The Dartmouth Council on Aging received a $100,000 bequest from the estate of the late George A. Salvador at a Select Board meeting on January 27.

Before presenting the check to Select Board Chair Stanley Mickelson, executor of Salvador’s estate and Dartmouth resident Steven Schwartz spoke about the former Westport High School teacher. “He was a veteran, he was a poet, and he was an author,” he said.

“George was really a true son of Dartmouth. He loved this town, and his roots went deep in this town,” Schwartz continued, noting that Salvador’s parents Gus and Lillian Salvador started the now-defunct landmark milk bottle ice cream stand on Smith Neck Road.

Schwartz also described the Council on Aging as the “jewel in Dartmouth’s crown,” noting that Salvador had a “deep appreciation of the friendship, the warmth, and the services that he had received there during his lifetime.”

Salvador intended the gift to be used for not only developing and expanding the Council on Aging’s programs and services, but also physical facilities, buildings, and equipment at the Council’s discretion, Schwartz said.

“This donation is beyond,” said Council on Aging Director Amy DiPietro. “It goes to show how amazing the entire team is at the Council on Aging.”

The Select Board also voted to conditionally allow UMass Dartmouth to use the town’s name for a Mass Trails grant to upgrade a cycle path that would connect part of the South Coast bikeway to Old Westport Road and Chase Road through the UMass main campus.

UMass Dartmouth Executive Director of Economic Development Hugh Dunn — who presented the plan to the Select Board — said that the college has unsuccessfully applied for the funding twice. 

Mass Trails grants are usually awarded to municipalities, he noted.

Dunn stated that the path would form a “vital piece of the South Coast bikeway” and its development would help mitigate water runoff on Chase Road, among other benefits. “It’s a home run for the town and the university,” he said.

Select Board Chair Stanley Mickelson agreed, calling the project “a win-win.”

The Select Board voted to allow UMass to submit the application under the town’s name provided that the college sign a memorandum of understanding with the town to accept liability and responsibility for construction and maintenance of the project.

This article has been corrected to reflect the fact that George Salvador was a Dartmouth resident who taught at Westport High School, not a Westport resident.