Hatboro Hopeful for Stormwater, Business District Improvement Funds

Better stormwater management and a way to delineate the business district.

Those are a few of the items on Hatboro's wish list as the council readies grant applications, due later this month, for the county's Community Revitalization Program.

"They’re not sure what if any funding is going to be available in 2012," Borough Manager Steven Plaugher said, referencing the county's . "At this point, they’re not even putting any kind of cap or minimum."

If Hatboro is lucky enough to be awarded grant money, officials put at the top of their list upgrades to the existing stormwater management at the . Another option is an underground water retention basin in the borough-owned parking lot of the former building.

Plaugher said the grant application lists stormwater remedies as an eligible item for funding. However, in the past, those types of upgrades were not covered by the grant, officials said during Monday's council meeting.

If that is the case, Hatboro is ready to submit other grant possibilities for a project dubbed the "northern gateway" into town. That initiative calls for "an island in the middle to corral and slow down" traffic, Council President John Zygmont said.

Envisioned for York Road and Summit Avenue, Police Chief James Gardner said the gateway would also help to better delineate the business district.

The last option is funding to repair the historic that sits atop borough hall. A handful of residents have been trying for several years to raise enough funds to have it restored.

Cost estimates are not yet needed for the grant applications, which are due to the county by Jan. 17.

"If you’re on the fence on anything I would lean toward getting it in," borough engineer James Dougherty said.

Dougherty said each municipality can submit as many as three applications. Typically review boards meet with towns in February or March to get a better idea of what's planned, he said. A grant award follows in August or September and the county allows 30 months for the project to be carried out, he said.

To date, Hatboro has been successful in obtaining grants from the county as part of its Community Revitalization Program. In 2011, Hatboro received $40,000 to cover the cost of in the business district and $189,156 to cover reconstruction of Bank Street, the main access to the former Wachovia Bank parking lot, Plaugher said.