CRANBERRY TWP — Supervisors awarded a $629,784 contract Thursday, Sept. 7, for the first phase of restorations to the Glen Eden Watershed.

“This one is actually supported, 100% of the construction, by the Butler County Municipal Infrastructure Grant,” township manager Dan Santoro said. “Now, we had a match requirement: We paid for the design and all that stuff up front.”

In early January, the township was awarded $664,000 for the MS4 Glen Eden Watershed Stream Restoration Project. The match, Santoro said, was covered by stormwater fees in the municipality.

“We only awarded the first phase, and we’re going to have to figure out how to fund the second phase,” he said.

The project is part of the township’s MS4 permit requirements. At least 6,000 feet of the stream has to be restored over the two phases for the permit.

Santoro said the scope of the about $1.7 million project seeks to revegetate the stream’s banks and slow down water flow.

“It’s straightening, realigning, putting back in and repairing buffers, putting in stilling ponds,” he said. “It’s all about slowing water down so it's not eroding the banks, which puts sediment into the stream.”

Work is expected to begin on the first phase of the project by late October or early November, according to Santoro.

“I think we’re hopeful it will be done by late spring, early summer,” he said. “It’s going to be weather-dependent.”

In the meantime, Santoro said the township is still seeking funding for the second bid of just over $1 million.

“We had grant funding for the first piece, now we’ve got to find and identify funding for the second piece,” he said.

Supervisors also approved reimbursement agreements with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for its Franklin Road improvement project.

“A lot of these are reimbursement programs,” said Michael Malak, director of engineering and environmental services.

PennDOT’s estimated $17.5 million safety improvement project along Franklin Road includes widening and realigning a segment between its intersection with state Route 228 and Peters Road.

“Because this project impacts both our public sewer and the water infrastructure along the length of the construction, it requires participation design and construction for these relocated facilities,” vice chairman Bruce Hezlep, supervisor, said.

Malak said the township would be responsible for 19% of costs for the road’s water line and 25% of costs for its sanitary lines.

“All said and done, we’re going to be spending around $752,000, or just north of that,” he said. “PennDOT will be paying around $1.3 million.”

The project is currently scheduled for construction in 2024.

“It’s a multiyear project,” Malak said. “2024, 2025 and I think it finishes up in 2026.”

Final approval was also given to two developments with a combined total of nearly 300 residential and apartment units.

The Felson development along Brandt Drive received final planned residential development approval for its second phase.

The phase includes 180 apartment units as well as a club house and pool, with construction expected to begin the first quarter of 2024.

The Breckenridge development along Freedom Road received preliminary and final land development approval, now revised to include four phases of the project.

The development will include 117 townhouse units as well as its own clubhouse and pool, with construction beginning in the coming months.