While each city, borough and township in Butler County is unique, many face similar issues.

Because of the similarities, many mayors from around Butler County have taken to meeting at local restaurants once a month to discuss the improvement of their municipalities.

An idea, born from a 2017 conversation between Mayor Gary Hughes of Harrisville and Butler County Commissioner Kevin Boozel, has become monthly meeting of 10 elected officials seeking the best for their communities.

Hughes recalled that the conversation with Boozel, who was speaking in his role as a local volunteer firefighter, pertained to revitalization efforts in Harrisville.

As they walked through the borough, Boozel mentioned he had been talking to Saxonburg Mayor William (Bill) Gillespie Jr. about revitalization and suggested the two should talk.

This took place at the Family Tradition restaurant in Harrisville, directly across the street from Hughes’ own Penn Gold ice cream shop.

Through this initial conversation, Gillespie was able to share his town’s experience and resources with Hughes.

Gillespie remembers the conversation happening over lunch. He told Hughes about available resources and expertise to help revitalization move forward. Conveying this information and providing contacts to Hughes proved useful to Harrisville’s efforts.

The value of communicating, working together, sharing information and resources, all three agreed, was readily apparent.

“Listening to mayors facing similar issues and their solutions is of great practical benefit,” Gillespie said.

Fast-forward to 2023, and this monthly meal has a name: Meeting with Mayors. It includes mayors from Harrisville, Saxonburg, Evans City, Mars, Eau Claire, Portersville, Callery, Chicora and Karns City. Boozel also attends.

The meetings are held on a rotating basis. The hosting mayor picks a local restaurant to have lunch and talk about issues.

“We talk about everything from infrastructure to budgets, right down to park benches,” Gillespie said.

“The mission has stayed the same. It's just mayors getting together about the problems we've been having,” he continued.

A different topic is discussed at each meeting, and the duty of hosting the monthly meeting rotates among locality to locality, and from restaurant to restaurant.

Boozel makes information and contacts available regarding county and state programs that address whatever topic is chosen. Boozel said he sees himself as a facilitator, gathering and presenting the information for the mayors discuss and explore.

Connecting and informing mayors about the resources available to their municipalities and who they need to contact at the county or state level helps them, according to Boozel.

He added that some mayors do not have the staff to explore certain issues, make connections and gather information.

One nagging issue has been on Mayor Hughes’ mind lately — the Harrisville town council’s inability to come to terms on a budget for this year.

“We probably won’t have anything finalized until July,” said Hughes. “A lot of places are working on the 2024 budget and we're still working on 2023. I don't think we can fall any further behind.”

“I am not proud of this at all because it's almost like a black eye for the Harrisville Borough,” Hughes said.

The budgets in these smaller municipalities are often stretched by rising prices, supply chain delays and availability of needed parts, the mayor said.

To help with funding ideas, Gillespie said the other mayors have accumulated binders of information about the available grants, the criteria, how and when to apply, the application process, and follow up.

“In the past, the county pushed out information regarding programs and grants, but these monthly meetings allow for direct engagement with these boroughs and townships,” Boozel said when reflecting on the growth of the lunch.

Saxonburg has been preoccupied with trying to preserve a key piece of its town’s heritage — namely, the original workshop used by civil engineer and town founder John Roebling, inventor of the wire rope. Age has taken its toll on the foundation of the building, to the point where the Friends of Saxonburg Museum no longer allows visitors inside due to safety concerns.

“We still need to do some work on the foundation and the substructure of the building,” said Gillespie.

This March, the museum paid over $28,000 for a study of the damaged foundation of the original Roebling shop. The study, which will be conducted by Saxonburg-based Etzel Engineer & Build, has been funded largely through donations from the public.

“We need to preserve it for generations to come,” said Gillespie. “We think it's an amazing facility and we want to preserve it, and that's one of the things we'll be mentioning at the next meeting of the mayors.”

Gillespie added that staffing and vacancies are an issue the mayors confront, too.

According to Mars Borough Mayor Gregg Hartung, whenever the meetings come to Mars, he brings everybody over to Stick City Brewing Company on Irvine Street. For meetings held in Saxonburg, Gillespie chooses the restaurant at the Hotel Saxonburg on West Main Street.

“It’s our showpiece, you could say,” Gillespie said. “The owner of this hotel always helps out with everything that goes on in this borough. Tremendous asset to this community.”

Whenever it’s Harrisville’s turn to host, Hughes brings everybody to the Family Tradition restaurant, the site of the very first meeting.

“That was the only logical place, because Harrisville only has one restaurant,” Hughes said.

Mayor Hughes said he considers these meeting to be “very valuable, informative and productive,” adding that he and the other mayors look forward to them as well as further collaboration.