BUTLER TWP — The Butler Transit Authority is moving forward with plans to renovate its bus facility in Butler Township to accommodate compressed natural gas buses.

The authority plans to have the first phase of the process completed by the end of March or early April, authority executive director John Paul said at the authority’s monthly meeting Tuesday.

Paul said the facility is tentatively scheduled to be upgraded to accommodate CNG buses by the end of October.

“We’re hoping to coordinate it with the arrival of CNG buses,” he said.

The facility will be funded under the state Department of Transportation’s Public-Private Partnership project run by the Trillium CNG team.

It was initially scheduled to be completed in 2019, but was bumped up to 2018, and then to 2017.

Eighty percent of the money that will fund the first phase will come from a Clean Fuels Grant, while 20 percent will come from state and local funds.

The second phase of the upgrade will come entirely from state funding.

The authority approved diesel fuel procurement at its meeting. In the past, the authority had approved diesel fuel procurement for three years, with an optional two years.

However, Paul said that, with the CNG buses coming in, he is not sure for how long they will need the diesel fuel.

He anticipated it could be two or three years, though he said it depends on when the CNG buses arrive. In all, six CNG buses are expected to be in use by the authority.

“I just don’t know when (the authority is) going to be out of using diesel,” he said.

Paul also said the authority will likely keep a diesel-fueled trolley for special events.

The authority also assigned officer positions for 2017 at Tuesday’s meeting. Joe Grey was named the authority’s chairman, while Maggie Stock was named vice chairman and Joe Hasychak was named secretary and treasurer.