With two new supervisors and a rejection letter for their Act 537 plan from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Connoquenessing Township is circling back to reconsider how to fulfill its sewage obligations.

Chairwoman Angela Fleeger gave an update during the board of supervisors meeting on Monday, Jan. 5, on the next steps the township will take to address the department’s concerns.

“I view this denial as an opportunity for our new board of supervisors to reset the process and submit a revised Act 537 plan that better reflects the needs of our township, specifically from an affordability, feasibility and environmental standpoint,” Fleeger told the crowded room of residents.

She explained the department provided a six-month window to submit a revised plan, so the township will be reviewing “additional options that were not adequately explored in the past.”

As a first step toward a revised plan, the board voted 3-0 to authorize the township solicitor to draft a revised version of the township’s septic management ordinance. The revision would mandate pumping of septic systems in 2026 and every four years in the future.

“Basically, the ordinance that we have in place right now, we don’t feel it has enough teeth behind it at the moment. The current ordinance states it’s ‘as needed,’ and I do not believe the DEP is going to accept that,” Fleeger said.

The revised ordinance would be brought to the board of supervisors for a first and second reading before it is passed.

The matter began in June 2023 when the township received a letter from the DEP stating that it was in violation of the 1966 Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act for failing to implement public sewage.

To address this, the previous board voted 2-1 in July 2025 to submit a plan to the department that would see the township’s wastewater treated by the Saxonburg Area Authority. To do this, the township would have needed to construct a new township-owned collection system at a cost of millions of dollars.

The plan was received negatively by many township residents — as well as Fleeger, who voted against the plan — due to potential increases and a perceived lack of due diligence on the board’s part. Signs from frustrated residents began appearing on township roads with slogans such as “It’s Not Affordable” and “Fair Plan, Not Their Plan.”

The DEP sent a rejection letter in December which highlighted high resident costs and agricultural impacts as reasons for denial. The department also included suggestions on how to revise its plan.

“A combination of targeted public sewage extensions and a township-managed septic program was strongly recommended and is the direction that we are actively exploring,” Fleeger said during the January meeting.

To that end, she said the board would be meeting with the department, as well as Pennsylvania American Water, in January. She added that the Jan. 14 meeting with Pennsylvania American would be “fact-finding discussion only.”

“The board of supervisors wants to be very clear: We are unified, engaged and committed to getting this right. We have no personal interest or attachments to any specific entity. Our focus will remain on solutions that are best serving our township as a whole,” Fleeger said.