Pike wins river grants

NARROWSBURG, N.Y - The Upper Delaware Council (UDC) has awarded $25,000 in Technical Assistance Grants for seven projects that will further goals and address needs identified in the River Management Plan for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River. Locally, Shohola and Lackawaxen townships received $5,000 each to implement automated municipal permit tracking systems that will be cross-linked with Pike County’s ArcInfo database programs through the county’s new Community Planning Initiative. Pike County was awarded $1,900 to publish a map/brochure describing and depicting the benefits of best planning practices as a means to promote the implementation of Pike County’s updated Comprehensive Plan and its Open Space, Greenways and Recreation Plan. The latest grant round brings the cumulative amount to $584,292 that the UDC has given to its member municipalities since 1988. In all, 165 projects have been funded through the Technical Assistance Grants (TAG) program. Combined requests this year totaled $36,180, competing for an available $25,000 funding pool. Member municipalities had until July 31 to submit their applications.