SAXONBURG — Another salvo was fired at the Saxonburg Area Authority board, but it's still afloat.

Borough councilman Rich Foust wants authority board members to be customers of the authority, which provides water and sewage service.

He made a motion Wednesday at a borough council meeting to enact the restriction, but no one seconded it.

Since the borough formed the authority, council has final approval over who is on the authority board.

Along with five Saxonburg seats on the authority board, one seat is allotted to each of four townships: Clinton, Jefferson, Middlesex and Penn.

The supervisors in each township nominate a representative to the council.

Foust said people not paying authority rates shouldn't have any say in setting those rates.

While councilman Mike Lazaroff agreed authority board members should be customers, he said the borough shouldn't overrule other municipal boards' choices.

"I think it's their decision to make," he said.

Councilman Gary Podgornik, who also is on the authority board, defended members who aren't customers, saying they make useful contributions.

"Even though they are not rate payers, they are representing their communities," he said.

Authority board members Greg Clifford of Middlesex and Sam Ward of Penn Township are not customers.

Ward, who also is a Penn Township supervisor, opposed council adding eligibility criteria for authority board members.

"I think that would be ill-advised," he said in a Thursday interview.

Ward agreed with Podgornik that a person's qualifications means more than being a customer.

"I know what's going in our community and what the township intends to do in the future," he said.

Ward also works for a construction company, bringing experience with major building projects and fiscal matters.

Clifford, who works for a company dealing water and sewage systems, agreed qualifications are more important than being a customer.

On Friday, Clifford said board members who aren't customers are impartial.

He disputed Foust's claim that board members who aren't customers don't care about rates and service.

Clifford pointed out each representative answers to his township and neighbors.

"You still have consequences," he said. "You have the township supervisors and the customers. You want to do the best you can."

Ward compared the situation to a municipality requiring all of its police officers to live in that municipality. He said imposing such requirements in either case is wrong.

Clifford and Ward stressed each municipality should be allowed to pick its own representatives.

Council president Bill Gillespie said at Wednesday's meeting that before council restricts membership on the board, legal implications need to be reviewed.

Lazaroff, an attorney, said such a restriction as Foust proposed may only work for future board appointments and not be retroactive.

Council referred the matter to the Butler law firm of Murrin, Taylor, Flach, May & Gallagher, which represents the borough.

Gillespie said in a Thursday interview he hasn't decided whether to support Foust's proposal if there are no legal obstacles.

Council on Oct. 1 postponed appointing a Clinton representative to fill a vacancy and it also delayed action on requests to reorganize the board so Penn and Middlesex equal Saxonburg in representation.

In addition to the authority, Penn and Middlesex townships requested the reorganization of the board.

Authority board member Bill Coe questioned council's motivation for delaying votes and considering the eligibility changes.

"It took them two months and they come up with this," he said. "Politics as usual. Period."

Coe accused council of delaying the appointment of Clinton nominee John Ham, so Ham could be disqualified on the basis of not being a customer.

"It wasn't by accident that it was done," Coe said.

Gillespie said all three issues relating to the authority would be discussed Nov. 5.