It's the responsibility of Evans City Borough officials to negotiate a new contract with the local police bargaining unit, or decide on another course of action. Elected officials control how that process shakes out.

But within the context of that process, officials should look at all aspects of the police operation, including how manpower is currently allocated. Some people would suggest that there are improvements to be made — if the borough council deems that the department should remain in existence.

The future of the department is not guaranteed, however. According to an article in Thursday's Butler Eagle, Mike Hnath, the lawyer representing the borough's negotiating committee, told a representative of the police union that if money-saving cuts were unsuccessful, the elimination of the department was a possibility.

Meanwhile, steps are being taken to possibly send the contract stalemate to binding arbitration.

Complicating the police negotiations is the borough's $800,000 debt and anticipated additional debt from repairs to aging waterlines and sewer lines. As is true in many other communities, those waterline and sewer line needs are a product of failure to keep up with ongoing maintenance and replacement.

Needs have piled up over the years, and now the borough faces bigger expenses than it otherwise might have had to face. And now the police department is in the cross hairs as the borough tries to find money for the work.

That doesn't sit well with borough residents who see the existence of the department as beyond question.

This is a time when community residents should step forward and make clear their opinions about the police department's future.

Amid that opinion-venting, it will be appropriate for residents to make suggestions on how police manpower is being used. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people who travel through the borough, especially during the afternoon rush hour, would agree that police officers should be in place to allow traffic to get through the borough more efficiently. The current traffic situation inconveniences local residents as well as non-residents trying to get through the borough.

Even if borough officials don't care about the frustration of passing-through motorists, they should give more consideration to their residents' convenience.

Instead of having officers in place to direct traffic through the borough's stoplight intersections during those busy times, the traffic lights are left to manage the traffic flow — in a way that leaves much to be desired. That results in vehicles backing up to, and even up, Route 528, which leads to Interstate 79 — making motorists' experience with Evans City a daily frustration.

Traffic also backs up on Route 68 beyond the stoplight at Route 528.

With more Butler area residents working in Cranberry Township and Pittsburgh, it's likely that the problem will continue to worsen.

While the borough seeks to save money, it also should acknowledge its needs and responsibilities in terms of police protection. While threatening to eliminate the department is a negotiating tactic not unique to Evans City, it also is an issue that demands extensive input from community residents who, through their taxes, pay for police protection.

The borough's back still isn't against the wall regarding a police contract. The current five-year pact doesn't expire until the end of the year.

All considered, it might be in the police department's long-term best interests to soften its contract demands, but that is for it to decide.

Borough officials are facing a big task in having to evaluate all options tied to the town's needs. The weight of the borough's debt obligation adds to the difficulty of the task at hand.

However, perhaps the police contract issue will increase community residents' focus on the borough's plight, and that can be judged a positive consequence of the challenges now before the borough.

For now, the fate of the police contract rests solely with borough officials and the police union. If there is arbitration, what the arbitrator hands down will have to be accepted — again, if the borough opts to keep the department.

Doing what's best for Evans City must remain the overriding objective.