By Betsy Brewer Brantner
Contributing Writer

On Monday, May 19, Oxford Borough held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Community of Love Lutheran Church in the borough to celebrate the completion of the Park Street Community Wetlands, a submerged gravel wetland stormwater project. The project is a forward-thinking, collaborative, green infrastructure initiative designed to enhance stormwater management and improve local water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. 

The event, which took place at 117 N. 4th Street, was well attended by community members, project partners, and local officials. Chester County Commissioners Marian Moskowitz and Josh Maxwell were present and shared remarks congratulating the project partners and highlighting the importance of collaborative environmental efforts. Brandi Levine, representing Commissioner Eric Roe, conveyed his strong support for the project and its environmental benefits. 

The ceremony marked the culmination of a partnership that began in 2023, when Oxford Borough approached the Community of Love Church leadership with the idea to transform an underutilized area on church property into a high-functioning stormwater best management practice (BMP) initiative. 

The project features a submerged gravel wetland, a native wildflower meadow, and biochar-enhanced soils to reduce runoff, filter pollutants, and promote ecological resilience. The new infrastructure not only addresses local flooding concerns but also helps Oxford Borough meet the sediment reduction goals required by its NPDES MS4 permit.

An MS4 Sediment Reduction Plan is a plan developed by a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) to reduce sediment pollution in their stormwater runoff, especially when the MS4 discharges into impaired waters. These plans are often required as part of the MS4's permit requirements and aim to improve water quality by addressing excessive sediment loads in rivers, streams, and other waterways. 

The DEP’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer program in Pennsylvania requires municipalities to implement a Stormwater Management Program (SWMP) and, if necessary, a Pollutant Reduction Plan (PRP). The SWMP includes six focus areas: public education and outreach, construction site erosion control, public participation, post-construction stormwater management, illicit discharge detection and elimination, and pollution prevention/good housekeeping. Additionally, municipalities discharging to impaired waterways may need to develop a PRP to achieve pollutant load reductions. 

“This initiative showcases the power of partnership to implement climate-resilient stormwater solutions,” said Kathryn Cloyd, Borough Council President. “We are eternally grateful to the church leadership for sharing our vision, to our community and project partners for their collaboration and enthusiasm, and to county officials for both project support and funding.” 

The Center for Watershed Protection led the project design, bid administration, and construction management. Construction was completed by SLC Excavating LLC with additional support from the borough’s Public Works Department. Funding was made possible through a $105,104 grant from the Chester County Conservation District’s Non-Ag ChesCo Chesapeake Communities Action Plan (C3AP), along with support from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. 

This project fulfilled many requirements and secured funding for this unfunded mandate. Unfunded mandates are regulations or laws that require a lower level of government, like a state DEP, to take action without providing the necessary funding to meet those requirements. 

Oxford has been very proactive and successful in securing grants which ultimately provides a great benefit to the taxpayers of the borough.

For more information about the project and Oxford Borough’s stormwater initiatives, please contact Pauline Garcia-Allen, Borough Manager, at [email protected] or 610-932-2500 x 1302, or visit oxfordboro.org/stormwater.