Zelienople entered an intergovernmental cooperation agreement this week with Harmony and Evans City boroughs and Jackson Township for stormwater management.

“The borough is fully committed to that project,” borough manager Andrew Spencer said. “It’s a regional approach to stormwater management.”

The regional stormwater group between the four neighbors has its roots in the larger Southwest Butler Regional Stormwater Management Group.

Spencer said the necessity and benefit of these intergovernmental agreements are a result of how the state is governed.

“If you go to other states, if you cross into the Midwest or you go down south, the county plays a much more active role in these type of things,” Spencer said. “In Pennsylvania, every inch of ground is incorporated, so you end up with pieces everywhere, and everyone governs their pieces, and they can do it independently of each other — but they impact each other.”

The solution, he said, is regional cooperation.

“If you don’t do it regionally, in cooperation with neighbors, you’re impacting each other in less-than-ideal ways,“ Spencer said.

The next step for the group, according to Spencer, is getting to work.

“It’ll be working on projects,” he said. “Each of the municipalities has its own projects to do, and there’s also a study that will deal with a more formal way to manage this issue going forward.”

MS4 requirements will be a chief concern for the study, Spencer said.

“And it’s funded through the Butler County Municipal Infrastructure Program grants,” he said.

Cooperation in the regional group will help the municipalities use that money as efficiently as possible to deal with their shared stormwater concerns.

“We’re all together,” Spencer said. “We’re in it together.”

Borough council also honored three public servants for their years of service.

Spencer; Aaron Kniess, police officer; and Sean Adomaitis, water operator, were honored with a Years of Service Award at a council meeting Monday, Feb. 27.

“Aaron and Sean were 25 years,” Spencer said, “and I am 15.”

Spencer said the borough honors staff every five years. The awards are presented by Mayor Thomas Oliverio, and recipients are recognized with a certificate from the borough.

“That’s a nice little thing that we do to show appreciation,” Spencer said. “Everyone deserves a pat on the back once in a while, you know.”