MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — City council approved the second reading of bonding ordinances for a $50 million Morgantown Utility Board upgrade to the Cheat Lake Waste Water Treatment Plant at Tuesday night’s meeting.
MUB General Manager Mike McNulty said the $39.6 million project scope includes upgrades to the plant and improvements to the Whites Run and Greystone pumping stations.
The final increase for ratepayers will be determined when bids for the project are opened on Sept. 24. The rate increase will be at least 91% and could be more depending on the final bid numbers.
Resident Lee Terrace told councilors he was being handed the bill for the cost of growth in the area he didn’t ask for. Terrace said visitors to Florida who bring a car are asked to pay a one-time $300 “wheel fee” due to the assumption state roads would have to accommodate the wear and tear of an additional vehicle on the road.
“I have reasonable cost expectations,” Terrace said. “A doubling of cost is unreasonable; a doubling of cost in perpetuity is more unreasonable, and to give me a bill for growth I didn’t ask for is ludacris.”
Resident Scott Owen said he works in the construction industry and understands costs have increased since the pandemic, but a nearly 100 percent increase is unreasonable.
“I would guess my bill will increase by probably $100 every two months, and that’s a pretty big hit,” Owen said. “I just wanted to see if there was a way to soften the blow a little bit and not hit us so significantly.”
McNulty recently sent letters to ratepayers in the area explaining the project and the uncertainty of the final cost.
“That’s really what will tell the tale of the cost of the project and what the borrowing would look like and what the rates would look like,” McNulty said.
The last time MUB customers in the Cheat Lake area had a sewer rate increase was 10 years ago. The proposed upgrade would allow for operations for the 20 years, and with a 91% increase, customers would pay $67.97/3,400 gallons treated.
“There are about 38 to 40 utilities that would have higher rates than what our proposed rate is,” McNulty said. “One of the highest rates would be the West Virginia American Water Co.; their rates run about $83.68 per month.”
The rate increase in the plan will be permanent. McNulty said he expects maintenance projects that will require additional rate increases inside the 30-year bond window and major renovations beyond the bond window that will require funding.
“As power goes up, that’s the largest expense we have next to debt service, McNulty said. “Those costs would have to increase.”