Temporary solution?
The Butler Transit Authority agreed Tuesday to temporarily lease a compressed natural gas fueling station for its CNG-powered buses.
Authority board members unanimously voted to lease the station from Compass Natural Gas of Mechanicsburg for $7,212 a month, and to buy CNG from the company for $1.95 per gallon of gas equivalent.
Use of the station and the fuel will start late this week or next week, when the authority will begin using three CNG powered buses for city routes. The fourth city bus will be a traditional, diesel-powered unit.
The authority's buses log an average of between 190,000 and 210,000 passenger trips a year.
Construction of a permanent fueling station will begin in the spring, said John Paul, authority executive director.
CNG will fuel the buses used for the planned service to Pittsburgh.
The authority also tentatively approved three five-year contracts to open three park and ride locations, where people can park their vehicles and board buses, for the Pittsburgh service. The contracts were tentative pending solicitor Larry Lutz's review.
One park and ride would be located at the Evans City Pool and Park at EDCO Park. The authority would lease the site for $4,500 per year and pay Evans City $2,500 per year for snow removal. Evans City would provide a $3,500 match, Paul said.
The second would be at the closed Shop 'n Save in Pullman Square. The authority would lease the site for $7,200 a year and provide snow removal.
The third site would be at Twelve Oaks Mansion, near Mars, for $2,400 a year.
Paul said the authority is working on contracts for three more park and ride sites in Forward, Middlesex and Cranberry townships.
He said accessibility is the main factor in selecting sites.Butler County Commissioner Kim Geyer is helping identify possible sites, Paul said.Five CNG buses will be assigned to the Pittsburgh route. Three will be used daily and two will be kept as backups.In other business, the authority's audit for fiscal year 2016-17 showed operating revenue of $191,000 and operating expenses of $2.8 million.The $2.5 million operating loss is partially offset by revenue from $1.8 million in government subsidies and a $390,000 capital grant.The remaining $413,000 loss is offset by $835,000 in asset depreciation.Officials said the audit had no findings.In addition, the authority bought $1,244 in equipment for conducting state inspections on buses and other authority vehicles.“We can inspect our own fleet,” Paul said.The authority owns a truck and a car in addition to buses.The authority also approved a $76,920 change order to the CNG compliant modifications to its garages and office building.The order covers two new roll-up garage doors and powder coating another door in the garages and replacing the capstones on the office building.
