BRUIN — Cherrie Miller’s home of 40 years in Bruin, a small borough in northern Butler County, is only about 0.1 mile from her church and post office, but she drives most places.

With full mobility and good health, Miller could theoretically walk most places in under five minutes, but she said walking is too dangerous — citing the community’s broken, uneven and misaligned sidewalks. Pieces of concrete stick out of the ground, interrupted by weeds that have grown through. Some areas are wholly swallowed by grass and no longer have visible concrete at all.

Miller used to walk right across the street to get her mail, until one day, five years ago, she slipped on one of the broken slate sidewalks. She did not go to the hospital or sustain any serious injuries, but “I felt it for a few days, that’s for sure,” she said in a recent interview.

Since then, she said she has been “very skeptical” of Bruin’s sidewalks, especially since the spot where she fell is “not even the worst of it.”

“(The sidewalks) are in poor condition, and it’s been that way a long time,” Miller said. “It’s just a dangerous place to walk.”

The sidewalks have been “rough” for the past 10 years, according to Bruin roadmaster Kevin Smith.

He said they first became an issue when new water and sewage systems were installed underneath. Now, the borough struggles to keep up with necessary maintenance due to what he called a slim budget.

“There’s definitely a lack of funds for this town. It’s an older town,” Smith said.

The municipality’s entire budget is $110,000 each year, he said. U.S. Census data from 2020 showed 423 people living in Bruin.

The borough’s tax rate sits at 17.83 mills, the sixth highest out of Butler County’s 23 boroughs. While boroughs like Mars and Slippery Rock charge 25.33 and 24.4 mills, respectively, other boroughs like Seven Fields or Portersville charge rates of only 7 or 5 mills.

Located just south of Bruin, the boroughs of Petrolia, Fairview and Karns City charge 15, 9 and 9.06 mills, respectively.

Parker Township, which surrounds Bruin, has a rate of 11.63 mills.

Bruin has been steadily raising taxes in the past decade, according to borough council President Wally Emery, who has served the borough for more than two decades. He said council does not want to continue this taxing trend, because many residents are on fixed incomes.

Its residents also do not benefit from same amenities as boroughs with higher tax rates. Taxpayers in Slippery Rock support an active Main Street and a 60-acre park. Bruin’s park spans only 5 acres, and at the heart of the borough sits a vacant school building.

U.S. census data shows the population decreased by 101 people since the school’s closing in 2013. Smith said there has been a noticeable shift in the community since then.

“The problem with Bruin is we have no store and no bank,” according to Rick Thompson, a Bruin resident of 54 years.

Additionally, the nearest gas station is 1.5 miles out of town, he said.

One of the places with the most foot traffic is the post office, where a singular employee, the postmaster, works four hours daily Monday through Saturday. Mail is not delivered door to door, but can be collected from the office from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. those same days.

The sidewalks could connect people from their homes to the post office, but, according to Thompson, many residents like Miller struggle to walk there.

Smith claimed that while borough council isn’t aware of any sidewalk-related injuries, it is very aware of risks — but the path to fixing the issue seems as steep and overgrown as some of the borough’s sidewalks.

“We’ve had lots of calls, people asking about it at church, concerned about tripping and falling and that sort of thing,” Smith said.

Smith said he listens to his constituents, but Bruin has not had the funding to address their concern.

In an attempt to remedy this, council submitted a grant application to the state for $1.5 million at the end of July. The goal is to make all sidewalks safe and accessible, but, Smith said, a priority is fixing “the worst of the worst.”

“We’d be happy with whatever money we can get in a grant,” he said.

Residents used to walk the sidewalks, Thompson recalled.

“You just don’t see that anymore,” he said.

He and Miller both reported that children and senior citizens often walk in alleyways or on the road to avoid trips and falls.

But come October, when the borough holds its annual trick-or-treat, dozens of children do make use of the borough’s sidewalk system, making their way up and down the streets to collect candy, according to Miller.

“I wouldn’t let my kids on those sidewalks,” she said, noting that her friends with grandchildren expressed similar safety concerns to her.

An estimated 80 children lived in Bruin as of 2020, according to U.S. census data.

Miller claimed her neighbors installed “Watch for children” signs as a result of the state of the sidewalks. Through traffic moves very quickly, and it’d be easy for children to fall, Miller said.

“Cars go around the bend and straight into people’s yards,” Miller said. “There needs to be a guardrail.”

Guardrails and railings used to line the paths, Thompson said, but were since taken out. He claimed residents called the state government to ask for them back, but were met with nothing.

“Something has got to be done about this. Small communities matter too.” — Rick Thompson, a Bruin resident of 54 years

Some of Bruin’s sidewalks straddle thin hills, standing several feet above the road.

“When I fell, I was on the side of the sidewalk. I could have come down over the hill and (onto the road),” Miller said.

She recalled a Bruin she knew decades ago, when she first arrived.

“The sidewalks were nice back then,” Miller said.

She remembered when over 500 trick-or-treaters stopped by her house on Halloween.

Rather than driving or walking, she now often relies on Thompson to go to the post office for her. It’s not worth the trouble or the risk, she said.

And while Thompson said he doesn’t mind helping his neighbor, he hopes something can be done to fix Bruin’s sidewalks.

Its residents should at least be able to walk to the post office, he said — and if done right, it might prompt more interest in the borough and encourage more business.

“Something has got to be done about this,” Thompson said. “Small communities matter too.”