Frenchtown committee seeks to use $70,000 state planning grant to ease aging‑in‑place barriers

Jean Herb, a member of Frenchtown’s age‑friendly community committee, told the borough council on Feb. 4 that the group received a $70,000 planning grant from the New Jersey Department of Human Services to study older residents’ needs and recommend actions. "It's a $70,000 grant, and it's a planning grant," she said, noting the grant period ends June 30.

Herb said the committee conducted a community survey that drew 207 responses, held a mayor‑hosted town hall in October with about 40 attendees and interviewed local leaders. The committee grouped the findings into three categories: a sense of social isolation and not knowing how to engage; limited availability or awareness of free services and caregiver supports; and local policy gaps such as sidewalk clearing and the cost or complexity of approvals for medically necessary home renovations.

The committee also identified three cross‑cutting gaps: the absence of a local "connector" to link volunteers and providers with residents who need help; no reliable, up‑to‑date contact list for emergency outreach; and the borough’s status as a local "news desert," which limits residents’ awareness of programs and services.

As part of "early actions" before a formal action plan is adopted, Herb said the committee will seek a budget modification to reprogram part of the grant so the borough can pay the attorney and planner to draft an ordinance to reduce burdens for medically necessary, age‑in‑place home renovations. "We could have…sufficient resources to cover the costs of the borough's attorney and the borough's planner to develop the ordinance," she said. The committee also plans to purchase modest equipment for an Operation Blue Angel program — a police‑led check‑in and lockbox approach used by other New Jersey towns — and to set up a communications platform to build a contact list that can be flagged for older residents and emergency outreach.

Herb said the committee will present a fuller action plan by mid‑May and expects the council to consider a resolution endorsing the plan at its June meeting so early steps can proceed while the plan is finalized. She also said the committee will pursue supplemental funding, including an ARP community grant and a local foundation (identified in the committee materials) to incubate a community newsletter for roughly 12 months while a sustainability plan is developed.

The presentation prompted brief council discussion and appreciation for the committee’s work. Herb encouraged turnout for a mayor’s town hall scheduled for Feb. 28 at the American Legion to report progress to residents and stakeholders.

The council did not take a formal vote on the plan at the Feb. 4 meeting; Herb’s presentation set a timeline for staff to return with any requested budget modifications and a draft action plan for council review.