Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Open Space Grant topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council refers DEEP open-space grant opportunity to Open Space Commission; town has $277,000 in match funds
Summary
Town staff briefed council on a DEEP open-space and watershed acquisition grant (typical awards $250,000–$1.5M with a 35% match); the council referred the opportunity to the Open Space Commission to identify candidate parcels and recommend whether to apply.
Town staff told the council on July 28 that the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) opened a land-acquisition grant round that could fund purchases of open space and watershed land, typically in the $250,000–$1.5 million range with a 35% local match.
"We have $277,000 in our land acquisition fund that could be used for that match purpose," Eric (deputy liaison to the Open Space Commission) told the council. He said that if a parcel falls within a state-designated environmental-justice area the local match drops to 25%, which increases grant leverage for qualifying parcels.
Staff recommended referring the grant opportunity to the Open Space Commission for parcel identification and appraisal if the commission recommends moving forward. The council agreed; staff said they would schedule a commission meeting, review the commission's inventory of candidate parcels and consider appraisals and timing to meet the Nov. 6 application deadline.
Councilors asked whether appraisals and negotiation costs are covered by the match and discussed how to identify willing sellers. Staff said appraisals are typically covered by the grant program and that the town's open-space inventory provides candidate locations to evaluate.
