MORGANTOWN – The Monongalia County Commission on Wednesday approved a request for qualifications from firms interested in providing planning and engineering support to the county on an as-needed basis.
Commissioner Sean Sikora said the commission has a number of projects it wants to initiate, including an assessment and master planning process for the parcel the county owns at 102 Lockside Road.
The county initially released an RFQ specific to that project in May 2024, but due to competing interests, the project dropped off the radar.
“The commission is ready to move forward on at least planning for that project, but also recognizes that we have a number of other projects that will need to move forward, and possibly within the next four years,” Sikora said. “Therefore, we are reissuing this RFQ with one that takes into account changes in the state statute, specifically Chapter 5G – procurement of architect engineering services by the state and its subdivisions – regarding the selection of architects and engineering services. And, more importantly, restructures any potential agreement with the intent of being able to provide support on an as-needed basis for multiple projects as those projects are defined.”
While the county’s 14.45-acre Lockside Road property is largely wooded, the site is home to the Monongalia County K-9 adoption center, the headquarters and warehouse for the county’s facilities department, the county maintenance garage, impound lot and motor pool, the county’s litter control office and a secure server building for the county IT department.
As was noted in 2024, some of those facilities are dealing with space constraints, “but rather than take it piecemeal and start down that road, we’re looking at a comprehensive assessment of the whole site,” Sikora said at the time.
The commission recently approved a lease agreement with Triton Construction for the property that will allow the contractor to stage materials and equipment at the site during the forthcoming overlay project addressing the Joseph Bartolo Memorial Bridge, more commonly known as the Westover Bridge.
Beyond Lockside Road, the commission has a handful of other projects it believes could benefit from on-call engineering and design services.
One being the creation of a plan for the former Mon County Jail, which sits unused at the corner of Chancery Row and Chestnut Street, directly behind the county courthouse.
The brick structure was built in 1881 and enlarged in 1992 to serve an increasing number of prisoners. As part of the 1992 project, the jail was connected to the second floor of the courthouse by bridge to help facilitate the movement of prisoners to court.
It’s been explained that the building can’t be easily renovated for other uses as the actual jail cells provide structural support for the building.
The commission would also like consulting services regarding the future use of the 0.5-acre property it agreed to purchase from Morgantown Community Resources in October for $815,000.
The property sits next to the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department with frontage along University Avenue. The five small parcels are divided by Court Street.
In other county news, the commission approved an Economic Development Services Agreement with the Morgantown Area Partnership formalizing the commission’s financial support for The Partnership in the upcoming 2027 fiscal year.
Sikora said the commission will provide $150,000 to the agency, which is in line with its previous annual support.
