Upper Salford receives $10K open space grant from PECO

Thursday, July11, 2012

By Erin Weaver

PECO presented Upper Salford Township with a $10,000 grant during the July 9 board of supervisors meeting.

The grant, awarded on behalf of PECO’s Green Region Open Space Program, will go toward improving the Rogers Hiester property on Route 63. Supervisor Theodore Poatsy acknowledged that the project is not just about open space, but preserving a historical property in Upper Salford.

PECO representative Suzanne Ryan presented the award, commenting that the Green Region Open Space program is highly competitive.

“We have 46 applications this year, 11 from Montgomery County alone,” she said. “The quality of your application really speaks to the dedication of your staff.”

PECO can only offer a limited number of grants to municipalities, Ryan said.

“This year, we only had three grants to award,” she said. “PECO strongly supports open space programs like this. We’re happy to help local municipalities however we can.”

The funds will be matched for an additional $10,000 from Natural Lands Trust. PECO’s grant and the matching donation have already been designated to pay for a consulting study of the property. The goal of the consulting study is to map and locate trails on the property that will be open to the public. Because the property is owned by Upper Salford, it is required to have public accessibility.

The house on the property, however, is an historic artifact and will remain private.