State Sen. Lisa Boscola

Sen. Lisa Boscola announced Jan. 16 that $1,132,206 in state funding has been awarded to Lehigh Valley Health Network and Easton Area Community Center’s St. Anthony’s Youth Center to support after-school and violence prevention programs in Northampton County by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. The grants are funded through the FY 24-25 Building Opportunity Through Out-of-School Time (BOOST) Grants and the FY 24-25 Violence Intervention & Prevention (VIP) Grant Programs. Additionally, the Pennsylvania Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs were awarded $1.5 million in BOOST funding to be split among the 12 Boys & Girls Clubs in the Commonwealth that run out-of-school time (OST) programs, which both the Boys & Girls Clubs in Bethlehem and Easton provide. The grants were awarded as followed:

• Lehigh Valley Health Network, $950,000 (VIP)

• St Anthony Youth Center of Easton, Pa Inc (dba Easton Area Community Center), $182,206 (Boost)

In collaboration with Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley, LVHN will sustain its Cure Violence partnership, which is an evidence-based public health model that treats violence as a learned and preventable behavior and can lead to reductions in retaliatory violence. Easton Area Community Center will use the $182,206 to support the enhancement and expansion of its OST programs, which includes the after school and summer camp programs at St. Anthony’s Youth Center. The Pennsylvania Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs will expand statewide OST services for school-aged at-risk youth.

State Rep. Jeane McNeill

McNeill announced late last year that $350,000 in Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program funding has been awarded for a project in her community. “I was proud to secure funding for the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority,” said McNeill. “This funding will create new jobs and help our local economy.” This project includes the creation of a “pad ready” development site for commercial development through pavement removal and subgrade preparation, relocation and extension of existing and new utilities for the site, construction of a new signalized intersection and access roadways, related infrastructure to serve commercial development, the Multimodal Transportation Center and the airport terminal, and installation of new stormwater infrastructure to satisfy the latest Department of Environmental Protection requirements.

The Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program is a Pennsylvania grant program for the design, acquisition, and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational, and historical improvement projects. RACP projects have a regional impact and general substantial increases or maintain current levels of employment, tax revenues, or other measures of economic activity. RACP projects are state-funded projects that cannot obtain primary funding under other state programs.

McNeill also announced that more than $2.5 million in Local Share Account Program and Public School Facility Improvement Grant Program state funding has been approved for projects throughout her community.

Grants awarded in McNeill’s legislative district include:

• $750,000 to Bethlehem Area School District – The roofs at school district facilities have begun to degrade at an accelerated rate after recent rooftop HVAC renovations were completed two years ago. This degradation has led to health, safety, and operational disruption concerns due to ongoing leaks into classrooms during wet weather events. The project will replace the roofing system at each facility. PSFIG funds will be used for renovation and engineering costs.

• $336,059 to Sherwood Park Basketball and Pickleball Courts – Sherwood Park is one of the three parks that are owned and maintained by the township. The Sherwood Park Improvement Project would involve the construction of a full-sized basketball court and the repurposing and expansion of the existing basketball courts into two pickleball courts. A storm sewer system is also proposed to convey off-site stormwater runoff through the park and into an existing stormwater management facility to the west of the park.

• $71,198 to Fountain Hill Borough – The project will include the purchase of a fully upfitted police patrol vehicle. This new vehicle will replace an aging vehicle that needs replaced due to years of use and will assist in patrolling the community contingent to the host municipality for a gaming facility.