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Kenilworth council backs continued pursuit of federal and USDA grants for aging OEM building
Summary
Council members heard several years of planning and estimates for the borough’s emergency operations (OEM) building and agreed to continue seeking grant funding after staff proposed moving a Congressionally Directed Spending request into the USDA Community Facilities program, which would require a local match.
Kenilworth council members on May 6 heard detailed staff briefings about the deteriorating emergency operations (OEM) building and agreed that borough staff should continue pursuing outside grant funding to replace or rebuild the facility.
The discussion focused on a previously submitted Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) request and on a staff recommendation to reclassify the application into the U.S. Department of Agriculture Community Facilities program. Staff said the CDS application—originally pitched as a $1.2 million, no‑match request—did not meet a Homeland Security subcommittee’s technical definition of an emergency operations center. Reclassifying the application would allow consideration under the USDA program but would require the borough to provide approximately a 45% local match, staff said.
Why it matters: the OEM building stores generators and emergency equipment and serves as a backup operations site in storms. Staff said the structure is worn and that repairs done over the years have…
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