PITTSBURGH — The federal lawsuit between fired Slippery Rock Police Chief Terry Brown and borough officials has been settled.

The borough’s insurance company agreed to pay Brown $65,000. Before this, the court dropped nearly all the claims in the suit.

The suit, filed in December, alleged that Brown was fired because he did not support a proposed merger between the borough and Slippery Rock Township. The suit was settled last week during a mediation session.

Brown sued borough council President Dave Miller, former council Vice President Blase Tucci and borough solicitor Neva Stanger.

Because the borough’s insurance policy contained a “no consent clause,” the company was able to settle with Brown without consent from the defendants. The amount paid was based on a calculation and that cost is less than the cost of defending the case in court, according to a release from the borough.

Brown, a township resident, had been employed with the borough since 1986 and was named the chief in 2009.

In 2009 and 2010, the borough and the township were renegotiating a mutual aid agreement to allow the borough police to provide services to the township, which does not have a police force.

About that time, borough council members, including Tucci and Miller, began proposing the two municipalities merge to form one municipality. The suit alleged township residents and officials generally were opposed to the merger proposal.

During negotiations, Brown alleged in his suit, borough officials pressured him to use his connections with the township to get the township to agree to a merger.

At one point, township supervisors agreed to an increase in the hourly rate the township would pay for police services. Brown supported the increase.

However, the suit alleged Tucci eventually said there would not be a mutual aid agreement and the municipalities would have to merge if the township wanted borough police service.

Tucci, the suit said, later asked Brown to personally endorse the merger proposal and to attempt to get township support. Brown refused and noted he could be fired if he engaged in political conduct related to the merger.

In May 2010, Brown got a memo from council that said borough officers could not assist township residents unless state police also had been contacted. Tucci, the suit said, accused Brown of messing with the memo and said borough officers could not respond unless a state police officer already was on the scene.

Brown said the memo did not indicate a state police officer had to be on the scene first for borough officers to respond. Tucci disagreed.

The suit alleged Brown had overheard Miller and Tucci saying the township would have wished it agreed to the merger because state police response to township calls often took a long time. Brown told Tucci he felt using the safety of township residents as leverage in the merger proposal was a bad idea.

Brown later expressed similar feelings to borough council during an executive session.

In October 2010, Brown was running a firearms training class when he stepped in front of a student with a loaded gun to demonstrate a technique. Word of this incident got back to borough officials.

Tucci and Miller began investigating the incident. The complaint alleged Tucci and Miller’s real motivation was to fire Brown for not endorsing the merger proposal and that Stanger was aware of their motivation.

Brown was terminated by the council Dec. 7, 2010.

He appealed to the borough’s civil service commission, which ruled it did not have the authority to reinstate Brown but it did note that termination seemed a disproportionate punishment. An appeal in Butler County Court was denied.

The suit said Brown, by staying silent on the merger issue, was exercising his First Amendment rights.

Additionally, the suit said if he did officially promote the merger, he would have violated a state law and would have been subject for termination. Brown alleged he was wrongfully terminated for refusing to engage in illegal activity.

Al Lindsay, Brown’s attorney, said that the settlement was fair.

“Mr. Brown is very satisfied with the settlement,” Lindsay said.

Scott Dunlop and Danielle Vugrinovich, attorneys for the defendants, did not return calls for comment.