Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy is a man with a plan.

The recently reelected mayor recently shared his proposal for using $15 million the city received from the sale of the Butler Area Sewer Authority over the next four years.

The money is earmarked for projects ranging from improvements to the tier parking garage, street repaving, sidewalks and flood plain projects on Mercer, Monroe and Elm streets.

But just as important as these proposals to update the city’s infrastructure has been Dandoy’s method for choosing where the BASA windfall money would be applied.

Dandoy said it was important to ask Butler’s residents what their biggest concerns were. The mayor said the stormwater projects came about in conversations after some streets were flooded during heavy rains last summer.

He said what he considered priorities for the BASA money may not have been the voters’ priorities.

Transparency is a word often tossed around when discussing government actions. And it seems the mayor was trying to involve the city’s residents as much as possible when deciding the projects scheduled for the next four years of his second term.

Dandoy said he would like to see the city’s private businesses try this cooperative effort when it comes to drawing people to shop and eat downtown. Working together to make downtown events more attractive would be good for businesses and good for the city.

Dandoy said everyone, not just the mayor or Butler Downtown, must act as salesmen promoting the city.

Improved coordination between Butler’s government, business community and residents may be just as important to improving the city as Dandoy’s slate of physical projects.

— EF