Emergency Services getting weather station
Butler County commissioners approved a three-year contract for a weather station that will provide real time severe weather alerts to the 911 center and Alameda Park, and to the Emergency Services Facebook page so residents can see them.
The contract, approved at the Wednesday, Sept. 10, commissioners meeting with Perry Weather, of Dallas, Texas, costs $3,400 a year and a one-time, $400 shipping fee.
“Real time information is crucial to our operation, particularly from the 911 side of things,” said Steve Bicehouse, emergency services director. “We’ve tried to utilize public radars and even the National Weather Service radar, but its very cumbersome and difficult.”
He said the station, which will be located in Butler, will provide information 24 hours a day, seven days a week without interruption, allowing the department to make decisions such as when to call in additional staff based on real time information.
Butler County is a “storm-ready county,” Bicehouse said.
Storm ready counties work with the state and the National Weather Service to receive and disperse severe weather information to the public, he said.
Commissioners, acting as the board of elections, approved changes to polling precincts in Buffalo Township and Petrolia in advance of the Nov. 4 election.
The polling place for the Buffalo Township 2 precinct was moved from the Sarver Volunteer Fire Company, 110 Elliott Road, to the Christ Community Fellowship Church, 160 Singleton Road in Buffalo Township.
The Petrolia polling place was moved from the borough building at 110 Cross St. to the Petrolia Volunteer Fire Department social hall, 200 Argyle St.
In addition, the commissioners approved a Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act, or TEFRA, resolution supporting a note of up to $3 million for Valley Community Service’s refinancing of mortgages for 22 group homes for people with intellectual disabilities.
There are 10 homes in Butler and the area surrounding the city and 12 others in Armstrong, Bedford, Indiana, Mercer and Westmoreland counties. The Butler County General Authority approved the resolution at a TEFRA hearing last week.
The resolution does not impose a financial obligation on the county or county taxpayers, said solicitor Julie Graham.
