Back to list May 30, 2014 CAEDC Works With Heritage Village For Connector Road SOUTH MIDDLETON TOWNSHIP – The developers of Heritage Village are seeking a letter of support from township supervisors for a state grant to fund construction of a proposed road that would connect Trindle and York roads through the development site east of Fairview Street. The Cumberland Area Economic Development Corporation, acting on behalf of the developers, has until June 30 to submit two grant applications for $3 million each to the two state agencies administering the Multimodal Transportation Fund, said Jonathan Bowser, chief executive officer of CAEDC. The state Department of Transportation and the state Department of Community and Economic Development will be working together to award grants from the $60 million fund established as a result of the passage in late 2013 of the transportation bill, Bowser said. PennDOT has authority over $20 million of the fund while DCED will oversee about $40 million. Because two agencies are administering the funds, separate grant applications will be submitted in the hope that either PennDOT or DCED would award a grant to offset $3 million of the estimated $4.7 million of the costs to build the connector road, Bowser said. He added the developers will be responsible for the balance to be paid in the form of a 30-percent match if a grant is awarded. Though competition will be stiff for the grants, Bowser is optimistic either application would stand out because of the projected economic impact of Heritage Village combined with the traffic benefit of having a connector road close to the split interchange of Interstate 81 at Exits 48 and 49. Heritage Village will combine commercial and light industrial development along Trindle and York roads with residential development in between, said Justin Doty, an engineer connected with the project. The construction of the project will generate about 546 jobs while the commercial and light industrial portions of the project will generate about 975 jobs, Bowser said. The jobs taken together would pump a combined $70 million into the local economy. The commercial and light industrial components of Heritage Village could result in $68 million worth of properties while the residential component could result in $103 million worth of properties, Bowser said. The assessed value of all the properties combined could generate about $1.9 million in new tax revenue for South Middleton School District, South Middleton Township and Cumberland County. Read the rest of the Sentintel article here.
