MORGANTOWN — Two down. One to go.
In separate special meetings Monday, the Morgantown Utility Board and Board of Parks and Recreation approved an addendum to the Nov. 1, 2019, license agreement between MUB, BOPARC and the city that will allow remediation work to begin in White Park.
Morgantown City Council is expected to give the final approval on the matter when it meets in regular session this evening.
The addendum, which indicates construction on a new White Park trail and is expected to begin this summer, modifies the previous license agreement in a couple areas.
One, it specifies an arborist retained by the city determined MUB removed 230 trees from park property, 163 of which were at least six-inches DBH, meaning diameter at breast height. Based on the two-to-one replacement ratio specified in the original agreement, MUB will have to replace 326 trees.
In lieu of planting hundreds of trees, MUB can pay the city the cost to purchase and replant the replacement trees, using a third-party vendor hired through a competitive bidding process.
According to a statement issued by the parties on Monday, this is due to the Morgantown Tree Board’s recommendation that the trees be replanted over an extended period of time due to the number of trees involved and necessity for finding appropriate locations.
Second, MUB will pay for the construction of a park trail designed by Appalachian Dirt, located in Davis. That design is already in-hand.
Based on information shared at the March 6 MUB meeting, the design is a 5,765-foot loop configuration comprised of a 39-inch-wide natural surface trail with a single water crossing.
The design of the bridge will be jointly approved by all three parties.
Rich Edwards, a trail planner with WVU’s Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative, estimated MUB could expect to spend between $17-$19.50 a foot to construct the trail, plus the cost of the bridge.
According to the agreement, MUB can have a project representative on-site when the work is done in order to monitor and report progress of the project.
The statement issued Monday explained this section of the agreement was modified because the initial design of the trail in the 2019 agreement needed adjustment. This was determined once MUB had completed its work and the terrain was inspected.
The White Park issue dates back to 2019, when MUB, believing it owned the property, marked a number of the park’s trees for removal in order to run a raw water pipeline through the park connecting its new emergency secondary water source, the George B. Fleagel Dam and Reservoir, to the utility’s water treatment plant off Don Knotts Boulevard.
After months of public input and negotiations, the city, BOPARC and MUB reached an agreement in November 2019, giving MUB access to the park with the understanding the utility would have to finance a new trail and plant two trees for each one removed.
While MUB completed its placement of the pipeline, none of the agreed-upon remediation work has begun, as disagreements arose as to exactly what MUB is financially responsible for under that 2019 agreement.
Those disagreements appear to be resolved.
“Morgantown City Council, BOPARC and MUB are all very excited to have this project bid out and installed in the very-near future,” Mayor Jenny Selin said as part of Monday’s press release. “We look to make this trail and tree-planting an example of the public good that can be accomplished when we all work together.”
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