Zelienople votes to renew agreement with WBCA with conditions
ZELIENOPLE — At its monthly meeting Monday night, June 26, Zelienople Borough Council voted to renew its 50-year charter agreement with the Western Butler County Authority, the joint authority that provides water and sewer services for the borough, provided that the authority agrees to certain stipulations.
The current agreement, which also ran for 50 years, is set end in December.
The extension won’t be final until the authority board votes on the extension at its next meeting. It can’t come soon enough for Zelienople borough manager Andrew Spencer.
“The borough has been negotiating on this for almost two years,” Spencer said after the meeting. “It’s been back and forth. The borough’s been in discussions and executive sessions and we’ve had our legal counsels that have gone back and forth working through this issue.”
The authority provides water and sewer services for Zelienople, Harmony, Jackson Township and Lancaster Township. Zelienople is the last of the four to adopt a resolution to extend its charter with the authority.
Zelienople’s resolution included a set of stipulations. These would require the authority to amend its articles of incorporation to require a majority vote of its board to approve any expenditures over $1 million, as well as allocate $470,000 annually for collection system improvement design.
“All we’ve done is send over what our requirements are, and it’s up to their attorney to advise them on what they need to do,” Spencer said. “We’ve done our due diligence, and our attorneys have helped us through that. What they need to do to make it happen is not our concern.”
Later during the meeting, the council also voted to grant the authority a 60-day extension on the preliminary land development application for its new administrative building, which would be located near its Water Pollution Control Plant on Market Street.
The new building, designed by Hayes Design Group, is planned to cover 8,000 square feet with an attached 3,000-square foot garage.
