SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — Supervisors are aiming to upgrade parts of the municipal building, beginning with the lights.

Supervisors approved changing the lights at an estimated cost of $10,170 Monday night, awarding the project to Brian Grossman, president of Unique Stone Construction.

The new lights would be the same size but would hold LED bulbs with dimmer-switch capabilities, according to the supervisors. The older lights were thought to be around 30 years old.

“It certainly is needed,” Supervisor John Hines said. “It'd make it brighter, and they'd function better.”

The supervisors also discussed installing a new diesel generator at the municipal building.

“(The current generator is) not large enough to handle the whole building,” said Supervisor Paul Dickey. “The generator will only take care of the community room.”

Dickey said supervisors have approved an engineering firm to research and deliver a proposal on the project.

“(The new generator) would power the whole building, plus possibility for future growth,” he said.

Dickey said the township may seek assistance from Butler County on the generator with hopes that its emergency capabilities will warrant financial aid.

“We're going to have a fully functioning emergency center here,” Dickey said.

Satellite casinos

The supervisors also discussed the new state legislation that allowed satellite casinos and decided not to prohibit them.

Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation Oct. 30 that allows up to 10 satellite casinos around the state that could have between 300 and 750 slot machines and up to 40 table games. The casinos are also known as minicasinos.

The new law also allows for local municipalities to prohibit the casinos, but the supervisors decided that they would not take action.

The supervisors agreed that they would not want to limit themselves by prohibiting the casino because the law dictates that the township could earn 2 percent of profits with a cap of 50 percent of the township's total budget.

“I don't know why we'd restrict it,” Hines said. “If we prohibit it, we're only hurting ourselves from potential revenue.”

Dickey said by not taking action, the supervisors would also be agreeing to the terms deemed by the state.

He said if someone wanted to build a casino, they would be required to meet the state's requirements and not local planning and zoning ordinances.

“If they want to come, they can come,” Dickey said.