Butler City Council approved a confidentially agreement between the city, Butler Township, the Butler Area Sewer Authority and Pennsylvania-American Water Company on Thursday, meaning the city administrators will not disclose offers made by PAWC to potentially purchase BASA.

This means the city officials, including the three appointees to the BASA board, will not share information about PAWC’s evaluation of the value and assets of the sewer system until the assessment is complete.

Mayor Bob Dandoy said at the meeting that if there will be a sale of BASA, the entities are “not even close” to reaching any kind of official decision or deal or price. He also said residents will have ample opportunity to comment on the potential sale.

“What they are doing right now, which is to get an assessment of the sewer system, could take two months, maybe more,” Dandoy said. “BASA, if they want to proceed forward then there is going to be a whole lot of talking and a whole lot of negotiating. Residents will be able to get their voice heard.

“This just moves us one step closer to getting the information.”

Councilman Mike Walter, who is the council liaison with the sewer authority, said talks with PAWC are too early to provide an accurate view on if a sale will happen.

“There are a lot of questions, there are a lot of things we don’t know,” Walters said. “I want to move forward with caution with saying make sure we are doing the right thing if the sewer authority decided to do this.”

In December the BASA board voted 3-2 in favor of a confidentiality agreement submitted by PAWC that allows the company 60 days to assess the system’s value assets for a potential sale.

The Butler Township commissioners passed a confidentiality agreement between the city, BASA and PAWC at a Jan. 17 meeting.

BASA serves nearly 15,000 customers in 32.5-square-miles, which includes Butler; Butler and Center townships; East Butler; parts of Connoquenessing, Summit and Oakland townships; and a small portion of Penn Township.

Open council seat

Council also moved up the deadline for letters of interest for his open council seat. Dandoy was elected mayor in November, and his council term will expire at the end of 2023. Dandoy said it needs to be filled by the council by the first week in February or else a county court may appoint a member.

Dandoy said the city has received five letters of interest for the position. The council advertised that it is searching for a person with a background in finance.

All letters of interest should be addressed to the attention of Dandoy, and mailed or delivered to the city administrative office by noon Tuesday.

Council will have a special meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday to discuss filling the open seat.

Italian Festival

Council also decided to close Main Street from Brady Street to Diamond Street from 5 p.m. Aug. 26 until 6 p.m. Aug. 28 for the Butler Italian Festival.

According to Councilman Donald Shearer, the organizers of the festival pay up to 25 percent of police overtime for up to six officers for coverage of the festival.