MORGANTOWN — A project to replace about 1,000 feet of sewer line in the southern portion of White Park has been scheduled for early January, though it now appears there is some wiggle room in that timeline.
Morgantown Utility Board Assistant General Manager and Chief Engineer Rich Rogers laid out the scope of the work.
“So, from our force main down to the top of the hill above University Motors, the existing line is deteriorated. The manholes are falling apart and traveling down the sewer, creating blockages,” Rogers said.
Phase II of the project will pick up at the top of the hill and run around University Motors, below Don Knotts Boulevard to MUB’s new lift station located near the utility’s water treatment plant.
MUB scheduled the project for January in an attempt to avoid interfering with the construction of a new trail and water crossing in White Park. Representatives of the city recently said it may be 2024 before the trail and bridge projects get underway.
The White Park phase of the sewer line replacement will cost the utility an estimated $695,000.
That money will come out of an estimated $2 million freed up through the purchase of surety insurance policies on outstanding bond issues.
MUB will use the remainder of those funds to replace a 1989 model vacuum truck at an estimated cost of $600,000. Another $500,000 will help finance a Deckers Creek Boulevard water line replacement.
“The municipal bond reserves gives us an opportunity to get the 1989 model replaced. I think it’s a good use of funds,” MUB General Manager Mike McNulty explained. “Each of these projects and each of these purchases would be what we would define as the ordinary course of business for the Morgantown Utility Board.”
McNulty said MUB plans to use the remaining funds to purchase a new compact track loader ($80,000) and address water line replacement projects on Grandview Avenue ($75,000), Brown Street ($40,000) and Junction Street ($25,000).
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