MILFORD, Del. - The City of Milford and the Town of Slaughter Beach were selected as one of 64 nationwide grant recipients for a Thriving Communities technical assistance award. The award, through the federal Department of Transportation, will provide $295,000 to support the design of a bicycle and walking pathway to connect Milford and Slaughter Beach.
"We hope this is the first of many applications we are able to work on with the City of Milford to help their citizens access more of the natural wonders in our area and give our citizens better transit options for shopping and dining in the city," Slaughter Beach Mayor Bob Wood said.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act offer many opportunities for towns to receive funding for projects like road repairs, power grid upgrades, climate change resiliency, and more. However, many municipalities in Delaware don't have enough staff to chase down available funding due to complicated and time-consuming application processes.
The Grant Assistance Program at the University of Delaware is a state-funded initiative that provides free assistance to local governments to help them successfully apply for and receive grants. It began in August 2022 and has already submitted 11 funding requests for a total of $12.3 million on behalf of Delaware towns and cities.
The Milford and Slaughter Beach success was the university program's first successful application. While it works with all local governments within the state, it focuses on those that lack the capacity to compete for large-scale funding opportunities. Currently, the program is working with South Bethany and Bowers Beach in their efforts to obtain funding for resiliency projects that would offset impacts of climate change.
More information about the Grant Assistance Program and future funding opportunities can be found at www.bidenschool.udel.edu.