HARRISVILLE — Five candidates for borough council want to make improvements in the area, whether it be recreation, communication or travel.

The following are the candidates for the four available council seats: Mary Ann Hughes, Russell Stemmerich, Charles Cline, Heather Krenn and H. Robert Hovis.

Mary Ann Hughes

Hughes says Harrisville is Butler County's best-kept secret.

“We have a lot of businesses that have stood the test of time,” she said. “There is more to Butler County than just Cranberry.”

She operates Hughes Penn Gold Ice Cream with her husband, Gary. She moved into the county more than 25 years ago.

Hughes said she wants better communication between borough officials and residents, as well as more community involvement.

“People should be able to go to their council people and council should have an answer,” she said. “Sometimes people just don't get an answer back.”

She said she would like to see Slippery Rock University grow and help make the borough a place where more people want to live.

Russell Stemmerich

Stemmerich is running for his second consecutive term on council.

“I've enjoyed being on council and I care about the town,” he said.

Stemmerich said he would like to keep taxes down in the borough and work on further developing the community park.

“We haven't had a tax increase in Harrisville for a long time and hopefully we won't have to,” he said.

The borough's millage rate is 134.938 mills.

Stemmerich has lived in the borough for more than 30 years and has been running his own business, R & N Auto Repair, for about nine years. He said the borough seems to “change daily.”

“I've seen families come and go,” he said. “It seems like we're getting a younger generation here.”

Charles Cline

Cline was elected to council as a write-in candidate in 2013. He was retired at the time of his election, but worked as a part-time pastor beforehand.

He said he would like to help improve the community park if re-elected.

“It's used pretty regularly now by various baseball, softball and soccer associations,” he said. “What I would like to see is improvement, so that it's more community friendly.”

Cline also said he would like to continue the borough's “efficiency” when it comes to finances and see improvements in the area's beautification efforts and street repairs.

“We have one drain that gets clogged up by Routes 58 and 8,” he said. “We could look into some grants to work on street drainage and repairs.”

Heather Krenn

Krenn has been a council member for eight years, although nonconsecutively. She was first appointed to council in 2007 after another member resigned in the middle of his term.

She served for two terms before losing a re-election effort, but was again appointed to council after another member resigned.

Krenn has been a community member since 2002. She is a Slippery Rock University graduate.

“It's a really nice town to be in,” she said. “It really offers a lot of things, like good home-cooked restaurants and stores. I wanted to be involved somehow.”

Krenn said she would like to keep the borough “a nice town,” keeping the area safe and improving the community park.

“It would be great to add a walking path or improve upon the playground,” she said. “Harrisville is a great place.”

H. Robert Hovis

Hovis currently serves as council vice president. He said he has been in office for about 14 years.

“I filled in for someone else's term and then was elected,” he said. “I wanted to know what was happening in town, see how things were run and see if I could do anything.”

Hovis has lived in the area for about 48 years and owns his own plumbing and heating business. He also serves on the borough's sewer authority and streets committee.

Hovis also said improving the park is a priority.

“We're very limited on funds, but we purchased the adjoining property,” he said. “We need to clean that up and get some grants for trails and anything else that would be practical and we could afford.”