Spring City to Apply for County Grant

At Spring City's monthly board meeting on Monday, March 4, borough manager Dennis Rittenhouse presented two improvement plans to the borough council that could be funded by grants from the Chester County Department of Community Development. 

These grants are intended to pay for community revitalization projects. 

Rittenhouse told the council that both plans are improvements that the borough definitely needs. One is the purchase and installation of an anaerobic digester at the wasterwater treatment plant on Gay Street; the second involves repairing a stormwater flow issue in the 100 block of Hall Street. 

The county has $2.5 million in grant money available this year. 

The digester project would cost $910,000. Rittenhouse said that this would be a step that the borough could take that would delay the need for a totally new plant. 

The Hall Street project, estimated at $151,500, would stop water from actively flowing down Hall Street by relocating piping to an underground location. Rittenhouse said he noted the problem this winter when he saw how icy Hall Street was. 

Councilman Gene Sweeney agreed that Hall Street is a problem. 

"I lived on Hall Street for eight years. In the winter it's a mess, your tires freeze to the road," Sweeney said. "In the summer, it runs all the time - if you're carrying groceries and you drop something it'll float away."

Rittenhouse asked for council's opinion on which project should be a priority. The Department of Community Development asks boroughs to indicate first priority, second priority, and so on when applying for multiple grants.

Rittenhouse told the council that with only $2.5 million available, it was unlikely they would be granted the full $910,000 for the digester project. Anything not paid for by the grant would have to go in next year's budget.

Councilman Michael Hays suggested that it is more practical to make the Hall Street project a priority since they are more likely to get close to full funding on it. Several other councilmen agreed, although it was decided to still go ahead and apply for money for both projects. 

Rittenhouse advised the council that there is no obligation to accept any grant offered; if the borough is offered a grant they have the option to turn it down. 

The council voted unanimously on two resolutions authorizing Rittenhouse to apply for the grants.