Township Receives $38,000 Grant for Gateway Project

Upper Moreland Township Manager David Dodies announced at the Dec. 5 full board regular meeting that the township was awarded with a $38,000 grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC).

The grant was given through the DVRPC Transportation and Community Development Initiative (TCDI), whose funds have also sponsored the .

The $38,000 grant is a part of the TCDI $1.2 million grants awarded to 24 municipalities in southeastern Pennsylvania, and are meant for local governments and selected nonprofits’ and their development and redevelopment projects that link to transportation improvements.

“Relatively speaking, this is a fairly large grant, and I’m very pleased to receive it,” Dodies said at the meeting.

According to a DVRPC press release, the TCDI grants support local planning projects that will lead to more residential, employment or retail opportunities, while improving the overall character and quality of life for those who live and work in the communities.

The grants are also meant to reduce congestion and improve the efficiency of existing transportation systems.

“These are challenging times for all local governments,” Barry Seymour, DVRPC executive director, said in the release. “The TCDI program provides a mechanism for municipalities to undertake locally directed actions to improve their communities, which in turn helps build our vision for an economically strong and sustainable region.”

Dodies said the grant will be used for it’s the township’s physical improvement, namely the 2012 “place-making project,” in which the township will install a gateway and welcome signage, as suggested in the 2003 Upper Moreland revitalization plan.

“Grants in this day and age are hard to come by,” Joe Lavalle, Ward 4 commissioner said. “Thank you very much to our staff for the time and effort they put into getting this grant”

For more information about the TCDI program, visit www.dvrpc.org/TCDI.

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Bird Town, U.S.A.

Jonathan de Jonge, chairperson of Upper Moreland Township’s Environmental Advisory Council presented the assembled board of commissioners at the Dec. 5 regular meeting, with an official certificate, designating the .

“It’s not only the first Bird Town in Pennsylvania, but it’s also the first Bird Town in the United Sates,” de Jonge said at the meeting.

The certificate will be displayed in the township building.