Road maintenance is a top priority for most municipal officials.

And the last thing they want to see is a utility company digging up a newly paved road to work on service lines.

So, efforts are under way to launch a plan that's being touted as a cost-effective way to coordinate repair projects and lessen the impact such projects have on local residents. Plans call for a committee to be created that would be made up of members of the South Hills Council of Governments and representatives of utility companies

Engineers from 15 of SHACOG's 17 member municipalities met last Wednesday with representatives of the utility companies to lay the groundwork for such a cooperative venture. South Park and Peters didn't send representatives to the session, which was held at Gateway Engineers Inc. in Green Tree. The firm represents a number of the SHACOG communities and has spearheaded the plan.

"We hope to facilitate the communication and coordination of such repair projects," said Lou Gorski, executive director of SHACOG for the past 18 years. He said the organization, which has championed intergovernmental cooperation, was the ideal forum to address this issue and direct any coordinated effort.

"There's tremendous interest in this plan and the initial meeting was a great start," said engineer Ruthann Omer, president of Gateway Engineers.

Last year, Whitehall officials were upset when a utility company dug up a newly paved street in the borough. As the borough's engineer, Ms. Omer suggested council consider adopting a curb-to-curb ordinance that would require utility companies to repave an entire section of road instead of just making repairs to areas excavated during its work.

But the cooperative effort to coordinate municipal road repair projects with improvements planned by utility companies over a two-year construction period would eliminate the need for such an ordinance.

The idea is for all utility companies to schedule and complete their updates and improvements on designated streets before a borough proceeds with any planned paving.

Emergency repairs required by a utility company would not be affected by the plan.

"It's really a good business practice and a win-win situation for both sides," Keith Keane, a field operations manager for Columbia Gas, said of the plan.

He added that milling and paving costs have become "astronomical." He said the discussion has included possibly providing boroughs with a portion of the money a utility company saves by not having to do paving work.

"We are excited about the prospects of such a plan and hope that it moves forward," said Jasun Stanton, field operations manager for the Pennsylvania American Water Co. He said a cooperative and coordinated construction schedule would minimize the disturbance to the public and enhance the overall scope and cost efficiency of such projects.

Municipality and utility representatives expressed optimism that the initial stages of the plan could be in place for next year.

Another meeting has been scheduled for Oct. 28 at the Green Tree engineering firm, Mr. Gorski said.

The member municipalities of SHACOG are Baldwin Borough, Baldwin Township, Bethel Park, Brentwood, Castle Shannon, Dormont, Heidelberg, Jefferson Hills, Moon, Mt. Lebanon, Mount Oliver, Peters, Pleasant Hills, Scott, South Park, Upper St. Clair and Whitehall.