MORRISVILLEFirst step in riverfront makeover gets OK
Posted: Thursday, October 27, 2011 6:05 pm | Updated: 7:00 pm, Fri Oct 28, 2011.
Morrisville's forgotten riverfront soon will get a facelift with the help of a federal grant.
The $14,346 Coastal Zone Management Grant awarded earlier this month will go toward the ultimate project, which involves eradicating Japanese knotweed and establishing public access via unpaved and unobtrusive trails at the Morrisville Riverfront Preserve. It's located just south of the intersection of Delmorr and Philadelphia avenues.
"There won't be any ground disturbance with this project," said Debby Colgan, president of the Morrisville Environmental Advisory Council, which applied for the grant in the spring. "We will work with and around nature and the water (from the Delaware River)."
The grant is administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and then awarded by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The grant's program mission is to protect and enhance natural resources in water areas.
The grant will help with the project's two phases, in addition to other money donated and allocated for the project, such as a $16,000 county open space 75/25 matching grant.
The first phase, which will cost about $21,000, involves planning restoration of the riverfront, determining preliminary planting sites and plants, as well as identifying possible walking path locations. The second phase will be implementing the plans.
Helping the borough's environmental council with the project is the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. The planning stage has already started and the groups hope to have the plans completed by spring for public and council review.
The borough-owned site is comprised of more than 1,000 feet of undeveloped, continuous river frontage with a buffer zone along the river, varying in width from 225 feet to 390 feet, that runs between the Delaware River and a railroad spur. It also includes an adjacent property on Delaware Avenue that will be reforested, Colgan said.
Unsuitable for commercial or residential development because it sits in the floodway, the area is overgrown with Japanese knotweed and other invasive species, which have encroached upon the native species that are necessary for a healthy riparian buffer, Colgan said.
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