Summary: More people coming to call Butler County home? Mark Gordon, chief of economic development and planning for Butler County, says we can plan for that.

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As Butler County continues to attract more residents, how can we ensure our county continues as a preferred place to live, work and enjoy?

Housing stock, employment opportunities, excellent education in kindergarten through grade 12, college, university and trades, and the underlying infrastructure must come together to support new families and businesses drawn to this special place. Existing natural resources, recreational facilities, amenities and entertainment, along with community events with a hometown feel make Butler County a welcoming community.

Infrastructure is key to all development and sustaining existing assets. Each municipality in the county has its eye on the future.

Our communities are investing in road and bridge remediation and stormwater mitigation like never before.

Stormwater mitigation has been a priority throughout the county due to devastating flooding in years past. Communities have come together to work on problems collaboratively, which has resulted in municipal savings (by sharing costs) and results that are creating real improvements for neighboring communities. Stormwater projects begun in the post-COVID-19 period utilizing county American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds designated to municipalities by the county commissioners have leveraged $38.4 million dollars in infrastructure improvements.

Rural communities in recent years, through prudent fiscal management and assistance from local, state and federal grants, have repaved, widened and refitted local roads with new culverts and stormwater management that is engineered to work with existing conditions. One of the programs that has assisted many of these rural communities is the $5 Use Fee.

Pennsylvania Act 89 of 2013 allowed all counties in the state to collect a $5 fee on each vehicle registration within the county. The fees are collected by the state and forwarded to the county to be held in a separate Fee for Local Use Fund. These funds are only to be utilized for transportation improvements in the county.

Butler County was authorized to begin collecting this fee at the end of 2018. We are one of only 25 counties out of 67 in the Commonwealth that has taken this step to ensure infrastructure funding is available to all municipalities, regardless of size.

In the years since that time, these individual grants have leveraged $11.5 million in critical road infrastructure improvements throughout the county, most recently concentrated in the northern communities. These grants average $50,000 each, but often can be used as match funds for larger grants on the state or federal level.

Investments in improving access to clean water and sanitary sewage are also increasing. This infrastructure is vitally important to support new homes and businesses, and equally important to rescue communities whose older systems are failing. New systems and quality long-term refitting in this area are essential to the health of all our neighbors throughout the county.

Much work has been completed in the northern part of the county, most recently with the completion of the Marion Township Sewer Project. This project was funded by a Community Development Block Grant.

Beginning in 2016, this community was able to replace an inherited failing, privately owned water and sewer system serving the residents of Boyers that was listed as noncompliant with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The existing system was in dire need of replacement and posed serious health and safety concerns to all residents. Not only did these residents gain safe and affordable public water and sewer, but work continues on a complete water reservoir replacement.

This work has continued in the southern end of the county with a $95 million three-year investment in the Brush Creek Treatment Plant, which serves Cranberry Township and portions of neighboring communities.

Evans City Water & Sewer Authority recently completed a water project that replaced almost 6,000 feet of water main that increased capacity and water pressure for existing residential customers and allows for expanded service as their population increases.

The Western Butler County Authority serves Zelienople and Harmony boroughs, and Jackson and Lancaster townships. Through investments over the last few years, it has expanded its service area, made improvements to existing infrastructure and built a new operations building with $22 million in loans from the Butler County Infrastructure Bank.

The Butler County Infrastructure Bank was created in 2017 as only the second such program in Pennsylvania, and it issued its first round of funding in 2019. That year, two municipalities borrowed almost $10 million to complete a total of four projects.

In total, this unique lending opportunity has lent over $53 million in subsidized interest loans to complete projects that vary from Main Street improvements and flooding mitigation to intersection and road improvements to sewage and water upgrades. Funding for this program is supplied from Marcellus Shale impact fees.

There has been significant work on the major interstates that traverse our county, namely Interstates 76, 79 and 80. Continued advancements and major road improvements are taking place on state roads that include Routes 8, 68, 228, 356 and 422.

State bridges in the county have seen considerable investments. The Freedom Road bridge over I-76 was completely replaced with a longer, wider span. The bridge project allowed expansion of the Turnpike road below to six lanes. Local state and federal legislators lent valuable support by actively advocating for these infrastructure projects.

One of the biggest bridge projects currently underway in the county is the Karns Crossing Bridge replacement. Along with the replacement of the structure itself, there will be traffic safety and capacity improvements that will provide long-term benefits to this extremely well-traveled area. This work represents a $76 million investment by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

In a large public-private partnership between Butler County and Armstrong, we are spearheading an effort to bring high-speed internet to every home and business in the county.

During the shutdowns of COVID-19, students across the United States depended on internet access for all of their formal education. It soon became apparent that certain parts of the county seriously lacked the connectivity to allow basic access.

During that time, it also became clear that the Slippery Rock and Moniteau school districts were the most seriously affected. In many instances, parents and caregivers were having to travel to parking lots around businesses with Wi-Fi so that their children could complete their daily lessons.

These school district footprints, where many students are underserved, or without access at all, are currently gaining high-quality affordable internet with an investment of $16.6 million. This first stage of the program will be completed by the end of 2026.

The county also engaged in a detailed engineering evaluation to identify all underserved and unserved areas of the county. The second phase of this fiber deployment project will focus on all areas of the county and will reach completion during 2029.

Costs from the entire project will exceed $30 million, with the Commonwealth supporting the project with 57% in grant funds.

In other terms, the project will positively impact over 3,200 homes and require 390 miles of fiber, roughly the distance from Butler to South Bend, Ind. This effort will also boost the economies of these areas, allowing employees who have telecommuting jobs to live in any part of the county they choose.

Of course, all this maintenance and improvement is to better serve current residents and allow comfortable inclusion of new residents.

Continued development of residential housing happens every day, all around the county. We’re beginning to see developments conducive to multiple generations living together in one community. Single-family homes are joined with town houses, apartments and patio homes designed with seniors in mind.

Some of these communities include recreational amenities and green space, with others including walkable retail and professional space.

Developments like these offer choices that can bring back the traditional generational closeness of years gone by.

Mark Gordon is the chief of economic development and planning for Butler County. Additionally, he oversees the county departments of Planning, Mapping, Assessment and Tax Claim and the Butler County Infrastructure Bank; and he is the convener and driving force behind the Butler County Growth Collaborative. This diverse collaborative works to establish a shared vision, prioritize and coordinate support for projects and funding vital to the economic development of Butler County. Before joining with the county, Gordon was the general manger for the Butler and Zanesville, Ohio Works at AK Steel, retiring after 36 years of service.