Cinnaminson's Grant Slam

The decorative street lamps along Route 130. New sidewalks on Union Landing Road. And, the brand new restrooms and concession stand that now sits at Wood Park.

All three enhance not only the appearance of Cinnaminson, but also its safety measures. And, all three were made possible by grant funding.

“We’ve been so effective at obtaining grants,” said , director of economic development. “There are so many grants we’ve gotten over the last few years for projects in town.”

So far this year, the township has received almost $600,000 in grants, less than in previous years, but Township Administrator Gerry Seneski said this has been one of the hardest years to nail down funding. Here’s a breakdown of the biggest ones:

Route 130 street lighting
This Department of Transportation grant will allow the township to continue its lighting project along Route 130.

“We’ve been looking at different things to make Route 130 safer,” Minniti said. “One of the things we’ve lacked is lighting.”

Several lights already line the highway near the Plaza and Shoppes at Cinnaminson.

Minniti said the light is meant to not only “enhance the visual experience of coming into Cinnaminson,” but for pedestrians who cross the street on that stretch of road.

In February, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a nonprofit that focuses on transportation and safety, named Route 130 the . A month later, a Cinnaminson woman was trying to cross at Cinnaminson Avenue.

The grant, which was for $62,000, will extend the lighting down to Wynwood Drive, near .

When exactly the lights will go up is still a mystery. The township needs to work on PSE&G’s schedule, but Minniti said he anticipates the work finished in the fall.

Union Landing Road sidewalks
The township secured a $61,200 Community Development Block Grant that allowed for sidewalks to be installed on about a third of Union Landing Road, a commonly walked street.

“We noticed that people are taking the River Line train and it drops them off at Union Landing,” said Township Administrator Gerry Seneski. “Then, they are walking to Route 130 to get a bus or go to work. It had no sidewalks, and then you have groups of people walking in the street. That’s not safe.”

The funding wasn’t available to do the entire road all at one time, but Seneski said the township is going to try for the grant each year to get the entire street finished.

Park improvements
Just recently, the new at was delivered and should be open for business mid-August. Thanks to a $250,000 County Park Development Grant obtained last year, the project was made possible.

And, county freeholders recently approved to the township for further park improvements.

“Wood and Memorial parks are two marquee parks and our most used,” Minniti said. “We want to make sure we have adequate restroom facilities and concessions.”

The additional grant money is going toward improvements to the storage/bathroom/concession building.

“We’re hopeful to start moving forward with that by the end of the summer into the fall,” said Deputy Mayor , director of parks and recreation.

Part of the money will also go for either improvement to the swing set, or an entirely new structure, at .

And, the third part of the County Park Development Grant will be accepting applications soon, Brauckmann said. Township officials are already discussing other needs Cinnaminson’s parks have.

Last month, the parks and recreation advisory committee met, and soccer fields and the hockey rink at Memorial Park were discussed.

Recycling programs, park cleanups, clean streets
Each year, the township applies for, and receives, Clean Communities grants. In 2008, the township received about $17,606. The year after, it jumped to $22,108 and last year, it was $31,924.

In 2011, the township received $26,570.28.

That money was used previously for the new recycling buckets and to sponsor park cleanups throughout the year. It also funds a street sweeper one day a week.

The township puts this money into recycling efforts since the more tonnage recycled out of Cinnaminson; the more money is given back to the town.

A nearly $40,000 grant for recycling tonnage was awarded this year.

“It encourages us to continue recycling,” Seneski said.

Other grants
The township worked hard the past two years to recover some of the money spent on snow removal after the earlier this year and last winter.

Over $130,000 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) money had been secured to offset some of the money for snow removal and emergency assistance.

A $125,000 Energy Efficiency Block Grant helped the township make its buildings more energy-efficient by improvements to the HVAC systems.

Even the smaller grants have helped the township. A $5,600 drunk driving enforcement grant, a $4,000 traffic enforcement grant and a $2,100 alcohol education and enforcement grant help the township and police department work in concert on these issues.

Tough economic times
The amount of money in grant funding the township has received over the last four years has definitely fluctuated, and it’s due to the economy, said Seneski.

“The challenge is the feds are broke, the state is broke, and the county has similar constraints [to what] we have,” Seneski said. “There’s not a whole lot of money out there.”

Last year, there was over $1 million secured, mostly due to capital projects, like a $300,000 grant from the DOT on safe streets and another $100,000 for road improvements.

About $50,000 went to the and $60,000 for a safe and secure communities grant that just wasn’t available to Cinnaminson this year.

The township is already working on what grants to apply for next year. If it wasn’t for the grants, either the programs wouldn’t happen at all, or taxes would be raised.

“Grants are not the sort of thing where you want it, you get it,” Minniti said. “A lot of work goes into it. You gotta sell it.”