Can anyone really own a hole?
And if so, who owns the one in Star City, growing near Monongahela Boulevard in the expanded parking area of the former Texas Roadhouse location?
Representatives of Star City, the Morgantown Utility Board and the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization say it’s on West Virginia Division of Highways right-of-way.
The West Virginia Division of Highways says it’s not.
Further, the DOH says the hole is not an immediate cause for concern.
According to Deputy State Highway Engineer Joe Pack, “The sinkhole is approximately 50 feet from the roadway and is not on WVDOH right-of-way, however, we have been talking cooperatively with the city to determine a fix. It is not considered an immediate threat.”
Star City Recorder Steve Blinco raised the issue during last month’s MPO Policy Board meeting after seeing news reports of the Hinton, Summers County, sinkhole and the estimated $4 million to $6 million needed to address it.
Blinco noted that based on photos taken in June, the hole in Hinton was smaller than the one in Star City before the bottom dropped out last month.
According to media reports, a failed 90-year-old drain beneath W.Va. Route 20 was the culprit in Hinton.
The Dominion Post reached out to MUB to ask if the utility knew what was causing the collapse in Star City and if it had infrastructure connected to the nearby wastewater treatment plant running beneath that property.
MUB Spokesman Chris Dale responded, “The sinkhole is in the DOH right-of-way and outside of our MS4 [municipal separate storm sewer system] stormwater permit area.”
