Connoquenessing Township schedules special meeting for sewer plan as open comment deadline looms
CONNOQUENESSING TWP — With the open comment period for a proposed $9.15 million Act 537 sewer plan set to end Saturday, residents are down to their last days to give feedback before the plan moves forward.
Connoquenessing Township supervisors voted unanimously at their meeting Wednesday evening, Aug. 8, to set a special meeting for 6 p.m. Aug. 17. The meeting will serve as the township’s chance to give final approval to the plan and begin its formal submission to the state Department of Environmental Protection ahead of the Sept. 1 deadline.
Work began on a sewage plan in 2023 when the township received a letter from the DEP stating it was in violation of the 1966 Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act for failing to implement public sewage.
In July 2025, the board voted 2-1 to submit a plan that faced significant backlash from residents. However, the plan was rejected by the DEP in December 2025, primarily due to high resident costs and agricultural impacts.
In July 2026, township Supervisor Angela Fleeger and two supervisors who had just been installed, Mark Williams and Ray Kroll, voted unanimously to approve advertising of Alternative D-1, a $9.15 million plan which uses a gravity system and lift station to service 127 equivalent dwelling units.
They also decided to defer implementation of the Alternative B2B plan, which also uses a gravity system and lift station to service 115 equivalent dwelling units.
Only one resident, Heather Chadman, used public comment during Wednesday’s meeting to address the ongoing Act 537 plan. She addressed a few separate concerns she had, most notably a lack of resident feedback on the plan.
“When you talk to people in (the plan), many of them have already invested tens of thousands of dollars into fully compliant systems and now they’re about to face an incredible financial burden,” she said.
Chadman highlighted tap-in fees, excavation, trenching and plumbing costs on top of the estimated $120 to $200 monthly payment.
According to a presentation made available on the township website, the plan targeted a user rate of $120 per month or 1.7% of the average township resident’s median household income to $200 per month or 2.8% of the median.
“For seniors, families and small businesses, that isn’t a utility upgrade. It’s an eviction notice,” she said.
Chadman also highlighted what she referred to as the “gamble” of relying on PENNVEST grant funds to keep costs low.
The township would need $6.1 million in grant funds to reach a monthly cost of $142.64, or 2% of median household income. To lower that monthly cost to $107.04, or 1.5% of the median, the township would need $7.5 million in grants.
“(The grants) are fiercely competitive and our medium income profile doesn’t automatically qualify us for these. So if those millions in grant funding fall short, the debt doesn’t disappear, it’s then transferred straight to the property owners,” she said.
She called on the township to reconsider including Alternative B2B in the submitted plan and to prioritize repairs over replacement as sewage management enforcement is put into place.
Public comments on the plan are still being accepted either by emailing to info@connotwp.net or in-person at the township office until the end of the period on Aug. 8. Williams said so far, there have only been four formal comments submitted to the township.
The township estimates approval in January 2027, PENNVEST funding awarded in April 2028, bidding in October 2028, construction beginning in March 2029 and completion in September 2030.
