BUTLER TWP — Officials plan to hire a full-time fire chief to oversee the four departments that cover the City of Butler and Butler Township.

Representatives of city council and the township commissioners announced their plan to enter into an intermunicipal agreement at a news conference Tuesday at Butler County Community College.

“We intend to enter into this agreement because we believe both municipalities will better be able to serve their communities and taxpayers by doing so,” Butler Mayor Ben Smith said in a prepared statement.

Each board will introduce an ordinance at their respective meetings later this month and take a final vote in July, Smith said. A job description is being prepared, but was not released to the public.

Once the ordinance is approved, a committee, including city and township officials and representatives of the fire departments, will review applications and interview candidates.

The chief will oversee Butler City Fire Department, Butler Township Volunteer Fire District Station 3, Mercer Road Volunteer Fire Department and South Butler Volunteer Fire Department.

Elected officials from the township and city had been discussing this plan for the past several months in a series of private meetings. The negotiations went smoothly, township Commissioner Fred Vero said.

“There was no negativity. The bottom line is 'how can we save taxpayers money?'” he said.

The city fire department has not had a fire chief since 2016 when Nick Ban retired. Though council has not filled the position, the city does have money budgeted for a chief, Councilman Mike Walter said. The joint chief will not be part of the city firefighters' bargaining unit.

The chiefs of the three volunteer departments were consulted while officials negotiated the plan and will transition into a deputy chief or assistant chief role, township Commissioner President Dave Zarnick said.

“They said they are ready to step aside and let someone else take over,” Zarnick said.

The bylaws of each volunteer department may have to be altered to reflect that each chief will no longer be elected by members, officials said.

Being a volunteer fire chief is like a full-time job with all the administrative work that is required, Zarnick said. The volunteer departments in the township, like departments around the state, need all the support they can get as they continue to deal with a shortage of volunteers, he said.

The chief will respond to calls with all four departments, but will be based in the city, Smith said. Officials plan to implement procedures and checks and balances, such as a detailed time sheet, to ensure that each municipality pays its fair share for services rendered.

Each party's portion will be a prorated amount based on the work performed, Smith said.

The duties of the township fire marshal, a township employee who investigates fires and does fire prevention, will not change, officials said.