Work extension on reservoir finalized; new date June 2022
The companies contracted to complete a pair of ongoing projects for the Morgantown Utility Board are looking for more time.
During Monday’s regular meeting, MUB General Manager Michael McNulty updated the progress of the Star City wastewater treatment plant expansion as well as the construction of the new George B. Flegal Dam and Reservoir.
Ulliman Schutte Construction, the firm working on the $100 million wastewater plant overhaul, is about 95% finished, but asked for an additional 220 days due to complications and delays brought on by COVID-19.
McNulty said MUB is challenging 80 of those days, claiming they predate the viral outbreak.
MUB Spokesman Chris Dale said, if approved, the revised project completion date would be Sept. 28.
Dale said MUB would likely incur an additional $320,000 in engineering costs, plus internal costs, due to the delay. Those costs would not be passed on to the contractor as the pandemic constitutes unforeseeable circumstances.
Conversely, MUB has informed Kanawha Stone that it will receive bills from the utility as reservoir progress continues to run behind.
The $50 million effort to build a secondary water source holding 370 million gallons was a year behind schedule in April 2020 and, at that time, slated for completion in fall or winter of this year.
McNulty said Kanawha Stone is about 57% complete based on payouts and has asked to push the completion date back to June 2022.
He said a change order reflecting that extended deadline, as well as the contractor’s obligation to cover any additional engineering costs incurred by MUB due to the delay, has been finalized.
In other news, McNulty said MUB received a check last week for $743,752.76 as part of a class action lawsuit regarding overcharges for aluminum sulfate.
Lastly, leadership for MUB’s board of directors will remain unchanged in 2021. It includes J.T. Straface (chair), Barbara Parsons (vice chair), Tom Witt (treasurer) and Karen Kunz (secretary).
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