Two Butler Area Sewer Authority board members voiced their concerns Tuesday about proposed renovations to the authority's office on Litman Road.

Van Peterson and Mike English said the estimated $1 million to $2 million in renovations might be too much in the current economy.

This money was added to a bond issue sold last year to cover the construction of stormwater holding tanks.

Last year the BASA board hired the EADS Group, an engineering, architecture and design firm, and Johnson Controls, a building and energy efficiency firm, to look for energy savings and for ways to improve the efficiency of buildings.

Peter Folen of EADS and David D'Orazio of Johnson Controls attended Tuesday's authority meeting to update members, especially new member Joe Lucas.

English said the authority should get new windows, roof and seal the building or “button up, and see what our actual cost savings are at that point before we do all of this project.”

Both Folen and D'Orazio said the building's 30-plus year-old boiler must be replaced, regardless of other heat-saving projects.

“This boiler is long past its life span and you're spending more on its repairs than anything else,” D'Orazio said.

Also part of the overall renovation project would be to bring the BASA office into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

BASA Chairman Jerry Patterson said the building is grandfathered from that law because it was built before 1960. But that status would be removed if more than 50 percent of the building is renovated, which it would be under the proposed project.

English said the grandfather status gives the authority time, maybe up to two years, before having to do anything to the building.

“That means legally we can wait,” he said.

Patterson said yes, legally the township doesn't have to comply with ADA at this time, “but morally?”

“What do you mean morally?” English asked.

“Morally should we wait to provide access to the building?” Patterson asked.

English didn't answer.

However, Peterson said he didn't understand the project BASA was entering when Johnson Controls first talked to the authority.

“If I missed something, I apologize, but I think it would have been helpful to have you (the firms) provide more detailed information on what we were getting into,” he said.

Peterson added that with a large number of BASA customers being elderly and on fixed incomes, “I'm just not sure this is a project that should be going on while we are spending so much money on the tank project.”

No action was taken by the board.