At its Dec. 2 meeting, Evesham Township Council held a public hearing for the 2015 Community Development Block Grant application to be sent to Burlington County Freeholders.
Director of Community Development Nancy Jamanow said the grant would give Evesham $70,000 to make improvements to certain areas of the town, some of which may not have been eligible for funding last year.
“Prior years have listed Georgetown Heritage area, and last year was also Arrowhead, but this year it has changed to be the Marlton Village area, Allison Apartments and London Square,” Jamanow said.
Jamanow said the list of what areas are eligible is based on census data and income, and the lower and moderate income areas of the town shifted.
According to Jamanow, the grant would also allow for improvements to services that benefit senior citizens.
Jamanow said Director of Recreation and Senior Services Monica Vandenberg has requested some funds directed toward the Gibson House Community Center, the lower level of which functions as a seniority lounge for the Evesham Senior Citizen Club.
“We’re going to be applying for Gibson House upgrades, which include bathrooms stalls, the interior staircase, some exterior doors, as well as handicap ramps in the Tara section of the town, more specifically along Meadow Lane and as far as we can go over there with Vine, that section of the town,” Jamanow said.
During the discussion, the only member of the public to comment and ask questions was Rosemary Bernardi, a former member of the Evesham Township Board of Education.
Bernardi said she had read through the application but saw nothing addressing sidewalks for North Elmwood Road and wondered if that would be considered at any time.
Jamanow said the township, in conjunction with the Inglis House organization — the home of the physically handicapped located along North Elmwood — applied for funding for extending the sidewalk along the road several years ago but was rejected because of concerns from the state Historic Preservation Office.
“The state Historic Preservation Office said that there could possibly be some historically significant settlements along that tributary of the Rancocas Creek that extends under North Elmwood Road,” Jamanow said. “No matter what I said to them, that we were only going down 12 inches to put a bike path in and how that wouldn’t affect anything upstream along the embankment, they wouldn’t listen.”
Bernardi later addressed Mayor Randy Brown directly and said he was a persistent person who does not take no for an answer, and asked if there was anything else he could do.
“I know the township has already tried to apply, and the historical society said something, but you normally don’t take no, so if you wanted it you would go after it, whether it be build a bridge or build something else to make it,” Bernardi said.
Brown said the township had been down that road before, and believed it was simply time to move on from the issue.
“As you know from all your years on the school board, after a while, a subject must move on, and we’re going to move on from this subject because the subject has already been debated and it’s already been explored,” Brown said.
Jamanow said potential approval of the grant would come around May, with the approved projects usually having to be completed by September.
