The Newtown Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority (NBCJMA) officially ended its plans to construct a controversial $128 million wastewater treatment plant after facing months of significant grassroots opposition and threats of litigation from residents across multiple surrounding townships.
The Authority, which currently sends its wastewater to Philadelphia, had acquired the necessary 17.5-acre site near the Newtown Bypass via eminent domain but acknowledged that it failed to adequately educate the public about the proposed facility.
Following the project's termination, the authority has begun the process of offering the land back to its original owners within a 90-day window, or it must petition the court for permission to sell the property publicly. While the site was previously slated for a large apartment complex, local supervisors have expressed a strong preference that the land ultimately remain undeveloped for the benefit of the community.
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I made my comments at the 18 Nov 2025 Newtown Sewer Authority meeting. where I also pointed out that the 47% rate increase that the Authority instituted at the beginning of the year was specifically earmarked to pay back the bank loan used to purchase the land without any rate-payer say in the matter. I surmised that even should the Authority sell the land back to the original owners or otherwise reap payment for the land that this rate increase - like the price of eggs - will never be rescinded.
That is why I said the rate payers are paying for the land and it should be donated to the township just like Silver Lake Park was donated to the township by Bucks County for $1 with the tipulation that it never be developed but always remain open space.
I heard the argument that donating the land to the township leaves Borough rate payers without benefit. That is a false argument. Just as township rate payers benefit from the preservation of open space, so do the Borough rate payers.