The Butler Area Sewer Authority and the two municipalities that formed it in 1962 should be open-minded about expanding the board.

Over the years, the authority's service area has grown beyond the City of Butler and Butler Township, which made up the authority's original service territory. It is reasonable for municipalities that have come on board since the authority's inception to have a voice and vote in authority operations.

Besides the city and Butler Township, the authority serves East Butler and parts of Center, Connoquenessing, Oakland and Summit townships.

The authority board currently is limited to three members from the city and two from the township.

The makeup of the board has emerged as an issue amid BASA's problems with the state Department of Environmental Protection. In February, DEP issued an order prohibiting BASA from issuing any new tap-in approvals because the authority allegedly missed deadlines regarding correction of overflow problems.

While adding board members from the five municipalities not currently represented won't solve those overflow problems, the board expansion would give those five municipalities a better perspective of issues surrounding the authority.

At its beginning, this country dealt with the issue of taxation without representation. Because the authority also receives money from customers in the five municipalities in question, those customers have a right to be represented, just like those of the city and Butler Township.

An attempt by Butler Township to gain additional representation on the authority board in 1996 wasn't successful.

But with the increasing complexities brought about by the DEP's hard stance against BASA, there ought to be a better avenue for ensuring understanding by customers and potential customers — throughout the BASA service region — about the issues the authority faces.

Board representation for all municipalities BASA serves is one obvious way for achieving that goal.