MORGANTOWN — Morgantown City Council unanimously approved on first reading a 100% rate increase for the Morgantown Utility Board’s Cheat Lake sanitary sewer customers.
The increase will be the first for Cheat Lake customers since 2014 and will finance improvements to MUB’s Cheat Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The project, which will increase the plant’s capacity from 750,000 gallons to 1.75 million gallons per day, is currently estimated at $39,695,529. The actual cost won’t be known until bids are opened.
MUB initially estimated the customer rate increase at 91% but set 100% as the “worst-case” upper limit in order to build in cushion in case bids came in above estimates.
But the bids haven’t been opened. The opening initially scheduled for Sept. 24 has now been pushed as late as Oct. 22.
As predicted, it’s not exactly a seller’s market when it comes to bidding projects.
American Rescue Plan Act dollars make up $6.75 million of this project’s financing package. ARPA funds must be obligated by the end of the year.
Tom Aman, bond counsel for the project, previously explained that as many as 50 water and sewer projects would be looking for contractors in West Virginia between August and October.
“We’re in a very challenging bidding climate at the moment. We’ve had some contractors ask for an extension in order to submit bids,” MUB General Manager Mike McNulty said.
MUB has also included a number of “addendums” in an effort to give contractors a way of cutting costs.
“We hope we don’t have to do that. We hope we get 100% of the project that we want to build,” McNulty said.
“It is critical for us to be able to move forward with the rate increase and have rates in effect when we close on the bonds. Otherwise, we won’t be able to.”
Once in place, rates for Cheat Lake customers would jump from $35.59 to $71.18 monthly for every 3,400 gallons, which is the average usage calculated by the state when measuring rate changes. The minimum monthly charge of $21.70 would double, to $43.40.
The existing treatment facility is exceeding 90% of its designed capacity. The number of customers connecting to it historically grows an average of 3.75% annually.
Final completion of the two-and-a-half-year project is anticipated in June 2027.
TWEET @DominionPostWV
