CONNOQUENESSING TWP — Public comments about the proposed sewage treatment plant off Welsh Road went on for nearly an hour-and-a-half at a meeting of the township's sewer authority Monday evening.

Authority chairman Calvin Wonderly pounded the gavel several times as speakers went over the three-minute time limit and even began shouting at the members.

Sewer authority members said the plans for the plant, which will cost the township an estimated $22.5 million and serve about 1,300 homes and businesses with a mandatory tap-in fee of $3,800, have been in the works since around 2015. But several residents present Monday said they had only heard about it recently through word-of-mouth.

A lack of communication was a chief complaint from residents.

“There seems to be a lot of miscommunications and or not clear intent to the community,” said township resident Mark Williams. “All we're asking is communicate with us clearly exactly what is going to happen, then maybe you will gain support.”

The authority took no action on phase two of the project, listed on the agenda as connecting to Butler Area Sewer Authority.

However, sewer authority secretary Brendan Linton said one of the next steps for the board could be finding new methods of communication.

“We do need to take a look at how we are getting information out to the public,” he said. “Given the feedback we have received this evening I think as a board there is certainly more work we need to do to evolve even more.”

The authority created a website, connosewer.org, which houses information about the project including the reasoning behind it, its proposed design and construction, its cost to residents and the proposed monthly service fee. The website also says letters about the project were sent to affected homes in November 2019, but several residents said Monday they did not receive notices.According to the website, the project is mandated by the Department of Environmental Protection, in part because current facilities are not appropriate for projected growth of the township, or the general health and safety of the community.According to the plans posted on the website, pump stations will be constructed at Rolling Valley Mobile Home Park, Buttercup Campground, the intersection of Dick and Double roads, Powder Mill Road and Moose Road east of Route 68.

Residents also said at the meeting that the project was unnecessary because they had individual septic systems, and called the project wasteful.Bill Long, a resident of the township, said he communicated personally with the DEP. He told the supervisors that from his conversations, the DEP does not have an understanding of Connoquenessing Township.“We don't need sewers in all these rural areas,” Long said. “We need people taking responsibility, we need the township supervisors taking that responsibility.”Resident Laura Mason said the project could have large implications to the environment and forest in the township. She presented a print with dotted lines outlining her interpretation of the construction plans.“These white lines will be blown up with massive destruction of property, massive tree removal, massive erosion and control issues,” Mason said. “It is the cost of destruction which I think the majority of us here feel in our hearts that we are so upset by is the cost of absolute destruction.”After hearing comments from almost every member of the crowd of about 50 people, the authority moved to adjourn.“My commitment to you is to improve that communication,” said sewer authority member Lambert Rosenbaum. “That is one of the things I have heard more people repeat.”The next meeting of the Connoquenessing Township supervisors is at 6 p.m. Oct. 6.