BUTLER TWP — Township commissioners adopted an ordinance Monday night advancing a proposed intergovernmental agreement with Butler that would allow the two municipalities to share a fire chief.

Commissioners voted 5-0 to adopt the ordinance, which allows them to accept an intergovernment agreement covering the position. That agreement, said township officials, isn't complete and hasn't yet been adopted by either municipality.

In June, when officials announced the venture, Butler Mayor Ben Smith said he expected both municipalities to take action later that month to pass ordinances allowing the agreement to proceed. But on Monday night, township manager Ed Kirkwood acknowledged that the process is taking longer than anticipated.

The township expects city officials to adopt their own ordinance at a meeting later this month, Kirkwood said.

After that, both municipalities would sign an agreement to share the expense of a fire chief — though Dave Zarnick, president of the township board of commissioners, stressed that the city would take the lead in hiring and developing a job description for the position, and would bear the brunt of the position's cost in wages and benefits.

Zarnick said the township will pay only for time the shared chief spends in the township — whether on an emergency scene or acting administratively — and that he would be paid an hourly rate based on time cards reviewed and approved by township fire marshal Christopher Switala.

“There's a lot of work to do in a short period of time,” Zarnick said.