MORGANTOWN – The replacement of the primary pump station at the heart of Westover’s sanitary sewer system is going to take longer than initially anticipated.
During a recent update to Westover City Council, Thrasher Engineering’s Casey Young said Mother Nature has played a significant role in the delay.
“You guys know the weather’s been pretty bad the last week and a half, so down at the lift station they haven’t been working at all,” he said. “They started working again today … It’s probably looking like we’ll be into March or the first part of April to complete the lift station down there.”
The work site is located between Dunkard Avenue and the Monongahela River, near the river’s confluence with Dents Run.
Young said the contractor is setting up to begin boring beneath an apartment parking area for the placement of a new gravity sewer line.
“It’s a tough spot to work in. There’s overhead power lines, which we’re looking to try to get temporarily moved for right now so that an excavator doesn’t hit it and shock somebody,” he said.
The station is central to the city’s sewer system as it pumps flows from Westover beneath the river to meet up with the larger Morgantown Utility Board system.
Green River Group was awarded a $2,958,025 contract for the job in September 2024. Work on the pump station replacement began in fall 2025, as its sister project, the replacement of sanitary sewer and storm sewer lines beneath a portion of Holland Avenue, was wrapping up.
It was initially hoped the pump station work could be completed in January. According to Young, the project remains on budget despite the extended timeline.
Shifting back to Holland Avenue, Young said it appears that the West Virginia Division of Highways is still planning a significant resurfacing project for the spring.
According to information previously shared with council, the section of road surface between the Westover Bridge and the top of the hill, near Paula’s, will be pulled up along with the underlying bricks and completely reconstructed.
Young said the state has requested drawings of the new infrastructure below the road in anticipation of that work.
“As far as I’ve been told, that’s still anticipated for spring,” he said. “I haven’t heard anything different.”
The DOH has said that section is just one portion of a larger series of projects that will include a new surface deck for the Westover Bridge and a new driving surface for U.S. 19 (Holland Avenue/Fairmont Road) from the bridge on one end of the city to the interstate on the other.
Triton Construction has been awarded a $3.4 million contract for the bridgework, which will consist of replacing the expansion joints, completing a concrete deck overlay, applying a concrete protective coating to the parapets and deck overhangs, and improving deck drainage. That work currently has a July completion date.
In other council news, the body approved the purchase of additional road salt and cinders – 100 tons of each – for $23,025.
Lastly, the candidates for Westover City Council’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd ward seats have been set ahead of the upcoming municipal election to be conducted by the county as part of the May 12 primary election.
Current councilors Alli Jackson (1st), Jeff Friend (2nd) and Shawna Cross (3rd) will each be unopposed in their respective races.
Council’s three other seats, which are elected at-large, will be on the ballot in the May 2028 primary, as will the position of mayor.
