Politics & Government
New Britain to Apply for Open Space Funding
A conservation easement will link the borough's nature preserve with open space across Cook's Run.
On Tuesday, New Britain Borough Council voted 6-0 in favor of applying to Bucks County for $45,000 in open space funds to help purchase a $60,000 conservation easement. Council Member Margaret Remmey was absent.
The easement on a 1.8-acre parcel on Aarons Avenue will connect the 26-acre Wilma Quinlan Nature Preserve with 18 acres of preserved open space on the other side of Cook’s Run, Council Member Peter LaMontagne explained.
“It’s a very scenic piece [of property],” he said. The land is located at the confluence of Cook’s Run and the Neshaminy Creek.
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The borough will pay the remaining $15,000 for the easement on the parcel known as the Miller tract. The municipality’s share will come from a more than $700,000 endowment given to the municipality by the late botanist, Dr. Miriam Groner.
Groner left her house and three-acre property to the borough several years ago, along with the endowment, which has grown to $750,000. Her land was to be added to the preserve, which is accessible from both Landis Mill Road and Matthews Avenue.
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The county funds will come from the $195,000 in county open space funds still available to the borough. New Britain must provide a 25 percent match in order to receive the county funds, which must be committed by Dec. 2013 and used by 2014.
LaMontagne said the borough has had a contract to purchase the conservation easement for two years. The easement allows for the use of the property without ownership.
He questioned whether an additional $1,500 could be used to create a flat-stone walking path across Cook’s Run to the 18 acres. Borough Solicitor Michael Goodwin, who will be submitting the application, said he would find out the answer to that question.
In other business, the council voted 6-0 to appoint Andrea Antell to the zoning hearing board to fill the space vacated by Jeffrey Gilmore, who became a borough council member in January. Antell had been serving as an alternate.
Council also voted 6-0 to appoint Craig Sturza as an alternate member of the zoning hearing board. Sturza had been a borough council member until last month.
