Connoquenessing Township supervisors are going to approve an Act 537 plan for mandatory public sewage. The written public comment period deadline is Feb. 15.

The proposal has taken work, time and money to develop two alternative plans. However, most residents are not aware or informed.

The only public discussions have been in monthly supervisors meetings — where they have not been fully discussed or disclosed — and by law, in a public notice in the legal section of the Butler Eagle requesting written comments due Feb. 15.

There are no public informational meetings scheduled on this topic, details or public comment or concerns. If you want more information, you have until the 15th to make an appointment at the township office to read the Act 537 proposal. It’s a very complex plan, but your comments have to be written by that date.

There are two alternative plans. Here is a brief summary as I understand them.

Plan 1: Phase I and II are to tap into the Butler Area Sewer Authority system at an estimated total cost of $20.3 million, plus yearly operating costs of $679,800 and interest on funding.

Plan 2: Phase I and II, the township constructs and operates its own treatment plant at Dick and Boy Scout roads, estimated cost totaling $19.5 million plus yearly operating costs of $317,800 and interest.

Both plans will require homeowners to abandon their working septic systems and buy into this public sewage plant. This requirement is so the public sewage system has enough of the township involved to make the public system work. This will also include privately owned sewage systems like Brandywine Village, Shannon Mills, Rolling Valley, Woodland Meadows and Timberlee Farms.

The township’s sewage enforcement officer surveyed 144 homes in problem areas and found 14 percent had malfunctioning or suspected malfunctioning septic systems. The report did not indicate if these systems could be repaired. In that same area, 86 percent of inspected septic systems passed. The privately owned sewage systems where not inspected.

Even if your home is not involved in this plan, it could be added later once the plan is approved.

Where is the “greater good” here if 86 percent have working septic systems? Why do we have to pay for something we do not need or want? We have already paid for our own septic system to be installed, some more than others, and we maintain our own systems. This township is still considered country living.

This is my question to you. Do you want to spend your money on township loans, tap-in fees, laying sewage lines, installing your own septic line to meet public lines, pump stations, monthly sewer bills, and higher taxes? My answer is no. What is your answer?

I need the help of the other 86 percent to get informed and have a say as to what happens in our township. After all, you pay for it.

Do you remember what happened in Saxonburg a few years ago with its sewage treatment authority and what residents had to pay? We don’t want that here.

The next township supervisors meeting is 7 p.m. Wednesday. Please attend. The only way to voice your opinion is in writing, by Feb. 15. Notify your neighbors so they have a chance to have their voices heard. If you don’t speak up now, expect to pay later. Everyone needs to be informed to make your own decisions. Action is needed now.