Morrisville Borough recently applied for $6.5 million in funding from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and is in the midst of seeking additional grant opportunities to fund additional projects to as part of an overall revitalization effort officials have in their sights.
Borough officials were approached by Bucks County for a potential funding opportunity, from the U.S.Department of Housing and Urban Development Disaster Recovery Funding, to assist with flood mitigation projects. Bucks County is the applicant for the projects which include drainage improvements for W. Palmer and Hillcrest Avenues, and Melvin Court, Council President Helen Hlahol said.
Applications for replacement of Trenton Avenue and Plaza Boulevard traffic lights, Patriots Park improvements, Hillcrest and W. Palmer stormwater improvements, and a fire truck for the Morrisville Fire Company were approved by council. Total funding comes in at $6 million if all the applications for the grants are approved by the CDBG. In light of the possibility that grant funding is not always guaranteed, additional funding opportunities for storm improvements on Hillcrest Ave will be sought, said Borough Engineer Kurt Schroeder of Gilmore and Associates.
Patriots Park at Historic Summerseat is also on council’s project list, officials said. Grant applications totaling $1 million were also approved by Council (noted above) for an array of improvements. Originally presented to council 2019, officials said, the concept plan presented by Gilmore and Associates in 2019 is still in play.
Credit: Gilmore and Associates (2019)
The borough announced it received a grant through the PennDOT Multimodal Transportation Fund of just under $378,000 to upgrade the traffic signals at the intersection of N. Pennsylvania and Trenton Avenues. On the same topic of Interim Borough manager Jim Dillon is seeking grants to replace traffic signals to give Morrisville a more historic look and feel synonymous with its colonial history
A CDBG grant for $300,000.00 was received, officials announced, to install new playground equipment at Manor Park. Council is expected to start accepting bids in the fall/winter for the project and construction will hopefully begin in spring of 2025 which also happens to be the target time for work at the Stockham building.
Next month, an ambitious paving program will be presented to council with plans to be repave borough roads over a two-year period, Hlahol said. By then, the prohibition on trucking traffic over 10 tons on South Pennsylvania Avenue should be in place.