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Town To Take In $137,000 In Grant Money
By Catherine Snipe
Three sources of grant money will be welcomed into the Brick Township budget by its township council Tuesday. Combined, the grant money would total $137,000.
The largest one is from the state, under the Department of Community Affairs. The Department oversees the Neighborhood Preservation Program (NPP), which allotted $125,000 to Brick. The money will be used for such things as repairs and maintenance to roads.
It's not the first time Brick Township has benefited from such grants. The township has a long history of NPP grants, and has its own NPP administrator.
The NPP is administered by DCA's Division of Housing and Community Resources to provides state grant funding to municipalities. The funding is used to establish partnerships with residents and businesses to aid the neighborhood and keep it from deteriorating.
Brick first joined the program in 1999, when the Township applied to the DCA for the inclusion of the Chambers Bridge Corridor. At the time, Brick Township was one of 14 municipalities statewide and the only one from Ocean County to be accepted into the NPP.
So far, Brick has taken in $525,000 from the program over five years.
The two remaining grant discussed by the council recently are less than $10,000 each.
One is for $7,500. It is from the state Division of Highway and Traffic Safety, specifically under the Aggressive Driver Enforcement Grant. Brick is not the only town to receive such funding this year, as Fair Lawn, Dover and other townships received grants. The grant can help fund overtime for officers to participate in activities that are targeting aggressive driving violations.
According to the state Division of Highway and Traffic Safety, aggressive driving and Speed Enforcement are emerging priorities federally for the state. That includes a regionwide Aggressive Driving Campaign for this and next year.
Grant funding is available for overtime enforcement relating to speed and aggressive driving.
The smallest of the three grants discussed by the council is for senior citizen services. A $5,000 grant - titled a Senior Citizens Grant - is an Ocean County grant. The council is requesting the state Director of the Division of Local Government Services to approve the insertion of the items of revenue in its budget of 2006.
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