MORGANTOWN — Morgantown Utility Board Spokesman Chris Dale said the utility is in negotiations with a firm to design substantial water and sewer upgrades to support Mountaintop Beverage, the anchor development through which expansion of the Morgantown Industrial Park, and connected TIF district, has been leveraged.
The park’s expansion, and therefore this project, is also central to the creation of a newly designed Harmony Grove interchange off I-79, allowing for direct access to the park.
In November, former MUB General Manager Tim Ball said the facility would consume something in the range of 500 gallons of water and sewer service a minute, around the clock, requiring roughly $8 million in utility upgrades.
According to Dale, “The design will include plans and specifications for a water tank, booster station and water lines, as well as a sewage pump station, manholes and mains. The work will also include a directional drill beneath the Monongahela River.”
At the time, Ball said MUB was exploring the use of an Infrastructure Jobs Development Council, or IJDC, loan whereby MUB and the city of Morgantown would essentially act as a pass-through for the funding.
Dale said that is no longer being considered.
“We currently have no intention of funding this work through IJDC loans. We are looking for partial funding through other sources such as an Economic Development Administration Grant, although no formal action has been taken by MUB’s board of directors in that regard,” Dale said. “Funding of this project is the responsibility of the developer.”
Members of the Monongalia County Commission as well as Glenn Adrian, who co-owns the industrial park through Enrout Properties, indicated as early as September that a major development was being lined up.
It was only through November’s discussion among MUB’s board of directors that some details of the project came to light.
According to the West Virginia Secretary of State’s website, Mountaintop Beverage is a limited liability company listed under “food manufacturing” with a filing date of Sept. 22, 2020.
The company lists its principal office address as 270 Mylan Park Lane — the county’s 4-H and extension building. According to the county commission office, Mountaintop Beverage is not a tenant in that building.
