Reduced Municipal Fees From Cheltenham Worries Watershed Group

ABINGTON, PA — A local watershed organization is concerned after a Montgomery County municipality reportedly announced it would scale back from years past and fork over only half of the funding it usually gives to the group.

Cheltenham Township normally pays $40,000 annually in municipal dues to the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership but this year it is only offering up $20,000, according a recent report by WHYY.

The report says that township officials and representatives with the nonprofit were scheduled to meet Monday to get a better understanding of the funding issue and try to resolve how to move forward.

“Our goal is really to sit down with our partners and get a really good understanding about what they’d like to see the partnership provide and to ensure that they have a really good understanding about … what we have been providing to these townships for two decades,” TTF Board President Joanne Dahme was quoted as saying in the WHYY report.

TTF is a nonprofit organization, and thus it relies on funding from municipalities within the 30-square-mile watershed that is situated within parts of both Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties.

The organization, which dates back to 2000, is an environmental advocacy group that provides education, community engagement, and waterway stewardship and restoration, according to its website.

The TTF watershed is one of Philadelphia’s five main watersheds, with all five flowing into the Delaware River. While much of the watershed lies within the City of Philadelphia, its headwaters are actually situated within five Montgomery County municipalities: Abington, Cheltenham, Jenkintown, Rockledge and Springfield.

The creek itself changes names depending upon location: in Montgomery County it is known as Tookany Creek while the Philadelphia portion is referred to as both the Tacony Creek and then Frankford Creek further down into the city.

The WHYY report noted that while the TTF’s various projects are mostly funded by grant money, staffing and a bulk of the operating costs are paid for with municipal dollars, which is why the partnership appears worried about Cheltenham’s announcement that it is cutting their portion of the municipal contribution fees in half.

An example of the type's of public outreach events TTF holds throughout the year was the public walk titled “Finding Frankford: Investing in the Long-Term Recovery of a Forgotten Urban Stream, which took place in late June. For the event, TTF partnered with the Delaware Riverkeeper Network to educate area residents about various issues plaguing the watershed and potential solutions to these problems.

During the event, TTF staff, board members, volunteers and representatives of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network led nature enthusiasts along the trail that parallels the creek, starting out in the northern portion at the border of Cheltenham, Montgomery County at the intersection of Cheltenham Avenue and Crescentville Road and traversing all the way down to where the creek flows into the Juniata Park section of Philadelphia.

TTF says it will continue that event with related tours in July, September and October. Anyone who is interested in attending can check out the group's website for particulars.

“All of these tours will explore the history of this amazing watershed, including the efforts to restore life to the streams and the progress we have made so far,” reads a TTF statement announcing the tours. “We will also recognize the on-going challenges – from stormwater runoff to regular sewage spills into the creek in Philadelphia – and how these challenges affect our communities, and how water quality affects life within the streams.”