Peters council members Monday continued their efforts to split up the township sanitary authority, collecting the fifth and final resignation from the authority's board of directors.

Council members, though, said they have no plans to force the five-member board to repay raises they voted for themselves nearly two years ago.

Although all of the authority board members acquiesced after council requested their resignations last month, not all of the members will leave the authority board right away.

On Monday, council accepted the resignation of authority board member Robert Jacobs, but they immediately reappointed him to fulfill the rest of his term, set to expire in January 2013.

The reason, according to Councilman Robert Atkison, was that Mr. Jacobs was one of two sanitary authority board members to vote against the controversial raises, which council members characterized as a backdoor attempt to turn what had been a nominal stipend into a paying job.

The authority board members, appointed by council, traditionally received a $15-per-meeting stipend since the board's inception in 1964.

However, board members in January 2008 voted to also give themselves monthly salaries of $115 for the board chairman and $100 for the other four officers.

During the same time period in early 2008, the board also raised customer rates by an average of 16 percent and entered into a questionable land deal for $315,000.

Although the board is considered autonomous and members can establish officer compensation, such actions cannot be done to deliberately circumvent council, which sets all board payments in the township. Council members receive a $25-per-meeting stipend.

Authority board members said they sought opinions from their solicitor and the state Ethics Commission before acting, but council members said they weren't notified about the raises for a year and a half.

Council members were furious when they discovered the raises and asked authority board members to reverse the action. Authority board members declined and spent months defending their position until two months ago, when council threatened to disband the authority, which oversees sewer systems in the township.

At that time, authority board members agreed to repeal the raises, but council members were fed up with the controversy and asked members to quit.

During a special meeting Nov. 2, council members accepted the resignations of authority board Chairman George Khalouf and Vice Chairman John Slagle without reappointing them.

They instead appointed township Manager Michael Silvestri to fill Mr. Khalouf's unexpired term until the end of 2010, and outgoing Councilman Michael McCaig was asked to finish Mr. Slagle's term until the end of 2012.

Council declined to accept the resignation of authority board Secretary Denver Yingling, who also voted against the raises, with the understanding that he would remain in his position until the end of the year, when his term expires.

Although they accepted the resignation of authority board member James Schafer, he, too, was asked to stay on board until a replacement could be found.

Council also voted to increase the per-meeting stipend to $50 for authority board members who remain on the board, along with their replacements.

Mr. Atkison said he wanted to see Mr. Schafer and Mr. Jacobs stay on the board, at least temporarily, for their expertise.

"They are experienced people and we need some experience on that board," he said. "They won't make waves."

Mr. Silvestri said the township is actively seeking replacements, who can apply before the Dec. 7 deadline.

In response to a request from township resident Ron Boocks, council members said they do not plan to pursue repayment of the raises from board members.

Township Solicitor William Johnson said council can't compel board members to return the raises unless they file a lawsuit or ethics complaint against them, which council doesn't plan to do.

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