A divided board of supervisors early Wednesday approved settling a lawsuit with the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, in a vote held after hours of acrimonious debate.

With a few amendments, the 3-2 decision came about 2:10 a.m. and could end a fight that has raged since April.

The agreement would establish a Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority district that includes the stretch between routes 413 and 611.

Three developments calling for site-specific plants would be placed onto authority lines, while future tie-ins would be set for failing septic systems and future industrial and residential development in the corridor.

The deal will be sent to the sewer authority, where it must be endorsed by its board. It would then head to Bucks County Court for approval by a judge.

On Wednesday, supporters touted the agreement, saying it will limit the sewer authority's scope in the future, while bailing the township out from site-specific treatment plants that have proven problematic.

They noted the authority claims all of Plumstead as its purview, with the suit alleging the township violated a 1978 agreement to stay out of the sewer business.

“We finally have a limit on the number of sewer connections that can be brought into the town,” said Supervisor Vince Formica, who was joined by Stacey Mulholland and Chairman Frank Froio.

“This settles the size of the sewer district in Plumstead,” he said. “Legally, it's done.”

Opponents charged extended sewers remove a key check regulators have on future development.

They said the sewer lines may hurt the township's aquifer by pumping sewer water to plants outside Plumstead.

And they expressed unhappiness that the deal was agreed to without a study on the impact it might have on water.

“How can you make a business decision without the facts?” asked Dianne Mill, the chairwoman of the environmental advisory council. “Isn't that total and completely irresponsible? That's impeachment stuff to me.”

Mill worried the deportation of water could lead to wells drying up.

“Can you imagine getting up and going to brush your teeth and finding out you have mud?” she said. “There isn't anything scarier than having no water.”

Wednesday's vote incorporated some amendments pushed by opponents of the settlement, including a request that Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority set up a revolving fund to cover wells that fail as a result of expanded sewers.

The township also wants the authority to pay for the engineering and legal costs of implementing a new storm water recharge ordinance, said Supervisor Housley Carr.

Language was added as well to require developers in the sewer district to prove they can't use on-site methods before they are allowed to hook to the authority's lines, Carr said.

Despite the changes, Carr voted against the overall deal, as did Betsy Helsel.

“The original agreement would have had a grade of "F,'” Carr said. “This one with the changes has a grade of "D.'”

Winners under the deal include residents of the Estates at Timberly Farm, which is the only of three developments calling for pocket treatment plants to actually be built.

Timberly Farm residents pay a $330-a-quarter sewer bill, compared to the $120 the average Plumstead resident pays to the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority.

“I'm cautiously optimistic,” said Dan Hilferty, a resident who has long pushed for relief. “After all we've been through I have to be cautious.”

A sewer authority official said its solicitor will go over the agreement once it's received. If it passes muster it will be sent to the board for a vote.

“At this point we would have to review before we took any action,” said spokesman Patrick Cleary.

John Rice, Plumstead solicitor, said he doubts the changes will endanger the deal.

“There's an effort on both sides to try to get this resolved,” Rice said.

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