By Matt Chiappardi, Staff Writer
EAST WINDSOR While communities across the county have received more than $100 million in federal stimulus money, the township is getting only a teeny slice of that pie.
Despite seeking nearly $4 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, East Windsor has so far received only a little more than $20,000, according to Township Manager Alan Fisher.
That money came in the form of a $20,190 law enforcement grant from the U.S. Department of Justice in March, Mr. Fisher said. But the township also applied for about $3.5 million for road construction projects and another $500,000 for pedestrian safety improvements.
In addition, Mayor Janice Mironov said the township explored seeking federal stimulus money to fund a proposed YMCA in the township that has been in the works for at least two years. However, she said there seemed to be no program or grant that would serve such a purpose.
”It’s somewhat frustrating,” Ms. Mironov said of the situation.
”We have explored every single program and stimulus funding notice that has been issued and that we can possibly locate in order to try and generate funding for our local projects,” she added.
The mayor said she’s been meeting with officials from the state Department of Transportation, the state Department of Community Affairs, the governor’s office and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s office to try to garner more stimulus money for the township.
So far, those efforts have yielded little result.
The township asked the DOT, which funnels stimulus money for transportation projects to municipalities, for $3,445,000 to fund four different roadway projects, according to the township manager. Those four are the long-planned project to realign the intersection of Route 130 and Hankins Road, repaving the entire one-mile length of Cedarville Road, repaving one mile of Twin Rivers Drive North near Probasco Road, and repaving a number of roads in the vicinity of Warren Park, he said.
Moreover, the township applied for $510,000 for improved crosswalks, solar-powered speed limit signs and sidewalk improvements for some areas near routes 130 and 571 and One Mile Road, Mr. Fisher added.
The township also explored some energy and conservation grants, but Ms. Mironov said any grants of that sort turned out to be not available for the township.
”Some of (the qualifications) are narrowly drawn with the notion that drafters had goals or specific recipients in mind when they developed the program,” Ms. Mironov said.
The township also has not received a grant from the U.S. DOJ’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Recovery Program that would have allowed it to hire four additional police officers.
However, Ms. Mironov said Wednesday that that grant application remains pending.
Neighboring and much smaller Hightstown Borough has gotten at least $1.7 million in stimulus money. Those funds, which the borough received last month, are pegged for streetscape improvements for the Stockton Street Historic District.
With much of the federal stimulus money falling elsewhere, Ms. Mironov said the township would keep on trying to have some of that windfall blow in its direction.
”We’re going to continue our efforts to access funds for all of our worthy and legitimate local projects,” she said.
mchiappardi
@centraljersey.com