Connecting to a third party database

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I am not 100% certain how to do this. I am trying to create a custom block that connects to a database, then I want to be able to take that information and put it in a drop down from where I make a selection from the list and information is displayed. Here is the controller.php file:
<?php 
   defined('C5_EXECUTE') or die("Access Denied.");
   class PeopleListBlockController extends BlockController {
      protected $btTable = 'btPeopleList';
      protected $btInterfaceWidth = "500";
      protected $btInterfaceHeight = "350";
      protected $btExportPageColumns = array('cParentID');
      protected $btExportPageTypeColumns = array('ctID');
      protected $btCacheBlockRecord = true;
      /** 
       * Used for localization. If we want to localize the name/description we have to include this
       */
      public function getBlockTypeDescription() {
         return t("List people based on group.");
      }


And here is the form.php file where I am trying to display the drop down.
<?php  defined('C5_EXECUTE') or die("Access Denied."); ?> 
<input type="hidden" name="pageListToolsDir" value="<?php echo $uh->getBlockTypeToolsURL($bt)?>/" />
<div id="ccm-pagelistPane-add" class="ccm-pagelistPane">
   <div class="ccm-block-field-group">
     <h2><?php echo t('Group to Display')?></h2>
     <?php 
         $ctArray = CollectionType::getList();
         if (is_array($ctArray)) { ?>
     <select name="group" id="groupList">
      <?php  foreach ($ctArray as $ct) { ?>
      <option value="<?php echo $ct->getCollectionTypeID()?>" <?php  if ($ctID == $ct->getCollectionTypeID()) { ?> selected <?php  } ?>>
      <?php echo $ct->getCollectionTypeName()?>
      </option>
      <?php  } ?>
     </select>


Any help with this would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.