MORGANTOWN — Morgantown City Council approved bids totaling just more than $1.4 million for the city’s 2018 paving program during its most recent regular session.
Greer Industries was the lone bidder to supply materials at a cost of $560,557.10.
Parrotta Paving was awarded the paving contract at a price of $873,555.38.
Parrotta Paving was one of two companies, along with Anderson Excavating, to split the city’s 12-plus mile paving project last summer. Both also bid for the work this summer. City Engineer Damien Davis previously said Parrotta’s bid came in about $70,000 lower.
The city is paving about six miles of streets this time around using revenue generated by the $3 weekly user fee. Davis said the city carried money into last year’s paving season, bolstering the paving budget to $2.3 million and allowing a larger scope of work.
The two bids accepted by council, totaling $1,434,112.48, came in below the $1.8 million budgeted for paving this summer. Davis said city administration is looking at potentially adding streets to the list or possibly rolling the money into next year.
This is the first year of the city’s five-year paving plan built upon the work of Washington, D.C.-based Dynatest, which tested and graded the city’s streets in May 2017 in order to provide a pavement condition index.
Davis said the city will begin to address sidewalks next year and will soon begin contacting property owners about getting their sidewalks in order.
“We’ll be sending letters out to those people, so they’ll have a year’s notice,” Davis said. “Also, along with that, the Morgantown Monongalia Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is updating the city’s pedestrian plan. With that, they’ll be going out and assessing the condition of the sidewalks throughout the city.”
In other news from the meeting, council adopted a budget amendment reflecting a net increase of $1,031,900.
City Manager Paul Brake explained the majority of that amount, $1 million, comes by way of one-time business and occupation construction taxes, though the budget amendment represents a number of line item adjustments, including down-ward corrections in user fee collections ($130,000) and fire fee collections ($180,000).
The funds will be placed in the city’s capital escrow account, which is used for capital improvements and other one-time expenditures.
In other city news, council:
Approved on first reading a pair of supplemental resolutions for the Morgantown Utility Board (MUB) — one pertaining to the $48 million effort to build a new Cobun Creek Reservoir, the second in support of a water line extension project on Rockley Road, in the Cheat Lake area.
Approved a pair of changes to the city’s plan-ning and zoning code on first reading.
The first is an ongoing effort by the city’s planning staff to address frequently requested and approved variances, clarify regulatory intentions and remedy inconsistent or confusing provisions.
The ordinance contains a long list of changes focused on mixed-use development and can be found, along with supporting documentation, on the city’s website, morgantownwv.gov.
The second will allow veterinary clinics in the city’s professional, residential, office (PRO) districts with conditional use approval.
Approved on first reading an easement allowing Lumos Networks to install underground utilities on the Morgantown Municipal Airport property.
It was explained that the city traditionally did not charge to provide such consideration but changed that policy in order to offset administrative costs. Lumos will pay $6,120.
Approved on first reading an ordinance that authorizes the city manager to set the rates of employee compensation.
The proposed law would also mandate a complete list of city wages be placed on the city’s website and updated annually.
Changed the dates of council’s July meetings to July 10 and 24. The committee of the whole meeting will still be held on July 31.
Morgantown Area News
'Thursday, April 25, 2024'
