a Town of Tusten Natural Resources and Open Space Inventory for local planning purposes.
To access a complete directory of the UDC’s Technical Assistance Grants awarded over the past 21 years, and to obtain program guidelines and various forms.