Burlington County Freeholders Announce Return of Municipal Park Grants

Funding Provided to Develop or Improve Outdoor Recreational Facilities, Preserve Open Space

Freeholder Deputy Director Balvir Singh, liaison to the County Department of Resource Conversation, announced today that the Board of Chosen Freeholders has opened applications for municipalities to apply for park grant funds.

Grant funding is used to assist Burlington County towns in developing or improving parks for outdoor active recreation. All 40 municipalities are eligible to apply for the County’s 2019 Municipal Park Development Grants. Burlington County Freeholders have not awarded Municipal Park Grants since 2017.

“The Board is very excited to bring back municipal park grants for municipalities,” said Freeholder Singh. “These grants help enable our towns to decide what improvements are most needed in their towns, all while preserving open space and maintaining the quality of life we have in Burlington County.”

The grant program is funded through the County’s dedicated Open Space, Recreation, Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund. No municipal cost share or “match” is required to receive this grant funding. However, the funding is exclusively for hard costs, such as construction and repair of facilities, and not for the purchase of equipment or operational and maintenance costs. Funds may be applied to the acquisition of recreational land or local cost share for farmland preservation.

“This has been a very productive year thus far for resource conservation,” concluded Freeholder Singh. “This year alone we have completed improvements to Crystal Lake Park, began improvements on the Delaware River Heritage Trail, and broke ground at Willingboro Lakes Park. The Board has seen many excellent projects come to fruition through this program and is looking forward to the improvements this year’s funding will provide.”