The City of Butler might not be facing its current dilemma over streets equipment damage stemming from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan if an adequate network of communication had been in place before and during the storm.

That approximately $500,000 in equipment damage resulted Friday night and early Saturday is cause to ponder how something so basic, but important, is beyond officials' ability to master.

It became apparent last spring after the collapse of the Cleveland Street retaining wall that communication wasn't one of the strong points of this city government, especially within the streets department. Councilman Mitch Ufner, who heads that department, didn't learn about the collapse until the day after it occurred, although city workers responded a short time after the collapse happened.

Ufner, who should have known about the problem from the start, because the wall's condition had been an issue for some time, became aware of the development the following day when called by a Butler Eagle reporter for comment.

On Friday night, if communication had existed among all city officials, perhaps someone in the city's power structure would have suggested that water conditions at the city garage along Kittanning Street be continuously monitored, even though the garage area had not suffered damage during the remnants of Hurricane Frances the previous week. It also would have seemed logical that Ralph Graham, city streets supervisor, by virtue of his position, would have recognized the necessity for such continuous monitoring, even if elected officials like Ufner were out of touch with what was happening.

Graham had helped set up barricades to close flooded streets to traffic, but then went home. He returned to the city garage after being notified by city police at 11 p.m. that if streets department workers needed to access the garage, they would have to use Route 422, because Kittanning Street was flooded.

Graham went to the garage area after that call. He said water at the site already was four feet in depth, and he did not attempt to get into the garage.

That was the right decision in terms of his personal safety, but the safety of the equipment by that time should not have been an issue; the equipment already should have been on higher ground.

By virtue of his elected position and his role as head of the streets department, Ufner should have had a plan of action in place for the city's resources, in conjunction with Graham and other department employees. Instead, Graham didn't notify Ufner about the situation until Saturday morning, and by then the only action available was to survey the damage that already had been done.

The equipment in question, which includes trucks, a street sweeper, front-end loader and numerous other items, serves as the lifeblood of the department's operations. In the flooding's aftermath, the equipment should be available for cleanup work and fixing of problems that the flooding exposed, such as clogged storm inlets.

Instead, the department's attention has been focused on determining the extent of equipment damage and making repairs, where possible.

That aside, the bottom-line issue in regard to the streets department's current woes is that inadequate planning and inadequate communication have produced a costly failure that this money-strapped city had the ability to avoid.

Ufner and Graham are most directly responsible, but the rest of the city council also must share the blame. These officials are happy to accept plaudits when something good happens. Now they must accept whatever anger their inaction and inattentiveness has evoked among city residents - people whose tax money contributes to the purchase and upkeep of the equipment damaged or destroyed.

It's true that hindsight is 20/20, but by 4 p.m. Friday downtown streets already were being closed and heavy rain was persisting. A plan of emergency action for protecting city resources should have been in place, but none existed.

Although the garage had not experienced flooding in the past, even during Frances, the garage area is next to Connoquenessing Creek, whose water depth continued to rise throughout Friday evening. With the rain continuing to fall, officials should have become increasingly worried and should have acted accordingly on the equipment's behalf.

Instead, their lack of response and performance produced an embarrassment that should not soon be forgotten.

- J.R.K.