EVANS CITY — In May, voters in the Evans City borough will have two choices for three open seats on council: Norman Nelson and Kimberly Armstrong.

Both candidates are running for four-year terms on council and have a history of working in borough government.

Armstrong is a council member. Nelson was the longtime public works director before retiring in March.

The third seat comes with a two-year term on council, but has no candidate running to fill it.

Shari Brewer, Butler County Bureau of Elections director, said in cases like this, the third seat will likely be determined by write-in ballots. If there are no write-in ballots, the open seat will be filled by an appointee chosen by the borough council.

Notably absent from this year's election is council President Lee Dyer.

Dyer said he originally planned to serve only one term, but one term turned into two. Upon completing his second term, he said he is pleased with what council accomplished and will not run for another term.

Dyer joined the council in 2011. He had just retired and was looking for another way to give back to the borough in addition to his Rotary duties.

“I had 40 years of management under my belt,” he said. “I thought I could help.”

He ultimately put that expertise to use working with other council members to streamline costs and overhaul the way the borough builds its budgets.

Through that overhaul, Evans City reduced spending from $1.2 million to $900,000, according to Dyer. He added that it was all done without reducing the level of borough services.

Dyer credits this success with switching to a “zero base” budgeting system where officials examine all borough expenses annually to determine the best prices for products. In past years, officials simply relied on the previous budget's cost estimates and added or removed items as needed, Dyer said.

He further proudly pointed out how the council funded paving for 70 percent of the borough streets and maintained a record of “pristine” audits.

“I enjoyed the heck out of it — when you're doing things like creating an exciting budget that gets the job done, then you don't have to dip into people's pockets for additional taxes,” Dyer said.

While Dyer is leaving the council, he'll still be a familiar face around the borough.

“I'm still very involved with Rotary,” he said. “I'm not one to sit on the couch, so I'll be helping somewhere.”