Berks County News

Rep. Jamie Barton has announced the allocation of nearly $5 million in grants for schools and municipalities within Pennsylvania's 124th Legislative District. The funding, sourced from Local Share Account (LSA) grants and Public School Facility Improvement grants, was secured through the Commonwealth Financing Authority.

Barton stated, "Our municipalities have so many projects in the works trying to make our area a better place to live. Unfortunately, many of these projects are very expensive, and our townships and boroughs don’t always have enough cash on hand. That’s why I’m proud to have worked with Sen. Dave Argall and Rep. Tim Twardzik to bring this funding back to our area."

The following school districts will benefit from the Public School Facility Improvement grants:

- Blue Mountain School District: $1,075,000 for high school upgrades.

- Kutztown Area School District: $475,000 for HVAC improvements at Kutztown Elementary and Middle Schools.

- Schuylkill County Area Vocational Technical School: $476,805 for a roof replacement and internet project at South Campus.

- Tamaqua Area School District: $450,000 for high school roof replacement.

Municipalities receiving LSA funds include:

- Deer Lake Borough: $700,000 for dam infrastructure repairs.

- Greater Berks Development Fund: $98,287 for Strand Theater renovations.

- Hamburg Borough: $70,127 for an emergency generator at Union Fire Company.

- New Ringgold Borough: $100,000 for traffic widening property acquisition.

- Port Clinton Borough: $177,353 for sewer force main relocation.

- Ryan Township: $69,639 for fire company UTV purchase.

- Tamaqua Borough: $79,444 for historic building façade restoration.

- Tilden Township: $276,849 for a municipal truck purchase.

- Upper Tulpehocken Township receives multiple allocations totaling over half a million dollars:

- A new roof ($28,286).

- An inclusive playground ($297,587).

- A vehicle with traffic control devices ($249,486).

West Penn Township is set to receive $290,360 to purchase an asphalt paver.

The LSA gaming revenues distributed by Act 71 of 2004 support public interest projects across Pennsylvania. The Public School Facility Improvement Grant Program funds eligible facility improvement projects in public school districts and technical schools.

For further information or media inquiries regarding this initiative or others related to Rep. Jamie Barton’s office activities in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives' 124th Legislative District please contact Jake Gillespie at JGillespie@pahousegop.com or call 717.772.9834.