Morgantown Utility Board General Manager Tim Ball said MUB has thus far received $229,000 in coronavirus aid relief through the state’s grant portal.
Speaking during Tuesday’s board meeting, Ball said MUB requested $232,000 to offset losses in March and April and received $199,000. The utility board requested $41,000 in May and received $30,000.
He said the disparity between what’s requested and what’s granted is the inclusion of administrative costs accumulated by himself and others, like MUB Attorney Jeff Ray.
“The primary difference there is they will not pay for administrative time. For instance, my time or Jeff’s time. We have booked a significant amount of time, Jeff and I, in managing all the different parts of the COVID impacts on our operations, but those costs are not reimbursable,” Ball said.
Requests for June — about $3,000 — and July ($22,000) are still pending.
Barring a dramatic spike in cases resulting in increased labor losses, Ball said he expects monthly costs to hover in the “low tens-of-thousands” due primarily to restocking PPE and disinfecting supplies.
Also on Tuesday, the board voted unanimously to allow MUB employees to carry additional vacation days into 2021 due to the impacts of COVID-19.
MUB typically allows employees to carry a maximum of five unused vacation days from one year to the next. Due to the viral disruptions to most plans this year, MUB employees will be permitted to roll up to 10 vacation days over into 2021.
Ball explained this is a one time exception.
“It really costs us nothing, but I think it’s a nice accommodation to the employees for their service during this time,” he said.
In other news, the board voted to approve a $151,090.75 contract with Orange Construction for a sanitary sewer project in Autumn Ridge, a private residential development in the Airport Boulevard area off the Mileground.
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