Butler Area Sewer Authority hired a Somerset architectural firm Tuesday on a 3-2 vote.

The EADS Group has been hired to design the renovation of the authority building on Litman Road in Butler Township.

The firm then will work to find contractors to complete the estimated $1.6 million project that will bring the building's heating and cooling systems up to date, as well as bring the more than 50-year-old building up to code and in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Authority board members Van Peterson and Mike English voted against hiring EADS.

English said he thinks the project is a waste of money. “We should make some upgrades to the roof, windows and doors before deciding if we really need a new boiler,” he said.

“Its just too much money,” Peterson said. “We are spending millions on these (stormwater holding) tanks, and renovating this building is just too much to ask the taxpayers to spend.”

Authority chairman Jerry Patterson said when he joined the board about four years ago, he found that previous boards had put off much needed projects, like the tanks that are required by the state Department of Environmental Protection, and the authority received much grief from the public because of it.

“We have the money for this project in the bond we took out last year and while we have the money, I'm not putting off this project,” Patterson said. “It will be more expensive later on, so now is the time to get it done.”

Board members George Shockey and Joseph Lucas also voted in favor of hiring EADS.

The design phase of the project will now begin and the project should be completed sometime in 2012 at the latest.