Butler City Council is preparing a letter to congressional representatives urging action to protect jobs at AK Steel.

At Wednesday's council meeting, Councilman Mike Walter asked council to formulate a letter asking U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, and Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Bob Casey, D-Pa., to close a loophole in steel tariffs that is allowing imports of grain-oriented electrical steel products, which are produced at AK Steel.

In testimony before the Congressional Steel Caucus in Washington, D.C., last week, officials of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., an Ohio company in the process of purchasing AK Steel mills in Butler and Zanesville, Ohio, said President Donald Trump's Section 232 steel tariffs imposed in 2018 do not include grain-oriented electrical steel used in transformers and electric motors.

Company officials said 1,500 jobs at the Butler plant and 100 jobs in Zanesville are at stake.

Councilman Jeff Smith suggested obtaining the amount of earned income tax revenue the city would lose if the Butler plant closes and adding that figure to the letter.

Council unanimously approved a motion to write the letter.

In other business, the city and Butler Area School District are working together to make Butler a Monarch City by planting flowers and plants that attract and feed monarch butterflies and other pollinating butterflies and insects at parks and schools in the city.

Smith said 20-by-75-foot swaths in Father Marinaro and Memorial parks and a smaller swath in Ritts Park would be cleared, tilled and planted with milkweed and other plants that support monarch butterflies.

He said the Monarch City USA project was created by a nonprofit organization in Washington state. The group charges a $50 fee for information on the types of plants monarchs prefer and other educational information. Council did not take action to join the organization.

Dave Andrews, the district's instructional coach for student engagement, said the butterfly gardens would be planted at Emily Brittain and McQuistion elementary schools.

The project would create a connection between the schools and the community and partnership between the city and district, Andrews said.

“It's a fantastic idea,” said Councilman Bob Dandoy. There used to be a butterfly garden in front of Emily Brittain, he added.

“It's going to give the kids something to be proud of,” Smith said.

In a separate environmental issue, Andrews, who is the president of the Connoquenessing Watershed Alliance, said district students will be working with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission to restore 4,000 feet of the Sullivan Run stream bank bordering the city in Alameda Park.

He said the work will stabilize the stream bank, help reduce stormwater runoff and provide a habitat for fish.

The project could be extended to a section of the creek that runs through Memorial Park in the future, Andrews said.

In unrelated business, council promoted firefighter Richard Walters Jr. to lieutenant and part-time firefighter James Stamm to full-time firefighter in the Bureau of Fire.

Council also agreed to let the Butler County Humane Society use the Butler Farmers' Market for a rabies clinic from 2 to 4 p.m. on June 6.