Stream Bank Restoration On Hold While Wrightstown Seeks Grant Funding

WRIGHTSTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — The township will have to find another source of funding to pay for a stream bank restoration project along Anchor Run.

The township had submitted a grant to the state for $290,000, which would have paid for the project. The grant, however, was unsuccessful.

“I reached out to representatives of the program and they told me they had received 432 applications requesting more than $96 million. They only had $16 million to award so there were a lot of worthwhile projects that were not funded,” the township’s engineer told the supervisors this week.

Supervisor Chester Pognowski called it “disappointing. There were a lot of trail grants awarded. Unfortunately, a stream bank restoration being mandated by the state was not. If we don’t come up with grant funding, it’s a three-mill increase in taxes to cover the cost of the work that needs to get done. It’s one of those unfounded mandates that are passed down to us. Hopefully, we can come up with money somewhere.”

In other business, Newtown Township Police Chief John Hearn delivered his monthly police report. During December police responded to 621 calls and made five arrests including two for DUI, two for a commercial burglary on Cherry Lane, and one for operating an ATV on Swamp Road.

According to Hearn, there were also 26 traffic crashes including one fatality on Swamp Road between Worthington Mill and Second Street Pike. He also reported nine deer collisions.

Chief Hearn also presented his year-end report, announcing a 29 percent increase in incident calls over 2023. Proactive patrol checks were also up over the previous year.

“Overall the township is well serviced, well protected and it’s a great place to live and work," said the chief.

In other business, Lingohocken’s new chief Ethan Tecker delivered the fire report noting that 2024 “was our second busiest year by call volume. We saw a 37 call increase (in Wrighstown),” he said.