The Carbon County Council of Governments is hoping a new grant program will help its members with some costs for parks and recreation costs.

On Tuesday, the group announced the new Recreation and Parks Grant program to its members during its October meeting. The program allows COG member municipalities within Carbon County to be reimbursed up to $2,000 annually for eligible parks and recreation expenditures.

Currently, nine of the 23 municipalities within Carbon County participate in the COG, which costs $100 a year for membership.

Eligible expenses could include park maintenance, park improvements, recreation programs for the community, recreation facilities like trails or ballfields or beautification projects of a park or recreation area.

Commissioner Wayne Nothstein, who represents the county in the COG, said that the initiative aims to help the communities that have been involved with the COG.

“It’s just a way of giving back and showing some worth in trying to get additional membership,” he said. “It shows the purpose of the COG and how you work together to try and solve problems.”

The Carbon County COG has been in existence for over a decade and aims to help communities through collaborative efforts to enhance local planning and save on taxpayer money.

Through the COG, municipalities have worked together previously to secure funding for larger projects, share equipment and manpower and work to cut down on overall costs.

The group has previously given funds to area libraries and fire departments to help maintain these entities in the communities.

For questions regarding the recreation grant program, the participating municipality should reach out to their delegate or call 610-703-0029. Program forms must be filled out and submitted along with a project receipts to Carbon County Council of Governments, P.O. Box 288, Bowmanstown, PA 18030.

Nothstein said that in 2027, the COG plans on having a speaker come in to help municipalities with grant writing and urged all Carbon municipalities who are not involved in this group to consider joining for the benefits it provides.

Dues are due by no later than Jan. 31, 2027 and checks can be made payable to Carbon County Council of Governments with the municipality’s name and fiscal year in the memo line. A completed dues voucher should be included with payment and mailed to the above-mentioned address.