Those who choose to do so might be justified in criticizing the Butler Area Sewer Authority for hiring a company to find new sources of funding without first seeking proposals from other companies. Having chosen not to seek competitive proposals, the authority never will know whether it could have obtained the same or better service for the same or lower cost.

Delta Development Group of Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County, a company that specializes in community and economic planning, approached BASA about the possibility of working on the authority's behalf. The authority said it did not solicit the proposal, nor did it seek others.

Under the agreement with Delta, BASA will pay $7,000 monthly for the company to search for grant and/or loan opportunities. It is to the authority's advantage to have someone with such expertise working on behalf of its best interests.

BASA officials were right in entering a month-to-month agreement, rather than an agreement covering a specific number of months or years.

For Delta and BASA, there is the potential for money for the authority's atttempt to fully comply with a consent agreement with the state Department of Environmental Protection regarding raw sewage overflows at several BASA pump stations. The biggest potential source of money is from a $400 million state bond issue for water and sewage infrastructure repair and upgrades approved by voters on Nov. 4.

The authority is correct in surmising that it will have to act quickly to increase its chances for obtaining some of that money.

Still, authority member Van Peterson's opinion must not be ignored — that the authority should have sought additional proposals for the task for which Delta was hired.

The hiring can be likened to the previous Butler County Board of Commissioners' penchant for hiring a bond underwriter without seeking competitive bids. Some county officials believe the county might have saved considerable money if leaders had put the service out for bids.

Still, authority member George Shockey wasn't wrong in observing that if Delta can help the authority obtain significant funding, the $7,000 a month will be a good investment.

Delta is aware of the authority's financial challenges and its obligations regarding the DEP consent agreement.

The authority shouldn't have any hesitation about ending the agreement if there ever is reason to believe that Delta isn't achieving the kind of results that it indicated it is capable of bringing.