All municipalities served by the Butler Area Sewer Authority deserve a voice in the authority's operations.

The BASA board's 3-2 vote Tuesday denying Center Township a board representative does not reflect the growth in the authority's service area that has occurred over the past couple of decades.

The decision also doesn't reflect the authority's best interests in regard to improving its relations with the state Department of Environmental Protection. The state looks kindly on actions and projects demonstrating municipal cooperation and a broad-based decision-making voice.

Perhaps the DEP, despite its heavy-handedness in handling a former consent agreement with which the authority failed to comply, might eventually become more flexible regarding BASA. That is, if the current BASA status quo were to give way to an authority with some additional people dedicated to guiding the authority out of its serious problems.

Tuesday's decision did nothing to improve BASA's image. There is a window for an eventual change in official position, however, since two members of the five-member BASA board voted for board expansion.

The expanded-membership issue, not new to the authority, was brought to the forefront this time by the Center Township supervisors' request to have a township representative with full voting powers on BASA. The request also sought a voting member to represent BASA customers in East Butler Borough and Summit, Connoquenessing and Oakland townships.

Center currently is home to 9 to 12 percent of the authority's customers. And, growth in Center is destined to continue at a brisk pace when BASA resolves its problems with the DEP regarding future sewer tap-ins. Housing developments under way or proposed confirm that.

BASA's problems with the DEP are restricting development for now, but eventually the sewer service area will overcome the nagging stormwater-infiltration problem that has caused large sewage overflows during wet-weather conditions.

That is the problem DEP wants corrected — and wanted corrected under the previous consent agreement with which BASA failed to comply.

BASA even failed to meet some documentation and reporting requirements to the state agency on time despite its ability to do so.

Tuesday's vote depicted an attitude of arrogance, this time directed toward some of BASA's customers. The vote depicted a desire by the board to continue with business as usual without any "outsiders" having a voice in what the authority should or should not be doing.

But judging from BASA's current difficulties, a few new members might be the right medicine to effect a positive turnaround for the authority.

And, the authority has some big decisions before it, especially in regard to whether the current sewage treatment plant along Route 8 should be expanded or whether a new facility with greater capacity should be built. There's also the nagging future issue of how paying for major sewer system reconstruction, especially in the city, will be handled — whether paying for the work will be handled as a surcharge to city customers only or whether the cost will be spread out to customers systemwide.

Center Township customers currently pay a surcharge in connection with the BASA system expansion into that municipality. Although no one on the city council is saying so publicly, for the city it is a high-stakes challenge to exercise voting control over the authority so Butler customers can avoid being made to bear the full financial impact of the work that is inevitable.

But as a matter of fairness, the same rules and precedents regarding surcharges should apply to all BASA municipalities; the city should neither expect nor be given treatment not accorded to others.

George Shockey, who represents Butler Township on the BASA board, likened Tuesday's action against having Center Township representation on that board to taxation without representation, the cause of the Boston Tea Party in 1773.

Center Township and the other BASA municipalities without a BASA vote should continue pressing for a voice. In a spirit of municipal cooperation and fairness, Butler City Council and the Butler Township commissioners should go on record as supporting the expanded-board proposal, despite Tuesday's BASA vote.

BASA should function as an authority concerned about the best interests of all of its customers, not be guided by the special interests of some.

The three BASA board members who voted Tuesday against the board's expansion should rethink that vote. Tuesday's vote did not demonstrate the spirit of fairness that should guide authority operations.

BASA customers outside the city and Butler Township should continue to follow closely all that is at stake for them and their financial interests in regard to sanitary sewer service.