SOMERSET — Saying “the system’s been corrupted,” an official of the Pennsylvania Builders Association asked local and county leaders Monday to lobby Harrisburg to overturn mandated sprinkler systems in new single-family homes.

The law would add $13,000 on average to the price of a new home beginning in January, said Douglas Meshaw, a PBA vice president. He was one of those speaking to 50 government officials gathered for Somerset County’s second municipal summit at the Bakersville fire hall.

Topics ranged from Community Development Block Grants to spreading the word on economic development sites.

“I’m not welcome in too many fire halls these days,” Meshaw said in opening his talk, noting that firefighters strongly favor sprinkler installation.

But Meshaw said hard-wired smoke detectors – not sprinklers – are what really save lives.

“Sprinklers are absolutely not necessary,” he said.

“Sprinklers do not save lives. They save property.”

Meshaw said the builders association is representing the best interests of consumers in trying to keep house prices down.

He said builders will gladly install sprinklers for anyone who wants them.

He just doesn’t want the state building code to mandate them, as it will in January. He said such sprinkler codes – which in Pennsylvania already apply to townhouses – were instituted only after manufacturers spent millions lobbying for them.

The builders association currently is suing the state Department of Labor & Industry to undo the rules.

The builders also want the building code “frozen” according to the law in 2006 – instead of the required three-year updates that they contend are creating a jumble.

The builders association is supporting two bills before the Legislature to eliminate the single-family home sprinkler rule.

Wilbert Bailey, emergency management coordinator for Paint Township, said he particularly enjoyed a Monday presentation on Google Earth by Brad Zearfoss, who heads the county planning commission.

“I’ll have to look to see if it has some benefit (to my work),” Bailey said.

Also at the summit:

• President Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes gave a brief update on natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation. She said 28 wells have received permits in the county.

A Marcellus Shale task force is keeping an eye on how the drilling affects the environment, traffic and the quality of life, she said.

• A countywide tire collection will be held from 9 a.m. until noon June 19 at the Conemaugh Township Municipal Building on Route 403, it was announced. Commissioner John Vatavuk said the collection is open to the public and to municipalities.

A fee of $2 will be charged for each car and light truck tire. The fee for truck tires is $5.50 and $11 for super wide truck tires.

Municipalities hauling tires to the collection point must call John Peters for authorization from the state Department of Environmental Protection. For more information or authorization, call Peters at 445-1544.

• Todd Crouch of Pa. CleanWays said illegal trash dumps in Somerset County aren’t nearly as much of a problem as they are elsewhere in the state.

A study released in June 2008 found 210 dump sites in the county and that 27 of 50 municipalities in Somerset had them. The dumps hold an estimated 542 tons of trash, though three-quarters of the dumps have 1 ton of trash or less, two pickup trucks full.

“These numbers are really low when compared with the rest of the state,” Crouch said.

Nonetheless, Crouch said 61 percent of the sites were considered active, and that clearing these should take priority.

“Trash attracts trash,” he said, maintaining that active dumps draw in other scofflaws.

He urged municipal leaders to use those survey results to prod government agencies and private companies for cleanup funding. Current sites include dumps on Village Road in Somerset, on Piney Run Road in Elk Lick Township and in Ursina.

Installing surveillance cameras is a strong deterrent to dumping, Crouch said, while putting up “No dumping” signs might only put ideas in people’s heads and backfire.

Crouch said the organization is studying the illegal dump situation in Cambria County.

Those findings will be released in June.