MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown Utility Board got a bit of bad news on Tuesday.
During the regular monthly meeting of the utility’s board of directors, General Manager Mike McNulty said a request for some $13 million in Congressionally Directed Spending (earmarks) through Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s office has been denied.
“We were told we did not receive it. It was disappointing, but there were 100 projects that were submitted and less than 20 were selected,” McNulty explained.
MUB was seeking the funding for upgrades needed to support continued development in the WestRidge development and larger Chaplin Hill area.
MUB Director of Communications Chris Dale previously said the construction of a new water tank, a booster station and the boring of new water and sewer lines beneath the Monongahela River are among the major improvements needed.
Denied at the federal level, MUB now turns its focus to the state.
McNulty said a grant application will be finalized Wednesday for the West Virginia Infrastructure Jobs Development Council.
The Monongalia County Commission is expected to issue letters of support for that application when it convenes on Wednesday.
In other MUB news, McNulty and MUB Chair J.T. Straface said the utility continues to work with the city on an agreement that would allow recreation on and around the new Flegal Reservoir — a 50-acre, 370-million gallon reservoir and earthen dam under construction on a 125-acre site along Cobun Creek Road.
During the July meeting of the MUB Board of Directors, Morgantown Mayor Jenny Selin indicated the city is prepared to use American Rescue Plan Act dollars to fund the design of those amenities, which could include a bridge and considerations for hiking, biking, non-motorized boating, picnic areas, restrooms and parking.
Also during that meeting, Selin and Assistant City Manager Emily Muzzarelli said the city would like to move on that project sooner rather than later.
On Tuesday, Straface said MUB will move forward as soon as its leadership is comfortable with the arrangement.
“We offered to the city that we would have whatever type of meetings we needed to have as quick as we could whenever we got to a position where we thought it was time to approve it,” Straface said. “We just haven’t gotten to that point yet.”
But the utility’s board of directors is not unanimous on the need for such haste.
Tom Witt said dams have been federally identified as critical infrastructure, noting this is the first one MUB has ever built and it’s not even complete. He said ensuring the security of the site and protecting the quality of the water source should come first.
“I have to go on record to say I think it’s premature to have a recreation agreement with the city at this point. The Morgantown Water Commission acquired the land for the Flegal Dam and Reservoir over 50 years ago, and to this day, there’s been no organized recreation that’s taken place in that particular location,” Witt said. “So I’m not sure why there’s such a stampede to get recreational facilities in there.”
