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Answering the call to serve
Answering the call to serve
Chuck Rothermel volunteered on municipal authority board for 30 years
By Andrea Iglar
In the early 1990s, Chuck Rothermel responded to a call for volunteers in South Fayette.
He had been attending public meetings and decided, “Instead of listening and moaning and all that, I wanted to be on the other side doing something.”
Ultimately, the township commissioners appointed him to the board of the Municipal Authority of the Township of South Fayette.
He served the public sanitary sewer authority for 30 years until he stepped down from the board Jan. 1.
"It just felt like the right thing to do,” Rothermel said. “It was a good run."
The municipal authority in South Fayette is separate from the local government, but the township commissioners appoint residents to the five-member citizens board to oversee the agency.
Commissioners in January appointed Fred Cardillo to fill the seat that Rothermel vacated.
Rothermel, who lives in Lakemont Farms, held the unpaid board post over three decades, even as his job and family responsibilities grew.
He and his wife of 42 years, Carol, raised children Eric and Lauren—both graduates of South Fayette High School—and Rothermel worked full-time in the gas utility industry.
Now, Rothermel spends time with his four grandchildren, works part-time, and enjoys gardening and reading. He and Carol volunteer for outreach activities involving homeless and underfed people.
Rothermel said he and fellow board members used their knowledge and experiences to encourage safety and good business practices while supporting the paid staff.
He was pleased with the professional development of municipal authority co-managers Nick Goettman and Jamie Summers, who took over day-to-day field and office operations after managing director Jerry Brown retired at the end of 2022.
“We were able to hire from within, and that’s what I’m most proud about,” Rothermel said.
They’re homegrown.
Rothermel also was proud that the South Fayette municipal authority is one of the most respected, leading agencies in the region and that the organization has been able to accommodate enormous growth in the township while remaining efficient.
Municipal authority revenues come from customer billing, new connection fees and an occasional grant—not from tax money.
Formed on Feb. 10, 1963, to create a sanitary sewer system, the municipal authority operates and maintains a system of pipes and pumps to convey about 2 million gallons of wastewater a day from South Fayette to the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN) sewage treatment plant in Pittsburgh.
Overall, Rothermel enjoyed his time serving and working with fellow board members.
"I think it was a good fit," he said.
