Township staff to apply for federal Highlands conservation grant to protect three parcels, board to conditionally commit matching funds

Heritage Conservancy representative Matt Dab told the Williams Township Board of Supervisors that three privately owned properties the Land Preservation Board favors should be pursued under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Highlands Conservation (federal) grant rather than the Northampton County program because the county is still revising its model easement and delaying applications.

Dab said the federal program provides a true 50/50 match of acquisition and project costs, accepts Heritage’s conservation easement template and now covers a larger geographic range than in prior years. He showed maps and said expanded federal eligibility increases the township’s chances because most projects in the region are in Pennsylvania.

He gave examples of estimated project costs (pending yellow-book appraisals): a roughly 30-acre parcel with an estimated total project cost of about $386,300 and other combined parcels adding roughly 117 acres with larger totals. Dab emphasized that although current appraisals (from 2023) are adequate for an application, the federal grant requires a yellow-book appraisal if awarded.

Board members asked about upfront costs and appraisal timing. Dab said there is no application fee, but the township will need to front some project costs (surveys, title work, baseline reports) and that the largest owner payment for the easement would occur at closing after easement settlement. He estimated typical yellow-book appraisals could cost $3,000–$3,500 but said Heritage had negotiated to use existing appraisal work and sought discounts with appraisal firms where possible.

Dab recommended applying for the federal grant now to avoid losing property-owner interest while county rules remain in flux. He explained that county grants reimburse acquisition costs at different rates, cap certain survey or project-cost reimbursements, and impose public-access requirements that the county is currently reworking.

The board moved to approve resolutions (identified in the meeting as 2024-19 and 2024-20) to pursue the grant applications and to commit any required township matching funds conditionally (the commitment would become effective only if the grant is awarded). Supervisors discussed timing, appraisal duplication risk, and whether to pursue both county and federal options; Dab said the two applications require different narratives and, if the federal application fails, the township could then pursue the county program.

The board directed staff to circulate the draft resolutions and the professional-services contract that covers Heritage’s grant-writing work and to return with clarified dollar amounts and final language for any conditional match commitment. The board left the motion on the table for final administrative follow-up.