A story in Sunday's edition of the Butler Eagle emanating from Slippery Rock Township should serve as a wake-up call for Butler city officials.

In Slippery Rock Township, officials are upset because contractors building a housing complex that eventually will house 650 Slippery Rock University students are damaging a portion of Kiester Road in the area of that complex.

John Hines, a member of the township board of supervisors, said he has been unable to reach a compromise with the company building the apartments but has tried to remain understanding about the construction process.

However, he said, township officials' primary concern is residential safety and travel and that the contractor excuse for not remedying the situation — "it will just get torn up tomorrow" — isn't acceptable.

"I told them today (Thursday) to get it repaved or we're shutting it down," said Hines, who takes pride in the general condition of township roads — describing them as being in much better shape than those in some other Butler County townships.

It's time for Butler city officials to embrace a tough attitude like Hines' in regard to city streets that have endured work by utilities that haven't restored the streets to their condition prior to the work.

A motorist can find numerous places on city streets — city-maintained and state Department of Transportation-maintained — where cuts in the street have been made and the road surface is no longer level at the site of the work.

One major nuisance continues to be a hump on Pillow Street that marks the site of a major waterline break a few weeks ago. Even if weather conditions have prohibited permanent repairs from being made at the site, better temporary repairs should have been forthcoming.

And the settling that occurs routinely at sites where work has been done — there are examples of it on West Jefferson Street — is no excuse for the condition to exist for many months or even years.

Meanwhile, the Butler Area Sewer Authority continues to allow motorists' vehicle suspension systems to be pummeled by manholes that are significantly recessed in the pavement in some areas — West Jefferson Street is one example.

The state Department of Transportation merits criticism for not requiring BASA to make the needed repairs.

As for the city's Streets Department, it is long overdue that officials survey the street conditions and assess the toll that utility work has taken on them, and repair work should be demanded.

Like Slippery Rock Township's current response, the city doesn't have be content with what utilities want to do or with what time schedule they want to complete the work. The city should set the timetable and ensure that compliance is forthcoming.

The utilities must be expected to return work sites to at least the condition they were in prior to the work.

City streets are in need of millions of dollars of repairs resulting from normal wear and tear and a lack of determination over several decades to properly address that deterioration. But the city doesn't need additional travel impediments resulting from utility work that necessitated cuts into road surfaces — although, in many instances, city officials seem to have been content to live with them.

The attitude of city officials from now on should be "we're not going to take it any longer," and then they should act accordingly.