CONNOQUENESSING TWP — Conversation continued Tuesday about the proposed public sewer system in Connoquenessing Township at a supervisors meeting, and a member of the township sewer authority proposed that officials look at opportunities with the neighboring region.

Laura Mason, who was appointed to the Connoquenessing Township Sewer Authority in November, suggested that township officials meet with administrators of the Butler Area Sewer Authority and Pennsylvania American Water Company to see if Connoquenessing Township could form a plan that could work in conjunction with the sewer system serving the region just next door.

“There are always negotiations — always,” Mason said at the meeting Tuesday. “I think that sitting down and having an open dialogue meeting with Pennsylvania American Water can do no harm. In fact, it could possibly do a lot of good.”

Mason addressed the supervisors during the public comment section of the meeting, so her pitch was hypothetical at the time. However, it was met with curiosity by the supervisors and other people present at the meeting.

The township has been preparing to install a public sewage system for several years now, to comply with state Department of Environmental Protection regulations.

One plan compiled by Herbert, Rowland & Grubic engineers in 2022 had a proposed $51 million price tag, which Lambert Rosenbaum, chairman of the sewer authority, said was not fundable.

The supervisors voted at the meeting to hire Chad Hanley of HRG to revise the plan, based on more recent research performed by the sewer authority.

Hanley said he could have a plan ready for the supervisors to act on by next month’s meeting. He also said he would be paid in a lump sum for coming up with a plan, and would bill for time and materials for any extra meetings he attends.

After Rosenbaum asked how the plan would be developed, Hanley told him and the supervisors that DEP officials are not as concerned with future projected needs as they are with the situation of a municipality at the current moment.

“That’s going to be part of the workshop, what you want to work with,” Hanley told the supervisors. “What I heard DEP say at our meeting was they want you to identify the needs of the township now and come up with a plan to correct those needs now.”

Rosenbaum said he is concerned with the projections of how a sewer system would operate in the township. He also asked how the system would continue to be funded in the future, even after the construction side of the project was completed.

“We’ve got to ask (Hanley) to design a fundable and hopefully affordable ... I think you’re going to have to scale it back to make it fundable,” Rosenbaum said. “We need technical advice on how to handle this; that’s what we’re looking to, but to get it fundable you’re going to have to go with a smaller footprint.”

The sewer authority will have a workshop meeting Jan. 23, followed by a regular meeting the same day at the township building.

Supervisor Chairman Terry Steinheiser said the feedback to the township and sewer authority from residents has been appreciated, because their suggestions have helped develop a course for the overall sewer plan.

“We are definitely moving forward in the best way we possibly can,” Steinheiser said. “I’m not really thrilled about spending $51 million ... We’ve slowed it down; we’re taking it one step at a time.”