Butler county is not within my receiving range....but by using 800 mhz areen't they making the same mistake PSP did?
There are many factors that go into determining the success of a radio system, with the particular spectrum being only one of those factors.
PA-STARNet was not a failure specifically because it was built out on 800 MHz, but rather because it used a proprietary system (OpenSky) that was never strong on voice (tailored for data), and was not an open standard. That alone severely limited interoperability and what kind of hardware could be used on the system.
It was also never properly built out to provide solid enough coverage, with sites constantly being added over the years to compensate for those shortcomings (over 1,000 at last count). In that regard, yes 800 MHz was not ideal in many areas of the commonwealth (which is why the P25 system is going back to VHF), however OpenSky is just not a reliable system no matter what band it would've been operating in.
A properly built out 700/800 MHz system can work quite well even in a county with varied terrain. Yes, VHF or UHF would be more ideal, however there simply may not be enough spectrum available to build out such a large countywide system on those bands, hence why 700/800 is a more appealing choice.