Gambling Money Comes Back to Towns

From the BCCT.

Authority awards $2.6 million in casino grants
Lower Southampton will get nearly $800,000. Bristol Township will receive $634,000. This year’s grants are a million more than last year.
By JAMES MCGINNIS

The Bucks County Redevelopment Authority on Monday awarded more than $2.6 million in casino impact grants while setting the stage for even more towns to apply for gambling money.

Bristol, which doesn’t directly border Bensalem or Philadelphia Park Casino, will nonetheless get $350,000 to pay for renovations to its police and fire departments next year.

The gaming act states that grants should go “to the municipalities which are contiguous to the municipality and which are located within the county in which the licensed facility is located.”

Still, Redevelopment Authority Director Bob White said the borough is eligible to receive funds as long as the application is submitted by the county.

“We checked with our solicitor on this and the county can apply for anyone that they want,” White said.

That might come as a shock to officials in Penndel who said the Redevelopment Authority told them they weren’t eligible.

There also was confusion at the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board Monday about whether Bristol is eligible. Representatives said they need time to review the law on impact grants before any comment.

Meanwhile, White encouraged applications from Penndel and Langhorne, calling those towns the “doughnut holes” of Lower Bucks. “These towns are surrounded by Middletown and Bristol Township and they can apply,” he argued. “They can clearly argue that they’re affected” by the casino.

Being close to Bensalem certainly had the desired effect for Lower Southampton — the big winner among grant applicants this year. Lower Southampton can expect nearly $800,000 in revenues from the slot machines.

One grant of $192,000 will help pay for upgrades to the intersection of Street Road and Central Avenue while another for $185,000 will pay for equipment that clears intersections during emergency response calls.

Lower Southampton and Feasterville fire companies will receive a combined $240,000 for new generators. Tri-Hampton Rescue Squad will get $72,782 for global positioning communications equipment, and the fire marshal is slated to receive $40,000 for three hybrid vehicles.

There are no hybrids on Bristol Township’s list. Instead, the township is going to buy guns.

A $20,000 grant for Mayor Sam Fenton’s proposed firearms buyback program is just one of $634,000 in grants for the township.

The community is slated to receive $120,000 to fight flooding and another $140,000 to make the township building handicap accessible.

A combined $166,050 will go to renovating the Croydon and Edgely firehouses. Third District Fire Company will get $100,000 for new air packs. Another $88,000 is set aside for emergency generators and traffic signals.

With just one grant this year, Middletown will receive $478,977 to help pay for upgrades to the intersection of Route 213 and Business Route 1.

Nearby, Hulmeville will receive $300,000 for a new borough hall. The borough plans to renovate an old borough-owned school on Main Street into the new borough hall and police headquarters.

Bensalem is slated to receive $275,000 next year, with $150,000 to help clean up graffiti and another $125,000 to pay for extra shifts of ambulance crews. (As a casino host community, Bensalem also receives $10 million a year.)

The authority’s board of directors said it received 42 applications seeking a total of $7.2 million for Lower Bucks County. Last year $2.5 million was awarded in grants.

“It’s not easy choosing these grants,” he said. “We had a lot of really good requests this year. And none of this is going to a study. These are things that will start right away.”