WESTOVER – Attorney Tim Stranko, representing the city of Westover, said he’s confident that a recent Monongalia County Circuit Court ruling bodes well for the city regarding a separate, but similar, claim filed against Westover late last month.
On March 20, Monongalia County Circuit Court Judge Michael Simms granted the city of Westover’s motion for summary judgment in a July 2023 lawsuit brought against the city in response to flood damage to a Richmond Street property.
Katelyn Eichelberger filed the lawsuit claiming her home suffered extensive damage during the July 29, 2021, rain event after “stormwater infiltration into her home resulted from a failure of the stormwater system for which [the city] is responsible.”
Simms found that the claims were subject to the provisions of the Governmental Tort Claims and Insurance Reforms Act which provides absolute immunity to political subdivisions from claims resulting from natural weather conditions unless the condition is affirmatively caused by the negligent act of the political subdivision.
In this case, an expert witness testified that the rain event in question was a “1,000-year event” and that the West Virginia Division of Highways and typical urban stormwater systems are not designed to accommodate such rare weather events.
The July 29, 2021, storm was the largest rain event in Morgantown since 1950, according to the Morgantown Utility Board. It was one of two historic rain events to occur within a 50-day span that summer resulting in widespread flooding across the area.
On the same day as Simms’ ruling in the 2023 claim, Smith Rentals, LLC, filed suit against the city claiming water overflowing from Westover’s “outdated and improperly maintained” stormwater system damaged rental properties at 370 Race Street as a result of heavy rains on June 15, 2025.
This was the same Father’s Day rain event that all but destroyed the ball fields in lower Westover Park.
Stranko noted that the June 15, 2025, storm dumped 2.4 inches of rain on Westover in 13 minutes between 1:40 p.m. and 1:53 p.m.
“Same facts essentially as the [Eichelberger] case I just briefed you on, and we’re confident that the court will likewise see the Tort Claims Act immunity effective in this case as well,” he said.
In other Westover news, Thrasher Group’s Casey Young said the city’s new Dunkard Avenue lift station is on pace to be operational next month.
“The paving won’t be done. The site won’t have gravel and the fence won’t be up and the whole nine yards, but everything will be operational, hopefully, by the first week of May,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming, I know.”
The station is central to the city’s sewer system as it pumps flows from Westover beneath the Monongahela River to meet up with the larger MUB system.
Green River Group was awarded a $2,958,025 contract for the pump station replacement in September 2024. Work began in fall 2025, around the time its sister project, the replacement of sanitary sewer and stormwater lines beneath a portion of Holland Avenue, was wrapping up.
Stranko noted that once the project is substantially complete, Westover and MUB will finalize the process of conveying the city’s sewer system over to the utility board.
Lastly, Westover City Council approved a pair of expenditures Monday evening.
The first, totaling $59,900, will go to Velocity Grounds Inc. for the mowing and landscaping of city property within The Gateway and WestRidge developments.
The second, for $47,993.72, will be used to purchase a Ford F-150 for the Westover Police Department. The truck will replace the cruiser that was totaled in the process of ending a high-speed pursuit following a Jan. 3 armed robbery at the Fairmont Road Dollar Tree.
WPD Chief Scott Carl said the city has received an insurance payout of $41,000 for the vehicle and is expecting another $12,000 for equipment damage.
