The uncertainty swirling around a police regionalization effort in southwestern Butler County can be blamed on local officials' failure to be clear about their true feelings regarding the potential merger as well as a breakdown in moving the feasibility study toward completion.

The bottom line is that the current uncertainty was avoidable, and most of the blame rests with a couple of municipalities, as well as with the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

While two of the seven communities that were to be part of the study — Evans City Borough and Jackson Township — haven't submitted information that would have paved the way for the study to begin months ago, the DCED hasn't been aggressive enough in pursuing that data.

However, the DCED shouldn't have to devote an inordinate amount of time and attention to obtaining cooperation from municipalities for a service that the state agency is willing to provide for free.

The proposed southwestern Butler County police study has languished for about a year, most notably because of failure of Evans City and Jackson to come forward with their requested information.

The sought-after information included their respective police budgets, number of officers, benefits and the equipment the departments have on hand.

Now, after holding up progress on the study for nearly a year, the silence from Jackson and Evans City on why they haven't submitted the requested information has finally been broken, and it also appears that the two communities have no intention to consider a change of heart.

From Jackson has come the disclosure that talks with Lancaster Township about a possible joint merger have precluded emphasis on being an active part of the wider DCED study, which, in addition to Evans City and Jackson, was to encompass Lancaster and Connoquenessing townships as well as Connoquenessing, Harmony and Zelienople boroughs.

Meanwhile, Evans City reportedly balked at providing its data to the state because of the supposition that Jackson and Lancaster, which submitted its data for the DCED study, would be pulling out of that study.

Lancaster and Jackson did in fact decide earlier this month to leave the state study, and that has put the regionalization effort in jeopardy, at least for the time being.

Ron Stern, a local government policy specialist with the DCED, didn't offer much optimism about what the study, if it actually is conducted, would disclose. He said with Jackson and Lancaster out of the consolidation picture, a proposed merger regarding the other municipalities might be too expensive.

Presumably that would be the case even with Forward Township being regarded as a candidate for participation in a regional police setup.

While Stern said the next step is to set up a meeting with the remaining municipalities to talk about the pros and cons of a regional department, a logical question that can be asked is why such a meeting wasn't scheduled months ago, when it was obvious that some municipalities were dragging their feet.

The state operates on a timetable for allowing the various components of a study to materialize. However, in this case, waiting for nearly a year without pushing for answers from municipalities whose information had not been submitted suggests an inappropriate lackadaisical attitude.

The proposed study involving the seven municipalities would have allowed the DCED to assemble a merger plan, as well as determine costs associated with the plan. Without data from Jackson and Evans City, the comprehensive picture that the study was to provide will not be possible.

With no financial responsibility connected with the study, it is puzzling why Lancaster, Jackson and Evans City would not want to know the costs and recommendations tied to a bigger merger, even if they also were pursuing other ideas.

The current regionalization stalemate should not have materialized but, most importantly, it should not have taken so long for officials to make their intentions clear.