Today's deadline for water agreement extended Cooperation is still almost certain even if a water sale deal can't be reached By Jeff Decker News-Chronicle As they analyze a water-sale offer from the city of Green Bay, the communities of the Central Brown County Water Authority postponed their own deadline Monday, and now have until July 20 to commit to a final plan. Originally, the nine communities in the authority gave themselves until February to commit to building a drinking water pipeline to Lake Michigan. The most recent deadline was today. Representatives on the authority from Hobart, Allouez, De Pere, Howard, Ashwaubenon, Lawrence, Ledgeview, Scott and Bellevue met in closed session Monday to conduct a conference telephone call with their consultants. The primary offer from Green Bay depends on state approval of aquifer storage recovery (ASR), a new technology injects and stores treated water underground. The most recent information from Green Bay concerned treatment plant expansion costs if ASR does not get the necessary approvals from the state Department of Natural Resources, said Cameron McCain, Allouez village president and president of the authority. "That's as specific as I can get at this time," McCain said. The suburbs have devised a $146 million plan for their own pipeline but are meeting with Green Bay to see if the city can sell them water more cheaply. Either way, water costs are likely to rise drastically in the suburbs over coming years. A rapidly shrinking water table and contaminants such as arsenic and radium have the authority looking for new water. "We'd like to meet (with Green Bay officials) whenever they're ready," McCain said. "We don't want to drag our feet on this." Green Bay Mayor Paul Jadin said he's ready to negotiate now. "We're essentially waiting to hear from them on their reaction to our response," Jadin said. One condition the authority wants, McCain said, is a role as a member in a collective water authority rather than as a customer. "We want as big a role as we can play, but we have to wait until we hear from the city," he said. Jadin said that is unlikely, but that everything is still on the negotiating table. He also said some city residents remember when Green Bay built its pipeline alone in 1957. "There are people who want us to take that hard-line approach, until they realize that what we're doing will also benefit Green Bay," Jadin said. If the municipalities cannot come to an agreement on who will control and sell the water, both men said they could still cooperate on building a new pipeline to Lake Michigan. The Green Bay Water Authority has said their pipe will need replacement within 10 years. "That's something where there certainly would be economies of scale enjoyed," Jadin said. "If the issue is, they have to go out and build a pipeline without joining the city completely, then we'd have to discuss the methodology for that." Meanwhile, the final touches on the suburbs' plan are in limbo, such as purchasing land for a treatment plant. "We haven't done anything on the land in the last two or three months," McCain said. "That's just kind of sitting there until we decide where we're going."