MORGANTOWN — Morgantown Utility Board General Manager Mike McNulty said Tuesday the utility has entered “a critical time” in its efforts to obtain property easements for the Upper Popenoe Run stream and sewer project.
MUB has about 50 signed easements in hand, but there are still about two dozen outstanding.
Of that missing number, eight or nine are particularly critical as there are trees on those properties that must be removed in advance of the work.
The time crunch comes into play by way of an environmental regulation pertaining to the protection of bat habitat that mandates any tree clearing must be completed by March 31. If not, cutting cannot resume until Nov. 15.
McNulty has repeatedly said MUB doesn’t want to go through the courts to get access to the properties if it can be avoided.
“We’re moving as quick as we can,” he said, adding, “We’re going to send out some additional letters and see if we can make contact ourselves. [Project engineer] E.L. Robinson has contracted with a right-of-way agent, but we’re going to get a little more involved in the process.”
The Popenoe Run work will actually be two separate jobs running simultaneously — the restoration of the upper portion of the Popenoe Run stream and the replacement of an undersized, 60-plus-year-old, broken clay sewer line that runs parallel to the stream.
The project will stretch from the stadium parking lot side of Willowdale Road and run between Richland Avenue and Randolph Road to Hoffman Avenue, where it bends and runs behind the homes on Amherst Road to Stewart Street, near Shorty Anderson’s Auto Service.
It will also include sewer and stormwater improvements in the area of Hoffman Avenue and Bradley Street.
Funding for the work, previously estimated at $2.6 million, will come by way of $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act money from both the city of Morgantown and Monongalia County. MUB will pick up the remainder.
Prior to the right-of-way delays, MUB had previously hoped to begin the project in late 2023.
In other MUB news, the utility is working with the city of Morgantown to provide water and sewer service to new hangars at the Morgantown Municipal Airport.
The sanitary sewer work is estimated at $77,500 and will include the installation of 398 feet of eight-inch sewer line. The water project will include 300 feet of six-inch water line and one fire hydrant at an estimated cost of $24,000.
MUB Assistant General Manager Rich Rogers said both projects should be completed in the next three to four weeks.
Lastly, the MUB Board of Directors welcomed its newest member, Samuel Workman. Workman joins the board after the departure of five-year member Karen Kunz.
As it does each January, the body selected its officers for the coming year, reappointing Barbara Parsons as chair, Tom Witt as vice chair and Erik Carlson as secretary. Dave Harshbarger will fill the role of board treasurer previously held by Kunz
