Hellertown, Lower Saucon Awarded State Gaming Grants
Local Share Account gaming grants will fund police vehicles in Hellertown and Public Works Garage improvements in Lower Saucon, with additional awards to Freemansburg.
Hellertown borough and Lower Saucon Township will both receive community development grants to fund critical needs, as part of a round of Local Share Account gaming grants that were just announced.
The office of state Sen. Lisa Boscola (D-18)–who represents parts of Northampton County–identified the awards in a news release last week.
Hellertown will receive $105,057 to pay for police vehicles and Lower Saucon Township will receive $385,589 for improvements to its Public Works Garage.
Nearby, Freemansburg borough is set to receive $175,000 for seating for its Community Amphitheater and $99,396 for Phase 4 of the development of its Municipal Community and Cultural Center.
“These state grants will have a positive impact on our quality of life especially in providing critically needed equipment for our police, fire and EMS providers,” Boscola said in a statement. “These grant awards coming to these important community projects demonstrate the positive impact we continue to see through the state gaming act.”
The release noted that the grant awards “were made possible by the collective efforts of the Lehigh Valley legislative delegation, Representatives Emrick, Flood, Freeman, Mackenzie, McNeill and Samuelson, working in a bipartisan fashion to secure the state funds, approved by the Commonwealth
Financing Authority (CFA).”
The Local Share Accounts (LSA) were established by the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act, which legalized casinos in the state. The funds for the awards are generated by the state’s gaming facilities and may be used for economic development, community development and public interest projects in Northampton, Lehigh and Monroe County and its contiguous counties.