Antis, Bellwood get $50K grant funds
Joint municipal comprehensive plan to be paid in part by state
Antis Township and Bellwood Borough have received a $50,000 state grant that will pay for approximately half the cost of a joint municipal comprehensive plan.
Representatives of the township, the borough and the state Department of Community and Economic Development are working to set up a preliminary meeting, according to township Manager Doug Brown.
“To get on the same page and keep moving forward,” Brown said. “(And to put together) a to-do list for everybody.”
Brown expects the plan to have aspects similar to Alleghenies Ahead, the six-county comprehensive plan created a few years ago by consultant czb — because it will be both multi-jurisdictional and “implementable.”
He expects it will identify common issues, along with issues that apply exclusively or mostly to the township and issues that apply exclusively or mostly to the borough.
Implementable plans not only identify those issues or problems, but also prioritize them, state what needs to be done to deal with them and how best to obtain the money to pay for dealing with them, Brown said.
He expects that some of the problems are known already and that some may not be — or at least their significance might not be fully appreciated.
An equal local match will be required to cover the rest of the estimated $100,000 total cost.
The township would be responsible to pay two-thirds of the match, while the borough would be responsible for one-third.
The municipalities will eventually float a request for proposals to obtain a plan consultant, Brown said previously. Work on the plan would likely involve a steering committee, surveys, community meetings and other forms of outreach, Brown has said.
The township created a comprehensive plan in 2008 that was updated in 2013 — but it was not in conjunction with the borough, which doesn’t have a current comprehensive plan, Brown said previously.
The state’s Municipalities Planning Code calls for municipalities to create new comprehensive plans every 10 years.
It makes sense to do a new plan in cooperation with the borough because “we’re essentially one community,” Brown has said.