The Butler County commissioners continue to disagree on how money should be spent on projects.

Commissioner Jim Eckstein said at the meeting Wednesday that funds accrued from natural gas drilling impact fees should be allocated to fix the Glade Run Lake dam in Middlesex Township.

Eckstein said there is more than $300,000 in impact fees that could be used to rebuild the deteriorated dam.

He stressed the funding is supposed to be spent on parks, so the county should distribute it properly.

Eckstein said the lake is in a populated area and the site was heavily used by families before the lake was drained.

“It’s not a luxury item,” he said.

Commissioner Bill McCarrier, board chairman, later refuted that $300,000 is available.

“That is an erroneous number,” McCarrier said after the meeting.

He said roughly $200,000 was designated for repairs to the Alameda Swimming Pool, leaving $110,000.

During the meeting, Eckstein accused McCarrier of misspeaking in Sunday’s Butler Eagle story about the dam.

Eckstein said McCarrier claimed that county property taxes would increase if more money would be given to the efforts by the Glade Run Lake Conservancy to repair the dam.

In the story, McCarrier said he couldn’t support donating more than the $4,000 already allotted to the dam until the 2014 county budget process determined how much money the county has to work with next year.

McCarrier also stated in the story that the county’s response to everyone wanting county funding is: “If we give you the money, would you be in favor of raising taxes.”

He said Wednesday there are other needs in the county than just the dam.

“There’s only so much money to go around,” McCarrier said.

Eckstein also disagreed with McCarrier that the county was reducing its debt while poised to construct a new office building.

McCarrier and Commissioner Dale Pinkerton last month approved a design for the estimated $12.1 million building.

They maintain the project won’t move forward if construction bids come in too high.

Eckstein said the inclusion of a parking garage on the bottom of the new four-level annex isn’t worth the cost.

“It is an opulent garage,” Eckstein said.

He stressed a garage is unnecessary.

“We don’t need any parking,” Eckstein said. “They just don’t want to get snow on their heads.”