Members of the State College Borough Council said last night they are worried that the University has too large a role in an upcoming regional consolidation study.

"It seems like there is an awful lot of emphasis on Penn State being a part of the study. I don't know if that's even appropriate," Borough Manager Peter Marshall said.

The study, which is being prepared by the Centre Region Council of Governments, will outline the possibility of consolidating the member municipalities -- State College Borough and College, Ferguson, Halfmoon, Harris and Patton townships. Marshall said the study does not enlist the abilities of the municipalities' managers.

"The thing that bothers me is there are no specific recommendations for managers," he said.

How the study will actually operate has not been finalized.

In other business, the council reviewed a regional ground water resource protection proposal presented by the Centre Regional Planning Commission.

The CRPC asked for comment from the Centre Region townships to give the CRPC direction toward developing the proposal.

The plan outlines short- and long-term means to protect designated areas from development that would jeopardize ground water resources.

As a short-term protection, the proposal recommends adopting an Official Map and Ordinance, which would reserve land the region deems an important future public resource.

Regional Planner Bob Crum said that under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, the borough has the authority to establish districts protecting public lands and facilities.

These lands are not restricted to water resources, Crum added. For example, the protected areas could include potential road sites for transportation planning.

Once the land is designated on the map, the property owner must apply for a building or developing permit for private use of the protected land. The region then may buy the land from the owner or deny a permit if the land still needs to be protected for public use.

The long-term solution recommends the region establish regulations to protect the water resources under the 1990 Centre Region Comprehensive Plan. Those districts would not be prohibited from development, but standards which regulate land use would be established.

The most common comment about the plan referred to the areas that would be protected, Crum said. The townships said the proposal needs to consider smaller areas in order to pinpoint the areas for protection.

Borough Council Member Ruth Lavin said her main concern is the property owners' option to drop development after the region invested a year deliberating whether to grant permission for development.

"My concern is the (developers) intention to build and not carry through with it," Lavin said. "Granted lots of things could happen the developer does not anticipate . . . but it is wasted time and money."