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$409K grant OK’d for HPO
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Posted on Jun 20 2011
The U.S. Department of the Interior has approved a $409,784 grant for the Commonwealth’s Historic Preservation Office for its operation and personnel cost this fiscal year.
DOI’s American Samoa and Micronesia program manager Paula Falk Creech confirmed the grant’s award in a letter to Department of Community and Cultural Affairs Secretary Melvin Faisao yesterday.
“The HPO fund grant shall be available to the CNMI-HPO for expenditure during the 24-month grant period specified in the grant agreement from Oct. 1, 2010 to Sept. 30, 2012,” Creech told Faisao in the letter, adding that any changes to the budget must be approved in advance by the National Parks Service.
Creech said that the funding—which shall be obligated for salary and operational costs such as electricity, telephone, and water—may also be used for contractual commitments such as projects that must have prior National Park Service approval.
“The approval of the HPF FY 11 grant is contingent upon the successful submission of a complete and accurate fiscal year 2010 annual end-of-the-year performance report, final project reports, and the timely, complete, and accurate submission of the HPF FY 2011 grant application,” explained Creech.
Failure to submit the required documents to the NPS in a timely, complete, or accurate manner may result in NPS withdrawing full or partial grant funding.
The Historic Preservation Offices of the Pacific area territories and the Freely Associated States are annually appropriated Historic Preservation Fund grants for protection and preservation of National Register eligible historic properties and National Historical Landmarks. Financial assistance extended to the CNMI and the other territories does not require a matching share.
Starting fiscal year 2012, the administration plans to transfer the administration of HPO to the Indigenous Affairs Office, along with the Arts Council and the Policy Language Commission. All three are currently under DCCA.
