By Richard L. Gaw

Staff Writer

The Kennett Township Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 at their Nov. 4 meeting to permit the township to apply for a PennDOT Multimodal Transportation Fund grant in the amount of $2,193,550.

If the grant is received – the township will know by next spring -- it will be used to fund the construction of an oval-shaped roundabout at the Five Points intersection, where South Union Street, Kaolin Road, Hillendale Road, and Old Kennett Road merge.

If news of the township applying for a grant to cover a portion of the cost of a planned roundabout at the intersection sounds familiar, it’s because this is the fifth time the township has submitted an application for grant funding. The township previously submitted loan applications in July 2018, November 2018, July 2019 and November 2019, and each time, the grant was not awarded.

However, the township’s newest application for funding will reveal a new twist: An offer to contribute more money to the project.

In order to apply for the multimodal grant, applicants are required to provide at least a 30 percent match of the total project costs. The township’s new application will reflect an increase to 35 percent, so if it is awarded the fund, it will be responsible for $767,742 of the $2.19 million price tag. 

“We know that we have applied for several different grants and have not been successful, so we tried to figure out what can we do to make our application a little more competitive,” township Manager Eden Ratliff said. “The guidance we have received from [the Delta Development Group] is to increase our contribution, in order to demonstrate that the township has a larger financial stake in the project and not just a minimal contribution.

“Its really difficult to measure confidence level with such a competitive application, but I am optimistic, and I think it’s worth the application,” he said. “Many municipalities throughout the commonwealth are going to apply for the same amount of money, and it’s a limited pool.”

Ratliff said that if the grant is approved, that it will require several months of back-and-forth design concepts between the township and PennDOT, which will place the start of construction of the roundabout in 2022.

In other township business, the board approved a motion for the township to submit an application for the PECO Green Region Grant for 2020 in the amount of $10,000. If received, the grant would be used toward the installation of riparian vegetation and native plants along the Chandler Mill Trail, which makes up a portion of the western end of the Kennett Greenway.

While design and detailed cost estimates for the trail project are currently in progress, the cost of this installation will include approximately $16,000 in soil and $28,000 in plantings to ensure the trail contributes to the ecological habitat and sustainability of the Greenway.

PECO designed the program to assist local communities in their efforts to sustain or upgrade their natural habitats through improvements to existing meadows, woodlands and open spaces and the installation of passive recreation projects like trails, boardwalks and kiosks.

By a 2-1 vote, the board also approved the appointment of Tom Janton to a five-year term on the township’s Trails & Sidewalks Committee.

The board also reviewed two aspects of the township’s preliminary 2021 budget – its Open Space Fund and planned engineering projects – with Ratliff and Amy Heinrich, director of finance and human resources. The general public is invited to the township’s next online budget meeting on Nov. 12 beginning at 7 p.m., and will be accessible through the township’s website. The entire 2021 budget is expected to receive final approval at the board’s Dec. 16 meeting.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email [email protected].