EVANS CITY — After a legal complication, borough council, once again, voted to officially join the new Southwest Butler Stormwater Authority, which would manage the stormwater responsibilities of four municipalities in Butler County.

The vote took place during council’s monthly meeting Monday, July 1.

The other three partners in the authority are Harmony, Jackson Township and Zelienople. Jackson Township voted to join the authority at its supervisors meeting June 20, while Harmony voted to join earlier that month. Zelienople’s agreement is still outstanding.

The authority will function as a utility similar to water and electric service, and will charge stormwater fees to properties in each of the four municipalities.

The fees would go toward making improvements to stormwater infrastructure in the participating municipalities.

Evans City was the first of the four participants to agree to join the new authority, doing so at council’s meeting on April 1. However, according to council president Cheri Deener-Kohan, the council was asked to have a do-over.

“The stormwater committee wanted it done differently than they discussed earlier, so we had to have it advertised and then reapprove it as we did tonight,” Deener-Kohan said. “I’m not sure if it was the wording, or if we were going much faster than the other participants. In the committee of the communities trying to put it together they asked if we would do a do-over and so we did.”

Later in the meeting, the council voted to appoint borough council member Mark Widdersheim as its representative on the new authority’s five-member board.

The board would consist of one representative from each of the four participating municipalities, plus one “at-large” member.

The council also voted to make a municipal loan of $15,750 to the SBSA, which will go to “startup costs.” Deener-Kohan said the borough hopefully will get its money back in the coming years when the new authority starts paying for itself.