The Westbury Village Board of Trustees announced on Thursday, July 3, that it is applying for a SEQRA grant, which would help provide the funding needed to improve two parks.
The village is seeking to upgrade the Westbury Community Center at 348 Post Ave. and Alphonse Campbell Park, located just south of Jericho Turnpike on Powells Lane.
Neither park has been upgraded in nearly 15 years, Westbury Mayor Peter Cavallaro said
According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the maximum award for the grant is $675,000, and the application is due by July 31.
The Environmental Protection Fund requires that grant money be used to benefit the public.
Although Cavallaro did not specifically say what the grant would cover, he said the village wants to make the parks more accessible.
The village has also sought grant money for other projects recently. In 2016, it was granted $10 million as part of the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative, which saw six projects come to completion in 2023. The village is also currently working on a streetscaping project that was assisted by $7 million in grant funding awarded in 2023.
The village also applied for a community development block grant earlier this year, which includes $75,000 for Westbury seniors programming, $425,000 for street improvements, and $50,000 for sidewalk improvements.
“There are various grant programs that fund different types of projects,” Cavallaro said. “The real key is to try to identify the right source of money, put in an application and hope for the best.
The mayor also highlighted the village’s ability to receive funding for its projects in the past.
“The village has been very successful and is actually recognized throughout the state as being one of the more successful villages or governmental agencies to utilize the [state’s] funding,” he said.
