Hopatcong Applies for $55K Grant

Hopatcong families could soon get some much-needed federal aid.

The borough is applying for a $55,000 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant that Borough Adminstrator Robert Elia said it hoped to distribute between four or five low- to moderate-income families.

"We have a very good chance at getting it this year," Elia said at last Wednesday's mayor and council meeting at .

Elia said Hopatcong was denied the grant last year. Mayor Sylvia Petillo said it would be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis and that the money would have to be used for home improvements.

"The amount is a small amount," Elia said. "We don't expect to get a lot. But we anticipate helping five families. Maybe give $10,000-$11,000 per resident."

The 533 Housing PReservation Grant is a "provides grants to repair and rehabilitate individual and multi-family occupied dwellings by very low and low income households," according to the the U.S. Department of Agriculture.