Credit: Parx
Christmas came a bit early for a number of Levittown-area towns receiving funding from casino impact grants that are administered by the Bucks County Redevelopment Authority (RDA).
The Board of Directors for the RDA recently awarded $3.4 million in grants to municipalities that border Bensalem, which hosts Parx Casino. The funds will be distributed to Bensalem, Bristol Township, Hulmeville, Lower Southampton and Middletown. Langhorne Manor will receive money after Hulmeville applied for grants on their behalf and the Penndel Fire Company’s funding was applied for through Middletown.
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Staff and RDA board members poured over numerous grant applications from local governments. The grants totaled more than $6.5 million.
“I would like to commend the communities for their thorough selection process of the projects they submitted to the authority. We take seriously the awarding of Municipal Grant Program funds, and it is rewarding to see the completion of all of the projects that address infrastructure, safety and quality of life issues in each community,” RDA Board Chairman Sean Schafer said.
The Municipal Grant Program started in 2008 after legislation championed State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson. In the years since, it has raised $37 million for local towns and funded upgrades to streetlights, emergency radios, gas pumps for township vehicles, SWAT team gear and more.
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Starting in the 2019 funding year, the gaming law will change from allowing the county, Bensalem and towns that are contiguous to Bensalem to apply for grants. Towns located in contiguous municipalities will also be permitted to submit grant applications. This will open the doors to allow Bristol Borough, Langhorne, Langhorne and Penndel to submit their own requests for funds.
RDA Executive Director Bob White said he “looks forward to the addition of these municipalities and plans to visit each one of them to discuss how to apply for these gaming funds.”
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Bensalem
The township’s fire companies and emergency medical squad will split $500,000.
Bristol Township
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The intersections of Bath Road, Bristol-Oxford Valley Road and Lakeland Road and Levittown Parkway and New Falls Road will undergo $300,000 in upgrades. The Wister Road Bridge deck replacement project will benefit from $165,000. A new police department SUV will be purchased for $46,465 and township emergency radios will receive $220, 712. The Third District Fire Company will be able to purchase a commercial washer and dryer extractor machine for $23,965 and the Edgely Fire Company will get a thermal imaging and gas detector for $7,760.
Hulmeville
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The tiny borough will get $47,620 to upgrade to LED streetlights. William Penn Fire Company will be able to purchase new breathing apparatus in $175,000. On Langhorne Manor’s behalf, the borough will pass along $100,000 for a police station upgrade.
Lower Southampton
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The township will put $300,000 to road improvements and $130,000 to the police department.
Middletown
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The police department will receive $139,043 to upgrade their records management system and new public works vehicles will be funded by $83,609. The Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad will be able to remount a vehicle for $48,613 and $26,980 for an oxygen generation system. The township is also slated to receive $125,000 that will be put to modernizing the Penndel Fire Company station.
Bucks County
The county commissioners will receive $700,000 to fund the Lower Bucks Public Safety center in Bristol Township. Roughly $125,000 will help fund health programs. Nine municipalities will benefit from $165,000 Towns Against Graffiti (TAG) and litter program.
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