Old Lyme - The Water Pollution Control Authority is seeking further direction from the state before proceeding on plans for a proposed sewer project, a town official said Wednesday.

The WPCA has been pursuing a plan to connect several shoreline neighborhoods to sewers that would transport wastewater from the beaches to the New London treatment plant. Under the proposal, the town would manage the system's pump stations and negotiate both with East Lyme to convey wastewater through its sewer pipes and with New London to treat the wastewater.

The planned sewer areas would include Old Lyme Shores, Old Colony Beach and Miami Beach - which have been working on their own plans to connect to sewers - as well as White Sand, Hawk's Nest, Sound View and some smaller areas near White Sand and near Sound View and Old Colony.

WPCA Chairman Kurt Zemba said Wednesday that the agency is waiting to receive a final order from the state that specifies which beach areas the state will mandate to connect to sewers.

Department of Energy and Environmental Protection representatives are slated to attend the WPCA's next meeting at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30 at Town Hall to speak about the state's requirements for the beach areas, Zemba said. They also are expected to address the town's final plan for the sewer project, which the town's consultants will submit to the state by Oct. 20.

If the state doesn't mandate beach neighborhoods - such as Hawk's Nest and White Sand - to connect to sewers, the WPCA potentially could decide to forgo the town-managed project, because the agency doesn't intend to force the beach areas to connect to sewers, Zemba said.

In that scenario, Old Lyme Shores, Old Colony Beach and Miami Beach - the beach associations that have wanted sewers - could proceed with their own connection to sewer pipes.

DEEP could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

For now, the WPCA will hold off on negotiations with other municipalities, information sessions and a town meeting to approve bonding the project, Zemba said. Meanwhile, the Planning Commission raised several objections to the sewer proposal at its last meeting and did not endorse it.

The commission said the sewer project is inconsistent with the town's Plan of Conservation and Development, according to meeting minutes. The commission also said more information was needed on the project, including documentation of pollution in some town beach areas. The commission also challenged the WPCA's authority to conduct the plan, since it doesn't have a charter.

Zemba responded that the WPCA has the authority over the town's wastewater decisions by town ordinance.

Commission members also raised some concerns over how much residents could be assessed for use of the sewers under state law, according to the minutes.

A town meeting, announced for later this month, to vote on funding the project has been canceled. The total cost for the sewer project is estimated at $42.4 million. Under the proposal, the town wouldbond the project and seek grants for it, while the users would ultimately pay back the costs through user fees and assessments. If the town proceeds with the project, a vote would likely take place in the spring, Zemba said.

The town held an information session last week on the wastewater proposal,but a second information session, originally scheduled for Oct. 14 and later moved to Oct. 30, has been canceled.

k.drelich@theday.com

Twitter: @KimberlyDrelich