Category Archives: News and Event Blog

You’ve probably heard the expression, “Fall is for Planting,” and it’s true. The cooler Autumn months are the best time to plant many trees and shrubs. At this time of the year, the soil is still warm, but the temperatures are cool. There is less of a threat to plants from pests and disease and there is less of a chance that new plants will be stressed by a lack of water. The roots of trees and shrubs planted in the fall are better prepared to start growing in the spring and those deeper, more established, roots are better able to handle drought when summer comes.

When planting trees and shrubs at any time of the year, choose species that are native to our part of the country. Native plants are part of the local ecosystem and are a crucial part of the food chain that support the birds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators that inhabit our yards and gardens. Native plants are both beautiful and easier to maintain than non-native plants, which are less adapted to growing here.

So what to plant? Here is a list of some of the very best native trees and shrubs that benefit birds in two very important ways: these species all serve as a host plant for the insects and caterpillars that all birds need to feed their young in the spring, and they also provide nuts or berries that birds eat at other times of the year.

• Large Deciduous Trees: Oaks, Black Cherry, River Birch, Red Maple, Black Gum
• Smaller Flowering Trees: Flowering Dogwood, Pagoda Dogwood, American Plum, Choke or Pin Cherry, Crabapple
• Large Evergreens: American Holly, Eastern Red Cedar, Eastern White Pine
• Shrubs: Serviceberry, Red or Black Chokeberry, Gray/Silky/Redosier Dogwood, Winterberry, Inkberry, Bayberry, Elderberry, Blueberry, Spicebush, Arrowwood Viburnum

For more specific information on how native plants are crucial for the survival of birds, read Doug Tallamy’s book, Bringing Nature Home, which the Borough’s Bird Town Committee offers for sale. For more extensive lists of native plants that benefit birds and pollinators, check out the resources available on the Bird Town Organization page.

Written by Tom Price, Bird Town Program

New Britain Borough is pleased to announce the award of a $10,000 grant through PECO’s Green Region Program! The grant will be used on the two service islands along Butler Avenue between the Town Center shops and Tamenend Avenue. The borough will replace the diseased ash trees on both islands with new foliage, as well as add new benches close to the sidewalks. Special shoutout to volunteer Tess LaMontagne for her significant contributions to this grant application.

The New Britain Civic Association is hosting its annual Duck Derby at Covered Bridge Park on Saturday, September 29 from 11 AM – 3 PM. Come enjoy food, prizes, vendors, raffles, entertainment, and special activities for kids.

And don’t forget to buy a duck! Ducks will be raced in the creek, and winners can earn up to $500. The proceeds from this event benefit the New Britain Civic Association and another local community non-profit. For more info, please visit http://www.newbritaincivic.org/

The Positively Aging Bucks County (PABC) volunteer program is seeking volunteers to help with it’s school based tutor programs for the September 2018 – June 2019 school year.

Develop confidence and motivate positive results for learning in the life of a young child!  PABC partners with several local school districts to supply volunteers that support emergent readers and help build character in the lives of young children right in our community.  The relationship built between a child and a tutor is often a significant part of a child’s learning experience.

Volunteer opportunities are available throughout Bucks County with commitments as little as a few hours a week.  The primary focus is reading, however, classroom aides and tutors in math and science are also needed.  Enroll in the PABC volunteer program today and help us supply the demand for support in our classrooms for the 2018-2019 school year.

To become a volunteer or to learn more, please contact Lorraine Horvath at 267-880-5725 or llhorvath@buckscounty.org, or visit the PABC webpage.

Rendering of 2018 Pop Up Park at Town Center

New Britain Borough will be hosting its second annual Pop-Up Park event the weekend of September 21 – 23!

Pop-Up Park is part of Park(ing) Day, which is a global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to transform parking spaces into temporary public places.  This year’s event will include a native plant sale, garden arbor auction, kids games, face painting, crafts, zumba and yoga events, performances by Theatre Arts Center and Action Karate, and Bird and Nature Discussion.  Evening activities will include live music, table service from surrounding town center restaurants and BYOB from 7 PM – 11 PM.

For more information, please visit http://tinyurl.com/nbbpopuppark

Photo credit: PA Department of Agriculture

The Spotted Lanternfly continues to threaten our ecosystem. The invasive pest attacks grapes, fruit trees, pines, and others. Their feeding damage can kill these plants, especially when coupled with drought, disease and other pests. Bucks County is one of many counties in Pennsylvania that have been identified as a quarantine zone in an effort to stop the movement of this pest to new areas.

The College of Agricultural Sciences from Penn State University has released a guide that reviews the identification, life cycle, current distribution, and techniques for managing spotted lanternflies on your property. This guide can be reviewed at https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly-management-for-homeowners.

You can also follow these simple steps to reduce the spread of the Spotted Lanternfly.

Photo credit: PA Department of Agriculture

Step 1: Search on tree trunks, stone surfaces, vehicles, lawn furniture, and any smooth surface for egg masses. Masses will have a gray putty-like covering on top of them. Tree of heaven is the preferred egg laying site.

Step 2: Scrape masses from the surface. Be sure to remove all seed-like black/brown eggs from under the wax coating.

Step 3: Double bag and trash, burn, or submerge the eggs in alcohol or hand sanitizer.

Based on feedback from our 2017 Town Hall survey, one of the Borough’s priorities is to provide appropriate and aesthetically pleasing lighting. Lights should properly illuminate sidewalks to ensure safe pedestrian use. They should not shine directly into windows, streets, and driveways as this could interfere with a driver’s vision or become a nuisance to property owners and residents.

