The article in Monday's Butler Eagle looking at firefighting operations in Butler, Beaver Falls and the Schuylkill County city of Pottsville gave local residents a perspective of the issues surrounding that important function in the three communities.

But current Butler City Council members, like their predecessors, remain silent about their personal opinions about the local fire department's future direction.

It's time for them to open up by way of frank discussions at council meetings. The council also should reach out to members of the community for ideas and direction.

It's clear that the current all-paid department, with its current level of costs, isn't going to be financially sustainable for the long term. It's been said for several years that the city is facing either state fiscally distressed status or bankruptcy if it doesn't come to grips with spending.

Important decisions must be made to reduce the department's impact on the city budget, but current council members, like their predecessors, by their silence seem content with kicking the issue down the road — even if they are not.

All five council members were elected to make important, difficult decisions on the city's behalf. It would be great if the city were able financially to maintain the all-paid department with a firefighter roster larger than the current one. However, that's not possible.

Cuts will have to be made to the department as it currently exists, if a city financial crisis is to be avoided.

City council members aren't accomplishing anything by their silence, and they know it. City residents deserve to know what they are thinking about the issue.

They must end their silence now by way of some specifics, not vague generalities.

The value of Jackson Township's rules regarding installation of sprinkler systems for new construction was clearly evident early Tuesday.A fire that could have ended up much larger — and which might even have destroyed Creekside Plaza on Route 19 — was contained to a small area of one business because of a sprinkler unit.The Jackson Fish Co. could have been out of business for a long time, as well as its neighbors in the plaza, if the plaza weren't governed by Jackson's sprinkler rule.Credit also is due to the plaza's owner for installing a sprinkler system capable of limiting its activation to the actual area of a fire, reducing the amount of potential water damage that would have occurred if all sprinklers at the business, or many more than were needed at the time, had activated simultaneously.In the Jackson Fish Co. fire, only one sprinkler contained the flames until firefighters could finish the task.In the aftermath of the blaze, David Kowalski of Cranberry Township, Creekside's owner, acknowledged the good judgment behind Jackson's sprinkler rule.“Whenever you build a building, you complain about the expense,” he said. “But this proved that having sprinklers is worth the cost.”While other tenants at Creekside breathe a sigh of relief, Jackson Fish Co.'s owner needs to figure out exactly what went wrong — why cleaning rags were improperly stored at the business, leading to the blaze.Both the township and Kowalski deserve praise for good judgment that averted a much more devastating consequence.

Any revitalization of downtown Butler involves getting more people — and life — into the city. Without people, businesses cannot thrive. And without people, the downtown looks and feels lifeless.This summer, there’s a new attraction to bring more people to the Main Street district from across the city and from outside the city, too.Following months of planning and some last-minute construction work on site, a small urban park opened June 8 on the 100 block of West New Castle Street, just off Main Street.The urban park is a cooperative effort involving Butler Downtown, the Main Street program, the Butler Rotary Club and the city’s Shade Tree Commission. Help has also come from workers in the city’s Parks Department, Bronder Technical Services, the Rotary Club and others.Set in a half-block of West New Castle Street, the park features large planters with trees and flowers, plenty of benches for seating, a stage for performances, and exposed-bulb lighting stretching overhead across the street that gives the park a festive feel at night.Concerts are scheduled every Friday night until Aug. 10, and every other Friday evening the stage will host three bands as part of the Summer Jam Series.Additional performances will be held in the park at noon on Wednesdays. A separate series of performances and cultural demonstrations will be held on Tuesday afternoons.Since its opening, the park has created a feeling of more life in downtown Butler. There is some buzz along Main Street about something new that feeds the optimism for downtown revitalization that emerged in the past year or so with the opening of several new restaurants and extensive renovation work to some Main Street buildings.The pavement-to-park project is just getting started, but the reaction so far is positive. The urban park is an attractive surprise for pedestrians and drivers on Main Street. It offers a place to stop, relax and talk with friends, even when no performers are on stage. It helps create a sense of community and shows that some people in the city care about the future and are trying something new and different.