DELCO Green Ways Grant Program Rounds 1, 2, and 3

DELCO GREEN ways grant program ROUNDS 1, 2, AND 3

DELCO GREEN WAYS PROGRAM, HISTORY AND IMPACT

In 2016, County Council convened the Delaware County Open Space Task Force to research opportunities to implement the County's Open Space, Recreation, and Greenway Plan, which was adopted in 2015. In 2018 the Task Force, comprised of leaders from local municipalities, nonprofit organizations, the business community, and several County staff members, presented a series of recommendations. Pursuant to these recommendations, County Council authorized a $10 million bond allocation for open space in the County, which includes the Delco Green Ways grants to municipalities.

The objective of County’s grant program was to assist municipalities in achieving their local open space and recreation goals, while also furthering the objectives of Delaware County's goals of open space and recreation across the County. Eligible projects were to include fee simple acquisition of land or public trail easements on private land, capital improvements to existing public parks, regreening efforts, construction of new trails, and professional services such as comprehensive open space planning, feasibility studies, design/engineering and permitting.

Over the years, while the technical details of the Green Ways grant program evolved, the continued success of the County grant program is apparent. Since 2019 the County has committed approximately $16.8 million in conservation, trails and recreation improvements across the County, leveraging that investment with more than $33.7 million in outside funding, including grants from other public, non-profit and private funding sources. The past two rounds have been extremely competitive, with grant applications requesting twice as much money as could be funded.

DELCO GREEN WAYS ROUND 1

The inaugural grant round of the Green Ways Grant program capped County contributions to a given project to a certain percentage of that project’s total cost and required municipalities provide a local cash match for any funded project.

In October 2019, County Council awarded 26 municipalities over $4 million for 38 individual projects. County funds leveraged an additional $20 million in matching funds –– to support 102 acres of preserved green space, 7.3 miles of trail development, 18 parks and recreation improvements, and 8 professional services projects (planning, engineering, and/or design).

For more detail regarding each conserve, Connect, Enhance, and Planning & Design award, download the Delco Green Ways Grant Round 1 Awards document.

DELCO GREEN WAYS ROUND 2

The public’s appetite for utilizing public spaces surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, to address the unique needs of County residents and local municipalities, County Council convened the Green Space Task Force (GSTF), directing them to provide guidance on the County’s vision and policy direction for green space.

Based on GSTF feedback and a desire to build upon the success of the first grant round, County Council decided to adjust the grant program’s guidelines to encourage multi-municipal coordination and cooperation, and to boost capacity building among the County’s 49 local municipalities. The following revisions to the program guidelines were made:

• Requiring no local municipal match

• 9 Planning & Design applications are to be awarded, for a total of $848,315

• Permitting non-profits to apply, with a municipal partner

• Creating a new, non-competitive Mini-Plan grant program for smaller municipalities 

• Adjusting eligibility requirements for specific types of Conserve projects

  Allowing up to 15% of an Enhance grant to pay for certain “soft” costs

• Allowing up to $250,000 of given Connect grants to pay for engineering costs

• Including the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) Indicators of Potential Disadvantage (IDP) scores to support communities in need

• In Round 2, the County received 74 grant applications from 46 of its 49 municipalities. Applications requested over $13 million in funding. In November 2021, Council awarded 38 municipalities and one non-profit a total of almost $7.2 million for 43 projects throughout Delaware County (due to issues with a few projects, the final grant award total was $6.4m).

• The grant award breakdown was:

• 16 Mini-PROS Plan grants, for a total of $722,850

  9 Planning & Design grants, for a total of $848,315

• 6 Conserve grants, for a total of $2,186,477

  6 Connect grants, for a total of $1,990,809 

  6 Enhance grants, for a total of $1,424,070 

For details regarding Conserve, Connect, Enhance, Planning & Design, and Mini-PROS Plans awards, download the “Delco Green Ways Grant Round 2 Awards” document.

Review Grant Round 2 program and application materials here:

• Promotional Video

• Users’ Guide

• Application Form