As existing street lights burn out, we’re replacing them with stronger and less expensive LED lights that follow these guidelines. New development in the borough also encourages the use of aesthetically pleasing lighting. The borough is actively looking into grants that would allow us to make these changes sooner and turn us into the destination town that our residents want us to be!

If you ever have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call the Borough Administration Office at (215) 348-5953 . To learn more about our lighting ordinance, visit https://www.ecode360.com/15490976. 

The Nature Preserve Committee has announced it’s upcoming Fall Work Day Schedule!

We’re looking for volunteers to help us with this important conservation work at the Wilma Quinlan Nature Preserve. If you’re able to attend, please bring work gloves and tools for planting, mulching, and removing invasive plants. Suggested tools include shovels, garden rakes, pitchforks, cutting tools and wheelbarrows.

Our work schedule falls on the following Saturdays from 9:00 AM until Noon. We’ll be meeting at the Matthew’s Avenue entrance (accessible via S Sand Rd).

• September 29 (Rain date October 6)
• October 13 (Rain date October 20)
• November 10 (Rain date November 17)

Please direct any questions to Tom Price at pricet@newbritainboro.com.

(Chicago, Illinois)– Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) is pleased to announce that New Britain Borough, Pennsylvania, has received GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for its budget.

The award represents a significant achievement by the entity. It reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting. In order to receive the budget award, the entity had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. These guidelines are designed to assess  how well an entity’s budget serves as: (1) a policy document, (2) a financial plan, (3) an operations guide, and (4) a communications device. Budget documents must be rated “proficient” in all four categories, and in the fourteen mandatory criteria within those categories, to receive the award.

When a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award is granted to an entity, a Certificate of Recognition for Budget Presentation is also presented to the individual(s) or department designated as being primarily responsible for having achieved the award. This has been presented to Sam Bryant, Borough Manager / Treasurer.

There are over 1,600 participants in the Budget Awards Program. The most recent Budget Award recipients, along with their corresponding budget documents, are posted quarterly on GFOA’s website. Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America.

Government Finance Officers Association is a major professional association servicing the needs of more than 19,000 appointed and elected local, state, and provincial-level government officials and other finance practitioners. It provides top quality publications, training programs, services, and products designed to enhance the skills and performance of those responsible for government finance policy and management. The association is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with office in Washington D.C.. 

You can find more information about the award at http://www.gfoa.org/budgetaward

You can find our award winning 2018 budget at https://newbritainboro.com/information/budget/

Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve held its 18th Annual Land Ethics Symposium at Delaware Valley University on March 15, 2018. This symposium is an event dedicated to the sharing of best practices and new ideas to conserve our native landscape. The highlight of this event is the presentation of the Land Ethics Award, which honors the creative use of native plants in the landscape and ethical land management practices. Individuals, non-profit organizations, government agencies, community groups, and business professionals may be nominated for this prestigious award. According to Kelly Joslin, Bowman Hill’s Educational Coordinator, “the Preserve received an overwhelming number of submissions in 2018.”

This year, the judges selected the Wilma Quinlan Nature Preserve Committee of New Britain Borough as the 2018 recipient of the Land Ethics Award. This all-volunteer Borough committee is responsible for the management and stewardship of the Borough’s 30-acre Nature Preserve located on Mathews Ave.

According to the press announcement released by Bowman’s, the committee’s work in the Wilma Quinlan Nature Preserve “exemplifies what the Land Ethics Award seeks to celebrate” by demonstrating, “the creative use of native plantings to create a sustainable habitat for wildlife and a place for the public to learn about and enjoy nature.” The press release goes on to say that, “the combination of the use of native plants, volunteer involvement, the educational component as well as documented public and ecological impacts earned this project the top honor.”

The Nature Preserve Committee won this award based on the habitat restoration work it has carried out in the Nature Preserve over the past three years. In 2015, the Nature Preserve Committee wrote a Strategic Plan outlining the Committee’s stewardship goals and priorities for the Preserve, which can be found on their webpage.

Highlights of the Committee’s work over this three-year span include the following:

• The Preserve’s three meadows have been routinely maintained and enhanced with the installation of additional native plant species to improve them as pollinator habitats. Native, bird-friendly, understory trees and shrubs have been added to the borders surrounding these meadows.
• Key degraded sections of the Preserve have been cleared of multiflora rose and other invasive species and replanted with native trees and shrubs. A total of 261 trees and 113 shrubs have been planted in the Preserve over the past three years. Scores of existing trees within the Preserve have been freed from choking vines and hundreds of invasive plants have been removed from the Preserve.
• 30+ nesting boxes for species such as Bluebirds, Screech Owls, and Wood Ducks have been constructed and installed throughout the Preserve.
• The experience of visiting the Preserve has been improved through the addition of message boards, trail signs, trail improvements, additional benches, and the creation of another entrance to the Preserve on Landis Mill Road.

While the planning and much of the physical labor that lies behind the above achievements has been carried out by the eleven members of the Nature Preserve Committee, it should be noted that the Committee has also had the help of many other community and student volunteers on the six work days that it now holds each year. Community volunteers have included Borough residents and local Scouts. Student volunteers have come from the National Honor Societies of C.B. West and C. B. South High Schools, and the Key Club of C.B. West. Without the help of these enthusiastic volunteers, the Nature Preserve Committee couldn’t have reached these achievements and would not have won this award.