Mar 30, 2018 2 min read

South Strabane Township will need to reduce the sediment in its urban streams by 10 percent by 2023, as part of its renewal process for an MS4 stormwater permit.

The township has to renew the permit every five years, and is due to submit a renewal application Nov. 1, according to Sarah Boyce of Widmer Engineering. Boyce attended the township’s Tuesday meeting to inform the supervisors about the permit renewal and the excess sediment in the streams.

Boyce said the sediment is coming from farm field runoff, as well as dirt, salt and gravel that is getting into the township’s urban streams – tributaries of Chartiers Creek. She said after investigating possible solutions, she will make a recommendation to the supervisors as to how to reduce the sediment by 10 percent over the next five-year permit cycle, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection’s regulations.

In other action Tuesday, the supervisors approved a resolution to accept the terms and conditions of a state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources partnership program that will allow the township to pursue grant money for the fifth phase of improvements to South Strabane Community Park.

Township Manager Brandon Stanick said half the $225,000 will come from the grant, and the other half is a local match that will come from the township’s budget. The money will pay for a paved walking trail in the middle of the park and the installation of a restroom and kitchen at the existing pavilion.

Stanick said the deadline to apply for the grant is April 11.

The township is planning to review the park’s master plan, which was created in 2001 and is now “dated,” Stanick said.

Phases one through four of the improvements, which were completed from 2004 to 2014, included parking areas, playground equipment, stormwater facilities, a pavilion, a ballfield, a paved walking trail, a multipurpose field, and volleyball and basketball courts.