Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. (holding the check with Verona Township Manager Matt Cavallo) announced that Verona was among 13 Essex County municipalities and 33 non-profit community organizations that received a total of about $5.1 million from the Community Development Block Grant program and the Emergency Solutions Grant program on Wednesday, February 21.
Verona received $106,563 for roadway reconstruction on Linn Drive, which appears to be the lowest amount that Verona has gotten from CDBG in recent years. Verona got $175,000 in 2011, but $108,738 for road repairs in both 2013 and 2014, for example. The work to make the Verona Public Library more handicap accessible received a larger$326,214 Community Development Block Grant, but that was to help the town defray some of the cost of adding an elevator to the building and not road work. Essex County received $941,814 for administering the Block Grant program this year.
The days of CDBG grants appear numbered. President Donald Trump’s 2019 federal budget calls for eliminating the program.
The CDBG and ESG programs are funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and administered by the Essex County Division of Housing and Community Development.
Photo by Glen Frieson
