MORGANTOWN — Projections show the Morgantown Utility Board is suffering monthly losses of about $290,000 due to business-halting COVID-19 restrictions, and MUB General Manager Tim Ball predicted those losses will eventually be borne, to some degree, by MUB’s customers.
Ball explained that MUB was already planning to bring a rate increase to the city for implementation starting in July. That was postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis.
“But my guess is by late this year or early next year, we’ll have to go to the public for a rate increase, and that rate increase is definitely going to be impacted by this current experience,” Ball said, noting MUB is actively searching out opportunities to claim federal assistance for COVID-19 related losses.
As meter reading typically runs on a one-to-two month delay depending on whether it’s a business or residential meter, Ball said the $290,000 estimate comes from a 10% reduction in water demand at the treatment plant over a 28-day period.
“We’ve already sustained one of those months and my guess is we’ll have another one in front of us,” Ball said, adding that, to date, the utility is also down $46,000 in lost productivity due to COVID-19 and an additional $44,000 out-of-pocket for extra expenses, like cleaning facilities.
“That will continue to increase because we’re having some of our facilities deep cleaned and disinfected on a daily basis. We’re having others done on a weekly basis and that’s an expensive service,” Ball said. “That will continue until we’ve emerged from this crisis.”
In other MUB news, the board voted unanimously on Tuesday to hire Giddings Group, of Fort Myers, Fl. to lead the search to find Ball’s replacement.
Ball, who became the general manager in 2010, will retire in January with 33 years of service.
Until now, all MUB’s general managers have been promoted from within. The early retirement of Assistant General Manager Doug Smith on Feb. 28 upended those succession plans.
According to information included in MUB’s request for proposals, the job will start at $150,000 annually.
The current timeline has interviews and selection of the chosen candidate taking place in July. The new general manager will join the organization in the fall as a deputy GM until Ball’s departure.
Ball and MUB Counsel Jeff Ray will finalize a contract with the Giddings Group, which was selected over Baker Tilly, of Addison, Texas after interviews conducted by board members Barbara Parsons and Tom Witt.
Lastly, Ball said MUB has investigated a complaint filed by a citizen with the Monongalia County Health Department regarding suspected non-compliance with COVID-19 restrictions at the utility’s Star City treatment facility, which is also an active construction site.
He said details in the complaint were largely “inaccurate or exaggerated,” and the utility has provided MCHD a report detailing the safety protocols in place.
“I trust the health department will find that report to be completely acceptable,” Ball concluded.
