BUTLER TWP — The chairman of the Butler County commissioners today threatened to sell Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center if union workers don't approve a contract offer.

Commissioner Dale Pinkerton, board chairman, said at the Sunnyview board meeting the employees have to agree to proposed concessions for the county to keep the home.

"We'll sell this place," he said.

Pinkerton said the county is financially strapped, so expenses at Sunnyview must be cut.

"We're trying to save Sunnyview," he said. "I'm getting the feeling you folks don't want that to happen."

Bonnie Gould, Sunnyview union steward, disagreed, saying she and other union representatives were told at the March 4 contract negotiation there was no offer currently on the table.

"(We were told) 'We're starting over,'" she said. "I was shocked by it."

County solicitor Julie Graham, a member of the county's negotiating team, said Gould misunderstood a comment about a previous offer being off the table.

While wrangling with contract talks, the county is waiting for proposals to operate or buy Sunnyview.

The commissioners maintain the county's best option someday may be to sell Sunnyview, which is projected to lose $1 million this year, if it can't break even.