Oxford Borough Manager Pauline Garcia-Allen announced that the borough has recently received a number of grants.

One is the Chesco Chesapeake Communities Action Plan (C3AP) Grant. The Borough was awarded a $105,104 grant through the Chester County Conservation District’s C3AP Non-Ag Implementation Program to support the borough’s stormwater best management plan projects. 

The C3AP outlines approaches to reduce nutrients and sediment to improve the water quality of local streams and to reduce pollution entering the Chesapeake Bay. Through a partnership with the Community of Love Lutheran Church, the Borough will implement a bio-retention wetland project on Church property. 

Borough officials thanked the county and the Community of Love Lutheran Church and they look forward to this partnership.

The borough is also receiving the Multimodal Transportation Fund (MTF) Grant. On March 16, the borough was  awarded a $150,000 grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s MTF Program to support needed road and streetscape improvements along Mt. Vernon Street. 

In addition to the street improvements, the project will include the replacement of underground water lines and construction of a rain garden and traffic-calming  bump-outs. The bump out will improve stormwater conveyance and help the borough meet their MS4 pollutant reduction requirements.  

Borough officials thanked State Sen. Carolyn Comitta and State Rep. John Lawrence for their support of the project and the borough’s MTF application. 

Garcia-Allen added that the borough has also applied to participate in the Strategic Management Planning Program through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

At a council meeting last week, junior council person Annabelle Bresler updated council on school activities. She said that the students will be taking SAT tests on Wednesday.  

She also noted that the Oxford Educational Foundation is looking for a student representative for its Board of Directors. The term of office for the student representative shall be a two-year term beginning in June and continuing through May of the student’s senior year. Sophomore students who wish to serve as an Oxford Educational Foundation student representative board member during their junior and senior years shall submit an application. The application will consist of a general letter of interest, a resume, and an essay explaining the reason(s) for wishing to be an student representative board member. Completed applications should be submitted to the high school main office by April 25, 2023. 

Bresler also announced that the school’s National Honor Society will hold its second annual

NHS Dance Marathon to benefit Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) on April 14, 2023. 

In the event's first year, the National Honor Society more than doubled the $5,000 goal by raising nearly $11,000, which goes directly to CHOP cancer treatment and research programs to make a difference in the lives of local children. 

This year, they hope to raise a minimum of $15,000 for CHOP. Dance marathon student participants pledge to stay on their feet for a full five hours, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., to raise money, honor, support, and celebrate the patients and families being treated at CHOP. Participants stay entertained through dancing, games, and music, and the event finishes with a big “reveal” of the total amount raised. 

The next borough council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on April 3 in the borough hall.