Butler Township acknowledges BASA waiving sale termination
BUTLER TWP — Commissioners voted Monday, Aug. 19, to “acknowledge” the Butler Area Sewer Authority waiving its right to terminate its sale agreement with Pennsylvania American Water for 60 days after Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court rules on an appeal against the sale.
Rebecca Black, Butler Township’s solicitor, said Pennsylvania American asked BASA to waive its right to terminate the sale agreement, which the township acknowledged Monday, in a vote of 3-1. According to Black, either party could terminate the agreement after Aug. 21, but if BASA approves the agreement, the authority cannot stop the sale until Commonwealth Court rules on an appeal of the sale made by Center and Summit townships.
Black said the move by the water company is a way to lock in the sale, even though it has been delayed indefinitely by the appeal.
“Technically once that outside date is reached, that Aug. 21 date, at that point moving forward, either party could exercise a termination of the agreement,” Black said. “What they are seeking is a waiver of the right to terminate. So nothing is automatically going to terminate, but it is going to sit there in limbo while we all wait for a decision from the Commonwealth Court.”
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approved the $230 million sale of BASA to Pennsylvania American in November 2022. Commissioners Sam Zurzolo, Ed Natale and Joe Wiest voted in favor of the acknowledgment Monday, while commissioner David Rice dissented.
The township commissioners voted to release a request for proposals for the development of a strategic plan for Butler Township’s emergency service response.
Natale said the intent is to develop short-term, midterm and long-term strategic goals to provide necessary public safety services within the township. It could make recommendations to the Butler Township Volunteer Fire District on how to best utilize resources and staffing for emergencies, Natale said.
Scott Frederick, the director of emergency services for Butler Township, said a strategic plan would help members of the volunteer fire district understand what is expected of the department.
“Basically we want to understand where we’re at, and then where the stakeholders are at, so the board of commissioners, the community and the fire district know what level of service they expect,” Frederick said. “Basically the strategic plan would be the road map from where we are to where that expectation is.”
Black also said the plan could help address the decrease in volunteer firefighters available to respond to emergencies the township has been seeing in recent years.
“This is not any type of indictment or accusation of them not providing a quality service to the community,” Natale said. “This is a cooperative effort to work with those who have been doing it so well for the past several decades.
“I’m excited about this process.”
The commissioners donated $6,000 to the Butler Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation’s Kids’ Weekend Backpack Program at its meeting Monday, a sum gathered through the township’s Guys Who Grill event in June.
Butler Township manager Tom Knights said the money came from proceeds from the event, as well as leftover sponsorship money given to the event by Pennsylvania American Water.
Audray Muscatello Yost, an organizer of the Kids’ Weekend Backpack Program, said the program fed 427 children in Butler Area School District each week of last school year, and donations to the foundation support its food security efforts.
“This is going to help feed a lot of children, especially that first month,” she said about the start of school.
