For Immediate Release:
December 23, 2020

County awards $3.47 million in grant funds to municipal parks in 23 towns

FREEHOLD, NJ – The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders recently announced that the County has awarded $3.47 million in dedicated park improvement grant funds to 23 different municipalities in the County through the 2020 round of the Municipal Open Space Grant (MOSG) program.

The MOSG program has become one of the most successful Freeholder-sponsored programs and is the primary method in which the County assists municipalities in meeting the recreational needs of their residents. This program provides vital funding to municipalities in order to meet their local open space acquisition, recreation, historic and conservation goals.

“The MOSG program is an example of how the County works cooperatively and successfully to ensure local park needs are met, especially during this uniquely challenging time when residents need access to parks more than ever to support their mental and physical health,” said Freeholder Director Thomas A. Arnone.

“The County is proud to offer this successful grant program to all Monmouth County municipalities. Each year, we receive more grant requests than we have funding available and we have to make tough award decisions,” said Freeholder Lillian G. Burry, liaison to the Monmouth County Park System. “This year, we had a record number of applications as towns work hard to meet the increased park demands in their community.”

There was a total of 31 applications received requesting an aggregate total of $5,469,000. Another $2 million in grant funds, combined with $1.47 million of reprogramed grant funds, allowed the County to award a total of $3.47 million in grant funding.

The municipalities that have been awarded funding through the 2020 grant round include:

Township of Neptune	Sunshine Village Park - Pump Track	$250,000
Borough of Tinton Falls	Liberty Park - Dog Park Improvements	$127,000
Borough of Interlaken	Bridlemere Park - Improvements	$175,000
Borough of Allentown	George Ashby Memorial Park Phase II	$125,000
Township of Millstone	Millstone Park Phase II Improvements	$250,000
Township of Shrewsbury	Improvements to Eloise Nagel Park	$115,000
Borough of West Long Branch	Owen Farm, Franklin Lake, Sorrentino and Ronan Shirvanian Park -Improvements	$175,000
City of Asbury Park	Sunset Lake & Springwood Avenue Parks - Improvements	$250,000
Borough of Spring Lake Heights	Shore Road Park Improvements	$125,000
Borough of Neptune City	Adams Field - Improvements	$250,000
Borough of Freehold	Liberty Park Improvements	$250,000
Borough of Sea Girt	Edgemere Park - Phase I	$20,000
Borough of Lake Como	Lake Como - Passive Recreation Improvements	$200,000
Borough of Spring Lake	Lake Como - Improvements	$200,000
Township of Wall	Community Park South - Phase II	$125,000
Borough of Sea Bright	Shrewsbury Riverfront Park - Phase II	$80,000
Township of Holmdel	Allocco Park Playground Improvements	$200,000
Borough of Manasquan	Curtis & Skokus Park - Playgrounds - Phase I	$90,000
Borough of Oceanport	Community Center Park - Improvements	$150,000
City of Long Branch	Lake Takanassee Beautification	$40,000
Borough of Eatontown	Wampum Park - Site and ADA Upgrades	$50,000
Borough of Avon	Recreation Facility Improvements	$15,000
Borough of Atlantic Highlands	Many Mind Park Improvements	$85,000

Since the inception of the program in 2003, 47 of Monmouth County’s 53 municipalities have been awarded more than $34 million for local parks and acquisition projects. As of 2020, 233 grants have been awarded with 173 of the grants going toward parks development projects and 60 of the grant awards going toward open space acquisition projects. Another $2 million has been allocated for the 2020 round of grant funding, bringing the total allocated through the program to $36 million.

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