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German Township receives grant to extend Browns Run Trail

By Toni Cekada for The 3 min read

German Township has recently been awarded a $200,000 grant from state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).

The Bureau of Recreation and Conservation awarded about $33 million for 219 Community Conservation Partnership Program grants to communities and non-profit organizations. The funding is to be used for a wide variety of recreation and conservation projects across the Commonwealth.

Supervisor Dan Shimshock said the funding will be used to extend the Browns Run Trail. The work will include the construction of about 0.8 mile of trail and bridge along Browns Run from Ferry Road to McClellandtown Road, landscaping, project signage, ADA access and other related site improvements.

“I applied for this competitive grant through DCNR in 2013, however the Browns Run Trail Extension Project was not selected,” Shimshock said. “After receiving the disappointing news that our project was not selected, I immediately started reviewing the grant application to see how we could make our 2014 competitive DCNR grant application outshine all other applicants in the new round of funding.”

Chairman Floyd “Buster” Gladman III said he is excited, but not surprised by the news.

“Once supervisor Shimshock sets his focus on a goal, he works relentlessly until he obtains it,” Gladman said.

Shimshock said undertaking a project of this magnitude requires a team of individuals working together to bring a project to fruition.

“The Browns Run Trail committee is made up of a great group of volunteers that are dedicated to promoting recreation and green space within our communities,” he said.

Supervisors plan to bid the extension project out this winter, and hope to start construction in the spring.

“When the first talks of a trail were brought to the table in 1990, I thought, “Who is going to use a walking trail in German Township?’ Boy did I get proven wrong,” Vice Chairman Robert Belch said. “More and more people are using the trail daily. We get constant inquires on when will the trail be extended.”

German Township was one of two municipalities in Fayette County to be awarded the grant.

Brownsville Borough received $37,600 for the development of Northside Park. Work for the project will include installation of play equipment with required safety surfacing, ADA access, landscaping, project signage and other related site improvements.

According to a news release, the DCNR recreation and conservation grant program is funded with a variety of state and federal funding sources including the Keystone Recreation Park and Conservation fund, the Environmental Stewardship fund, the federal Land and Water Conservation fund, the Pennsylvania Recreational Trails fund, the Pennsylvania Heritage Area Program and the Snowmobile/ATV fund.

The amount of funding fluctuates from year to year as does the unreserved program starting balance, the release said.

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