HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP: ELSA sewers session slated

By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
   The second public meeting on a proposal to bring public sewer service, from the Ewing-Lawrence Sewerage Authority (ELSA), to a substantial portion of southeastern Hopewell Township will be held in the auditorium of Hopewell Valley Central High School at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 19.
   The area involved is roughly defined by the Route 31 corridor, from I-95 north to the Pennington Circle. The Indian Village (Pennington Estates) development also is included.
   Township officials and residents often have said the area is plagued by failing septic systems, or systems that barely get by.
   However, at the first meeting (on Dec. 15) on the ELSA plan, which was attended by nearly 80 people, a substantial number of residents who spoke said their septic systems were working well, and that they were concerned about being forced to connect into a sewer system at their own expense.
   On the other hand, many residents said they backed the plan to bring in the sewers.
   Issues that are expected to be addressed Wednesday are: who might be required to connect to the sewers if they don’t want to; how much it will cost a homeowner to connect; and how much it will cost the township as a whole to bring in the service from ELSA.