Scottdale is becoming greener by the day, and it's not from the rain the region has been experiencing, but from the installation of dozens of new plants, low trees and flowers that are all a part of the Scottdale Green Streets and Scottdale Borough projects.
“It's all coming along really nice,” Scottdale Borough Manager Angelo Pallone said of the projects that are nearing their completion stages. “They are really getting a lot done quickly.”
The town benefited from two separate grants awarded for the projects.
The Scottdale Borough Project is a 319 EPA grant that both the borough and the Jacobs Creek Watershed Association are managing.
That grant includes the gazebo project and the educational wetland bioretension area at Southmoreland Middle School that have already been completed. It also includes the rain gardens presently being installed throughout the town that will help with storm water issues the borough has been experiencing for years.
“The educational wetland area bioretention area at the Southmoreland Middle School is complete and functioning and it collects and slowly releases storm water from above the school, preventing flooding of properties below along Parker Avenue,” JCWA Executive Director Patty Miller said.
Several of the rain gardens that are a part of the project have already been completed and Miller said she is pleased to see they are functioning the way that they were intended.
“The rain gardens up at the library are really beautiful and now when it rains, the water does not pool there on Spring Street like it used to, so they are doing their job,” Miller said.
The first grant also was used for the design for rain gardens at the borough building to also help with runoff of storm water into Jacobs Creek.
The Department of Environmental Protection recently provided additional funding and the rain gardens project at the borough building also is taking place, in addition to the new ADA ramp is being installed at the building that was made possible by CDBG funding.
“It's great that we can get all of this done at the same time,” Pallone said of the new ramp and rain gardens project at the building. “We still to have a new, wider door installed and an easier way for access, but that will be later.”
The second grant that is providing funding for the numerous projects is the Scottdale Green Streets Construction Project that was acquired through the JCWA that includes new crosswalks, porous pavers, low plantings and low tree plantings, all of which will aid in additional storm water flow issues.
“Not only are these projects making the town more attractive, but they are will be addressing the water issues here for years to come,” Miller said.
Several sections of the project have been completed and work will soon begin on Pittsburgh Street, as areas for gardens or “Bump outs” have already been selected.
“We will lose a few parking spaces, but only a few,” Pallone said. “Everything is really coming together in Scottdale and all the work has been done from the grants that were acquired. No groups or businesses in the borough had to pay for anything and there was no cost to the borough tax payers for any of these projects.”
A similar project in Graft Alley is planned for the near future.
Marilyn Forbes is a contributing writer.
