The Connoquenessing Township Sewer Authority will build a $22.5 million sewage treatment plant off Welsh Road along the Little Connoquenessing Creek.

Calvin Wonderly, chairman of the authority, said the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) mandated that the township submit a public sewer plan five years ago.

The DEP recently warned that if a sewer plan were not submitted, the state agency's officials would create a plan and build a sewer system.

Wonderly said should the state take over, they would not likely take into consideration the cost or residents' concerns.

The authority's sewer plan, which was approved by DEP officials, will provide public sewer service for about 1,300 homes and businesses.

The tap-in fee, which is mandatory, will be about $3,800, and the monthly bill around $80, Wonderly said.

“In order for the township to grow, we're going to have to put public sewage in,” Wonderly said. “Route 68 is the biggest thing.”

He said the Butler Farm Market, Honda North, #1 Cochran Subaru of Butler and other businesses along the busy road have on-lot septic systems.

“Once we get (public sewer service), the township is going to explode,” Wonderly said.

The sewer plan states that the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission estimates annual township growth to remain at 2.4% through 2040.

Wonderly said the authority borrowed $1 million from First Commonwealth Bank for startup costs such as engineering, which should be complete by the end of the year.

The construction of the sewer plant will likely be funded through a loan from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority.

Richard Lenhart, Senate Engineering senior project manager, said the service would be mainly along Route 68 and along all or parts of Kreiss, Reiber, Powder Mill, Whitestown and Eagle Mill roads.

Small pump stations in the plan will be placed at Rolling Valley Mobile Home Park, an area just west of Buttercup Campground, the intersection of Dick and Double roads, and Powder Mill Road near an unnamed tributary to the Little Connoquenessing. A larger pump station is planned for Moose Road.

The second phase of the project, carried out in five years or so, would connect users in the western part of the township, he said.

The current phase could see construction on the plant begin in four or five years, Lenhart said.

The public sewer system is needed because many on-lot systems are failing, which causes a public health hazard.

Lenhart said a door-to-door survey of 220 property owners in the service area revealed 18 confirmed septic system malfunctions, 32 suspected and 20 potential malfunctions.

Also, the soil in the township can no longer handle new on-lot septic systems.

While Wonderly and Lenhart said many residents are upset about the project because of the cost, pump station locations or the prospect of losing trees or landscaping features where the gravity-fed system must be installed.

“We're trying to work with residents as best we can,” Lenhart said.

Lenhart and Wonderly said as many people are calling to say they welcome the system as are complaining about it.

Lenhart said existing on-lot sewer treatment plants, with the exception of the one servicing the Brandywine neighborhoods, will be taken over by the new public sewer system.

Properties with buildings within 150 feet of a sewer line will be mandated to tap in, per DEP requirements.

Lenhart said the plan is still flexible and could change before construction begins.