ZELIENOPLE — The new structure for a four-municipality emergency management agency took its first steps to ratification Monday night.

Zelienople Borough Council voted to approve the bylaws for Seneca Area Emergency Management Agency, a proposed intergovernmental agency involving Harmony, Jackson Township, Lancaster Township and Zelienople. Those four municipalities already are involved in an EMA by the same name, but the proposed agency would have a different governing structure.

The Harmony-Zelienople EMA expanded in late 2017 to include the two townships and was then rebranded to its current name. In 2019, discussions between the four municipalities began, and they elected to incorporate the EMA.

The discussions on how the agency would be structured, how fees would be distributed and what specifically would be in its bylaws and other formal governing documents took some time, said Don Pepe, Zelienople borough manager.

“If you remember, we were talking about the EMA having some change in terms of structure,” Pepe told council Monday. “And it’s been a while. It’s taken at least eight or nine months to get this all done.”

Pepe said he believes the incorporated agency will work better for the municipalities involved.

“It’s a brand new structure, and I feel it’s going to be able to be working a lot better than the structure that we had before,” he said.

Though Zelienople was the first to approve the agency’s bylaws, all four governments involved must approve the document. In addition, they all must approve a formal intergovernmental cooperative agreement before the agency has power to act.

Emergency management agencies are responsible for the mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery from natural, technological and man-made disasters, according to the Pennsylvania EMA.

All levels of government in the commonwealth — from boroughs and townships to counties — are responsible for developing and maintaining an emergency management program.

The new EMA also would be required to nominate an emergency management coordinator, who would then be appointed by the governor. That coordinator would be responsible for managing the program.

Parking changes possible

Borough council also discussed possible changes to parking for Main Street businesses. Pepe said visitors are parking on side streets, which creates problems for residents who live there as they are frequently unable to park near their homes.

The cost of building another municipal lot, Pepe said, is prohibitive. He said building a lot similar to the one housing 109 spaces at West New Castle and South Clay streets would cost about $2.5 million.

Because of that, said borough engineer Tom Thompson, Zelienople would instead look to work with local businesses to expand their parking lots for public use during peak hours. He said adding between 60 and 70 spaces is possible, should businesses agree. Pepe added that the plan would be entirely voluntary, and that the borough has not started discussions.

“I just want to make it clear: We are not taking their properties. That is not the intent,” he said. “We have to talk with each one of these property owners to gain their cooperation and consent.”

Despite the reported parking problems, Andrew Mathews, council vice president, said he would rather have the problem of too many visitors for current parking capacity than vice versa.