Following the recent death of longtime Cheat View Public Service District Chairman Glenn Staddon, the Morgantown Utility Board will acquire the district.
During Tuesday’s regular monthly board meeting, MUB moved ahead with an operations and maintenance agreement that will initiate the acquisition process.
MUB General Manager Mike McNulty said the move comes at the request of the Cheat View PSD Board of Directors, which is expected to approve the agreement when it convenes on Thursday.
Staddon, 93, died April 30, having served as the Cheat View PSD chairman for 38 years.
“As we all know, Glenn had dedicated many years to Cheat View Public Service District; operated it. He’s worked with MUB all through the time he was on the board,” McNulty said, noting, “Certainly we’re all sad this has occurred, but we’re certainly able to step in and fill that void and make sure things run just as smoothly as possible for Cheat View PSD customers.”
MUB already handles many of the day-to-day operations of the district, like billing and meter reading, and will essentially take over bookkeeping and accounts payable through this acquisition.
McNulty said Cheat View PSD has 4,375 water customers, some 90% of whom are already MUB wastewater customers.
The acquisition will not impact customer water rates.
In other news from Tuesday’s meeting, MUB formally recognized the three Star City Wastewater Treatment Plant employees who battled a fire at the facility on April 6 until fire personnel could arrive.
Adam Crawford (Operator 2), Vince Walick (Operator 1) and Brandon Wilson (Head of Maintenance) were each presented with a plaque and given a $1,000 bonus by the board.
Because of their actions, McNulty explained, the fire was contained to a single blower unit installed during the recent plant upgrades.
“These guys, again, they went above and beyond the expectations for their jobs. Who could say what they would do in that situation,” McNulty said, adding, “By doing this they saved not just hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it would go into the millions if that whole building would have been lost and all that equipment.”
McNulty said the exact cause of the fire is still unknown, but MUB is working with its insurance provider and blower manufacturer AERZEN to replace the $296,270 unit.
Also on Tuesday, the board approved a $64,296.60 contract with American Fence Company to provide and install security fencing at the new Flegal Dam and Reservoir.