County Approves $227K for Lansdale Road Project

Montgomery County Commissioners at its Thursday meeting approved a $227,370 allocation to Lansdale Borough for its West Eighth Street Community Development Block Grant project.

The borough had initially applied for $260,675, according to county documents.

The CDBG project will rehabilitate and reconstruct West Eighth Street from Cannon Avenue to Maple Avenue.

This includes new concrete sidewalks and curbing and new storm sewer pipe and inlets.

There is also a complete review of the street with potential upgrades to gas and water lines paid by the respective utility companies.

The Lansdale Public Works Committee discussed the CDBG project briefly at its August 1 meeting.

"I don't know that it's definitively in front of them, but at some meeting soon they should take action on that," said borough utilities director Jake Ziegler. "We are strongly in the running for approval on that."

In March, Lansdale Council passed a resolution in support of the grant application. By April 2, the grant application was completed and submitted to the Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Development.

According to Montgomery County Housing and Community Development, the CDBG program is an entitlement funding from HUD for the purpose of promoting community revitalization throughout the country.

To be eligible, a project must meet one of three national objectives:

• Benefit low- and moderate-income persons
• Aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight
• Meet other community development needs that present a serious and immediate threat to the health and welfare of the community

Funds can be used for a wide range of activities:

• Acquisition of property for public purposes
• Construction or reconstruction of streets, water and sewer facilities, neighborhood centers, recreation facilities, and other public works
• Demolition
• Rehabilitation of public and private buildings
• Public services
• Planning activities
• Assistance to nonprofit entities for community development activities
• Assistance to private, for profit entities to carry out economic development activities (including assistance to micro-enterprises)