June 16—MORGANTOWN — The fiscal year 2025 budgets recently approved by the Morgantown Utility Board include 3% rate increases for the utility’s water, sewer and stormwater customers.
This is the second of three “inflationary adjustments” approved by the Morgantown City Council in 2021, along with larger increases implemented that year.
At the time, it was explained that small, regular adjustments were preferable to much larger but less frequent rate increases.
The MUB budget for fiscal year 2026 will also include a 3% increase.
The increase will take effect after the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.
“This has been a huge help in dealing with the increases we are seeing, especially in energy and chemicals, because they are not just based on inflationary numbers. Some of them are double digits that we are seeing,” said the MUB general manager. Mike McNulty said.
The rate increases do not include MUB’s Cheat Lake sewer customers, but rate increases are coming to them as well.
“We are in the middle of design work right now for the upgrade of the Cheat Lake sewage treatment plant and some lift stations. Once we complete that project and have our financing package ready to go, a rate increase will be necessary and we will have to go to city council,” McNulty said.
MUB’s FY 2025 utility budgets, which are kept separate, forecast revenues of $16,929,926.99 (water); $18,133,898.83 (sewage); $2,378,313.65 (storm water); and $1,791,070.90 (Cheat Lake).
In other MUB news, Reclaim Company LLC has been awarded a $179,680.06 contract for site demolition and environmental clearance of the former Dinsmore Tire location at 195 Don Knotts Blvd.
This is the second round of bidding for this project. MUB initially awarded the same work to Parotta Paving for $291,000 in April, before aborting the process when it was pointed out that the percentage of the contract allocated for mobilization and demobilization did not meet MUB specifications.
The work will include demolishing all structures on the 1.26-acre property and placing a 12-inch layer of gravel, which will serve as a barrier between the surface and potential contaminants in the soil below.
The property is considered brownfield, meaning it is complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants.
MUB received a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up the site, which is near the utility’s water treatment plant.
Lastly, the board approved the operations and maintenance agreement that will allow MUB to essentially take over Westover’s sanitary sewer system until the system becomes a full MUB asset.
The final acquisition is expected to occur once the city’s next Holland Avenue project is completed or nearing completion. This is expected to happen at the end of this year or at the beginning of 2025.
The Westover City Council approved the O&M agreement on May 20. The two parties will now jointly request approval from the West Virginia Public Service Commission.
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