MORGANTOWN — Nearly three years after the city of Morgantown, the Morgantown Utility Board and BOPARC initially signed off on an agreement that would allow MUB to run a water line through White Park, the MUB-funded, city-led remediation within the park has yet to begin.
Now MUB is saying it will once again be entering the park, this time to replace a sewer line.
“The project involves replacing an existing sewer main located in White Park, along the southern side. The existing sewer line and manholes are severely deteriorated from hydrogen sulfide gas and need to be replaced,” MUB Spokesman Chris Dale said, adding the new line, including bolt-down lids, should eliminate odor issues.
Dale said it’s not known if any tree removal will be necessary as the sewer line project is still in the design phase. He said the design goal is to stay as close as possible to the existing sewer alignment and within the already cleared area.
This is relevant as the need to remove some 230 trees for the water line was what sparked months of public, and sometimes contentious, negotiations between MUB and the city back in 2019.
MUB is on the hook to fund the planting of 326 trees on city property as a result of that water line project, which connects the George B. Flegal Reservoir currently under construction to the utility’s water treatment plant off Don Knotts Boulevard.
“If tree removal is necessary, we will not only make sure that everyone is aware up front but involve BOPARC and the city in the process well before trees are selected,” Dale said of the sewer line project.
As additional remediation for the water line, MUB has to pay for a new trail and water crossing within the park.
Dale said the goal is to get the portion of the sewer work in the park completed before construction of that new trail begins.
Morgantown City Attorney Ryan Simonton recently said the city is finishing up bid specifications for the trail work and should issue those in the next week or so.
Morgantown Utility Board Executive Director Mike McNulty recently told the utility’s board of directors that replacing the sewer line is MUB’s “number one priority project.”
According to McNulty, MUB will use cash freed up through the purchase of surety insurance policies on outstanding bond issues to address the sewer line issue and others.
Dale said it’s too early in the process to provide cost estimates for the project.
