A Butler County Commissioner is denying claims that the commissioners have a grudge against a former airport authority board member.

Commissioners voted Wednesday to approve the appointment of Matt Schrauder for a five-year term on the board.

He replaces Ike Kelly, whose term on the seven-person board expired in September, though Kelly continued to serve through last week's monthly meeting.

Kelly is the manager of the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport, a paid position he has held since late 2015.

Commissioners Leslie Osche, Kevin Boozel and Kim Geyer, who took office about two years ago, had requested that the board find a replacement for Kelly, Geyer said. Geyer attends the authority's meetings and acts as liaison to the boards.

Though not illegal, commissioners don't believe it was a sound practice for Kelly to hold roles as both a board member and an employee, Geyer said.

The commissioners oversee 30 authority boards and the airport was the only one to have a member serving in a dual role, Geyer said.

Members of the authority disagreed, so Kelly continued to serve until being replaced on Wednesday.

Chairman Harry Boben and treasurer/secretary Bill Giallombardo submitted their letters of resignation earlier this month, citing dissatisfaction with how the commissioners had “pressured” the board to replace Kelly, according to Boben.

In an interview Wednesday, Boben claimed the commissioners wanted to get Kelly off the board and that they were using his job as manager as an excuse.

“My position is, this whole thing was to get Ike Kelly off the board. It had nothing to do with that he held both positions,” Boben said.

Kelly, in a letter, had offered to resign from his position as manager and remain on the board, Boben said. The authority's tentative plan was for Kelly to step down no later than July 1 after helping train a new manager, he said, but the commissioners were not in favor of that idea.

Geyer declined to comment on any letters from Kelly, but said that the commissioners' role with the airport is only to approve appointments and help with funding.

“The County of Butler is not Mr. Kelly's employer and we never tried to exercise any control over his employment. Our direct concerns are with the board,” Geyer said.

If Kelly had submitted his resignation to the airport authority, the commissioners would have been open to him continuing as a board member, Geyer said.

“We don't have an issue with Mr. Kelly's performance on the board,” Geyer said.

At the authority's meeting last week, Bobin accused Geyer of meeting with a local business owner and discussing the authority board, including the prospect of removing Kelly from the board. He declined to provide a name or comment further.

Geyer denied this accusation at the meeting last week, saying that they met to discuss economic development in the county.

Giallombardo and Kelly did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday.

Geyer said that she has been in touch with Ed Rawlings, the new chairman of the authority, who said that they have received numerous applications from people interested in joining the board.

The authority will review the applications and make recommendations of two candidates for the commissioners to approve at their meeting next month.

The authority members are unpaid volunteers. The board in coming years will oversee a $22 million runway expansion project that is being paid for with 95 percent state and federal grant money.