The Water Authority of Adams Township and the state both deserve praise for a project that will resolve Callery Borough's water woes.

The Adams authority positioned itself well for help from the state by being the vehicle to bring Callery's poor water quality and sporadic or seasonal loss of water to an end. The Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PennVest) gives priority to projects that demonstrate cooperation and regionalization.

Meanwhile, PennVest merits praise for its quick decision on the Adams-Callery application. The authority applied for the funding on Nov. 28 and was approved on Jan. 23.

The project will cost $2.5 million.

According to Matthew Cranmer, authority manager, the $2.5 million from PennVest will include a $53,000 grant. The remainder of the money will come in the form of a 20-year loan at a 1 percent interest rate.

The project groundbreaking could take place in May. For the people of Callery whose wells have tested positive for bacterial contamination as well as high levels of iron and manganese, and who dread the hardships caused by loss of their water service due to dry weather or other problems, the coming construction season represents a dream come true.

There will be a cost tied to having a safe, clean, reliable water system, but having safe water will be worth that expenditure — and it will help increase property values.

Butler County taxpayers might have felt a sense of relief upon learning of county solicitor Julie Graham's comment last week that the county would enforce provisions of its contract with the Pittsburgh firm A.G. Cullen, the general contractor for the new prison.The contract stipulates that the prison be completed by Oct. 13 of this year. If that deadline is missed, the contract allows the county to penalize Cullen either $1,000 a day or the county's actual expenses resulting from the delay — including what the county would have to pay to continue to house excess prisoners in other counties' facilities.At a meeting of the county commissioners Wednesday, Pat Stone of Massaro Corp., the project construction manager, reported that the prison work had fallen 160 days behind the established October target date. It was reported that Cullen had submitted an updated schedule indicating a mid-March 2008 completion.While Graham's comment was a welcome assurance to taxpayers — otherwise, the taxpayers would be responsible for the additional project costs stemming from the delay — it is important to acknowledge that Graham is the county's legal adviser; she doesn't have a vote on county business.Therefore, regardless of what Graham says, there can be no absolute assurance that the commissioners will not at some time cave in to Cullen's requests to be absolved from paying any late penalties that are incurred.The best advice to taxpayers is to continue watching the commissioners' stance on the issue closely. Meanwhile, since this is an election year for the commissioners office, voters should ask candidates for the three seats for their viewpoint on forgiveness for late penalties.The voters should clearly understand what the candidates — incumbents and others — are thinking about the issue prior to going to the polls.

The state Department of Agriculture doesn't merit drivers' confidence in the wake of Auditor General Jack Wagner's disclosure that the department has failed to keep gasoline-pump inspections current in about one-fifth of the stations that it regulates.The disclosure revealed that in some cases, drivers might not be receiving the exact amount of fuel for which they are being charged.If motorists were getting more fuel than they are paying for, they wouldn't be alarmed by Wagner's report. But the more troubling possibility that, at least in some instances, they might not be getting enough gasoline for the amount of money they are paying is no doubt an unsettling prospect.According to Wagner, an audit during a two-week period in August found that 281 of the 1,358 gasoline stations under the state's jurisdiction had one or more pumps with an outdated inspection decal or no sticker.The Agriculture Department, through its weights and measures program, is responsible for inspecting the accuracy of pumps in 44 of the state's 67 counties.At the time of the audit, the department had only 17 full-time and seven part-time inspectors, all of whom also had other duties.Gov. Ed Rendell announced a plan in December to improve the weights and measures program by hiring 22 full-time inspectors and other workers. The Rendell plan also calls for installing a new system to track inspections, among other things.All of that is good. However, the Agriculture Department gets poor marks for so long not emphasizing its inspections limitations and shortcomings as a tool for attempting to obtain additional manpower and inspection-tracking resources.