MORGANTOWN – Environmental restrictions in place to protect the endangered northern long-eared bat end for the year on Nov. 14.
On Nov. 15, or shortly thereafter, the Morgantown Utility Board would like to get moving on the long-discussed Upper Popenoe Run sanitary and stormwater project.
MUB leadership will sit down with representatives from Laurita Inc. in the coming days for a pre-construction meeting. The Morgantown-based contractor was awarded a $3,228,528 contract for the project back in August.
“We’ve given them the authority to purchase materials and be ready to go Nov. 15. So, that’s the expectation; that they’ll be off and running,” Assistant General Manager Rich Rogers said.
The project includes the installation of 2,950 feet of gravity sewer line, 1,070 feet of storm sewer, the rehabilitation of the Upper Popenoe Run stream and some 207 tree plantings.
The work area 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.
Included in the initial plans, and cost, is $309,000 to upgrade the private system that serves Shorty Anderson Auto Service. MUB requested a permanent easement across the garage’s property as part of the deal.
The utility board offered $2,800 and some paving work for the access.
The business owners, Travis and Shawn Rowan, demanded $150,000 with the explanation that the permanent easement would nix any plans of future expansion and impact business significantly during construction.
Further, they said their system only needs upgraded because the Manchester Place Rental Community — a complex of townhouses and apartment buildings — cleared the hill behind the garage and was allowed to dump its runoff through their pipes.
In August, MUB said it wouldn’t pay the $150,000 and would instead cut that portion of the project out if the two sides couldn’t come to terms.
About a month out from construction, that’s where things stand.
“MUB and others have reached out to the property owners on multiple occasions but have yet to receive a response,” MUB Communications Director Chris Dale said. “Given that we’re a month away from the official start date, the likelihood of that area not being included in the project has certainly increased.”
Travis Rowan said a certified letter was received asking he and his brother to meet with several individuals, including members of the utility’s board of directors. He said all the times offered were during business hours. He said there have been visitors to the shop looking to discuss the matter.
“I kind of felt like, at this point, if they were going to make some kind of offer or anything, they would have just done that in a letter or email like they did in the past,” he said. “If they just want to sit us down in front of a bunch of people and discuss the exact same stuff we’ve talked about, it’s a waste of all our time because there’s still no way I’d give them a right of way for the money they offered us.”
Rowan said he would be willing to meet if he believed MUB intended to make a reasonable offer, which, he said, is what the brothers deserve.
“All the building behind us, that was all approved by MUB and the planning commission for profit … They did all that knowing full well the pipe they were going to run it into was not sufficient. They knew they would need a four-foot pipe to carry all this. They knew they were going to cause us a problem,” he said. “Now, they want the taxpayers to fix it for the developers. I think everybody who pays stormwater fees should be very upset about stuff like this.”
Funding for the Popenoe Run upgrades is coming through $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act money from both the city of Morgantown and Monongalia County. MUB is paying the remainder.
