MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown Utility Board intends to run some 530 feet of 8-inch water main below a portion of University Avenue this summer.
During a Tuesday special meeting of MUB’s Board of Directors, the body approved a $75,260 project with Snyder & Son LLC, a local directional drilling company.
MUB General Manager Mike McNulty said the work will take place between Oakland Street and Evansdale Drive and is necessary due to a number of existing leaks.
McNulty went on to say MUB has reached out to the city about the potential for changes in traffic patterns during the construction.
“The reason for this now is we need to do this while students are out. So that’s the timeframe, in the next couple months,” Chief Engineer and Assistant GM Rich Rogers added. “Before the second week of August we need to be completed with the work.”
The Dominion Post asked whether the project would require the closure of University Avenue or lane restrictions, but did not receive a response in time for this report.
Also on Tuesday, a contract for $150,426.75 was approved for Parrotta Paving to cover MUB’s portion of a project to provide sanitary sewer service to Heartland Homes at Autumn Ridge, a development off Airport Boulevard/Donna Avenue.
MUB is partnering with the developer on the project by installing 2,025 feet of new, 8-inch sewer main and extending an existing sewer main, allowing for the removal of an existing lift station.
Lastly, MUB intends to secure surety insurance policies on its outstanding bond issues.
“It’s simply a policy that guarantees payment to the bond holders should there be a default in payments by MUB,” MUB General Counsel Jeff Ray explained.
Ray said the final cost of the policies will be determined by the bonds being secured, but noted MUB previously paid approximately $50,000 to guarantee some $38 million in bond payments.
McNulty said having these policies in place will allow the utility to reclaim funds sitting in bond payment reserve accounts.
