Preliminary work on Butler's nearly $1.3-million Main Street streetlight replacement project begins Friday.

City council on Thursday awarded a $1,272,698 contract to Bronder Technical Services of Prospect for the work.

It involves replacing the existing lights between Wayne and Penn streets with LED lights.

Money is coming from the Butler County Infrastructure Bank.

Mayor Ben Smith said the city will submit invoices to the infrastructure bank to pay the contractor.

“They're ready to hit the ground running,” Smith said of the contractor.

Preliminary work begins Friday and the job should be completed by January, he said.

Bronder, which has performed work for the city in the past, was the only contractor to submit a bid for the project, Smith said. Bids were opened May 20.

In unrelated business, council approved the purchase of four license plate readers for $7,800 that will be installed at two intersections to aid in police investigations.

Police Chief Bob O'Neill said leftover grant money will pay part of the cost. Donations and funding from the county District Attorney's Office will cover the rest of the cost. The $2,000 annual fee for operating the devices will also be shared, he said.

He said the readers will be used for investigative purposes and not for enforcement of traffic laws.

“They real-time capture license plates,” O'Neill said.

The readers are the biggest advancement in law enforcement since computers were installed in police vehicles, and they are already in use throughout Western Pennsylvania, he said.

Readers do not automatically issue citations for traffic violations, O'Neill said. The units take photos of vehicles and license plates, and vehicle occupants sometimes appear in the photos, he said.

Officers can use the system to find photos of a vehicle after they enter the license or description of the vehicle, he said.

In other business, the fire department now has three new full-time firefighters who bring the total number of firefighters to 21, a number the department hasn't had in 10 years.

Council approved the promotions of Larry Shuler, Joshua Carlini and Bradley Sabolcik from part-time to full-time effective June 24.

Fire Chief Chris Switala said the department hasn't had 21 full-time firefighters in 10 years.

Council used money from a three-year $622,500 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant received last year from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover the salaries of the promoted firemen.

Switala said the three men have been receiving training since they were hired June 3. All three have experience as volunteer firefighters, have firefighter certifications and are certified emergency medical technicians, he said.

“I'm happy to have them aboard, They are very qualified individuals,” Switala said.

Council also:

• Appointed Aaron Bonus treasurer to replace John Grenci, who resigned because he moved out of the city. He was appointed through January 2020. The position will appear on the ballot in the municipal election in November. Bonus, the brother of Councilman Kenny Bonus, won both party nominations in a write-in campaign in the primary and will appear on the ballot. Aaron Bonus was the only person who applied to serve the appointed term, Smith said.

• Acting as the health board, declared homes at 237 Cleveland St. and 106 Pine St. detrimental to public health and ordered their demolition.

• Approved an agreement to let the Greater Pittsburgh Community Foodbank use the Farmers Market for its Produce to People program from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month from June through December.

• Agreed to let the Butler County Humane Society use the Farmers Market for a rabies clinic from 2:30-5 p.m. July 27.

• Rejected a $55,524 bid from Diehl Auto to buy a 2019 Dodge Ram 5500 truck for the streets department.

• Announced that a full half-hour fireworks display will be held on Independence Day thanks to donations from several organizations and businesses.