West Penn Township will receive a large grant to further develop a park.

At Monday’s meeting, supervisors shared the news of obtaining a $60,000 DCNR, which will aid in further developing J.E. Morgan Park.

“We worked pretty extensively over a two-month period to help write the grant,” said supervisor Glenn Hummel, who worked on it with a representative from Lehigh Engineering.

“Once we got it written, it was fingers crossed. It adds a lot of extra money for us. It’s a big burden off the taxpayers here, that it’s coming out of the DCNR to help this community with something like this.”

With the grant money, upgrades and renovations could include the pavilion, restrooms, ADA accessibility and much more. “He’s really taken the bull by the horns and spearheaded the whole thing,” chairman Tony Prudenti said of Hummel.

Tamaqua youth soccer

The board also approved a motion to enter a lease agreement with the Tamaqua Area Youth Soccer Association for use of the fields at J.E. Morgan Park. Hummel said it’s a two-year guarantee for use of the fields on both Saturdays and Sundays.

After two years, the contract can be renewed on a year-by-year basis.

“They dumped six-or-seven thousand (dollars) into that field already,” Hummel said. “They don’t really have a home. They’ve been using the school district’s empty fields over the years. They’ve shown us good faith by putting money into it, and our back to them is to say that nobody is going to take this away from you.

“It’s a great place for the youth association to have a place to play.”

Trick-or-treat

The township’s trick-or-treat night is officially set for Oct. 31 from 6-8 p.m.