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County conservation district, city plan meadow conversion at Gibson Boulevard to improve Spring Creek water quality
Summary
Dauphin County Conservation District officials briefed council on a proposed lawn-to-meadow riparian buffer at 919 Gibson Boulevard intended to reduce runoff to Spring Creek and use DEP grant funds from the countywide action plan.
Dauphin County Conservation District officials and the countywide action plan coordinator briefed Harrisburg council members on Resolution 13 of 2025, a proposed landowner-grantee agreement for a riparian buffer project at 919 Gibson Boulevard.
Eric Naguski, department head of the Dauphin County Conservation District, said the parcel — a roughly two-acre lawn behind the Dauphin County Work Release Center that the county has maintained since the center was built in 1996 — is proposed for a lawn-to-meadow conversion of approximately 1.4 acres. The project is part of the county’s 2024 countywide action plan (CAP) funded through a Department of Environmental Protection grant to improve water quality in the Susquehanna River watershed, with local benefit to Spring Creek.
"The most important is ... to improve water quality going to Spring Creek," Naguski said. He said the county sought projects that would reduce polluted runoff and that a meadow conversion both improves filtration and reduces mowing and maintenance costs. Josh Clark, countywide-action-plan program manager with HRG (the CAP coordinator for Dauphin County), described the planned work: remove or cut turf, seed native plant species, maintain a 40-foot mowed sightline through the slope and a 15-foot buffer around the perimeter, and thereafter mow the meadow annually to prevent woody growth.
Naguski said the county is on a tight timeline to spend grant funds and thanked the council for the opportunity to present. He also said county staff at the work release center have agreed to continue an annual maintenance role and that the city would not bear new maintenance responsibilities under the grantee agreement.
Council members asked about technical plans and public presentation of the design; staff offered to forward draft plans and concept photos for council and public review. The committee moved to add Resolution 13 of 2025 to the next legislative-session agenda for a vote; the transcript does not show a recorded vote on that motion.
Why it matters: Riparian buffer and meadow plantings can reduce nutrient and sediment runoff into Spring Creek and, ultimately, the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay. The project uses state DEP grant funding administered through the countywide action plan and is timed to meet grant spending deadlines.
What’s next: Staff will finalize an agreement and the project design documents; partners said they would provide concept photos and draft plans for public review before formal council action.
