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MORGANTOWN - Plagued by low-producing wells drawing water heavy with iron and manganese, more than two dozen homes in the Morgans Run Road area of Cheat Lake have spent years relying on costly deliveries and other means to obtain adequate drinking water.
Today, after nearly three years of work behind the scenes putting together a funding package, the Morgantown Utility Board is on the verge of a project to extend water service to the area.
According to MUB, construction of the Morgans Run water line extension project is expected to begin in January and take about one year to complete.
Earlier this week, Morgantown City Council approved on first reading an ordinance authorizing a portion of the financing for what's anticipated to be a $4.6 million project involving the placement of approximately 17,000 feet of water lines, 28 water service connections and four fire hydrants.
The project is currently open for bidding, with contractor proposals due by midday Sept. 29.
Funding for the work is coming largely through a $3.3 million grant provided by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's Abandoned Mine Lands Reclamation program.
The West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council is providing additional grant dollars totaling $500,000 and has approved a 40-year loan with a 1% interest rate to finance the remainder.
Based on the $4.6 million projected cost of the project, the loan is currently expected to be about $721,000.
That portion of the financing will be repaid through a surcharge added to the water bills of the households receiving the new service. If current numbers hold, MUB President Erik Carlson said the surcharge would be $77.13 monthly per customer for the 480-month life of the loan.
But the amount of project funding to be borrowed, and subsequently repaid by the new customers, will ultimately be dependent on the project bids received by MUB.
As part of its most recent regular meeting, Morgantown City Council gave its initial authorization for the issuance of bonds up to $1.7 million.
"Obviously, as I mentioned before, we think it may not be more than $721,000. Having open bids, we want to leave a lot of room there in case we have to increase the size of that borrowing," bond counsel Tom Aman explained.
Asked if the 27 households currently signed on would still be willing to cover the surcharge if the borrowed portion ended up being significantly higher than anticipated, Carlson said he believes they would.
"If it ends up being more than that ($721,000), then that's something that we'd have to go back and talk with the residents about," he said. "I will note though, that when we initially talked with the residents, it was before the grants, the 1% loan, and the other funding came through for this project, and there was enough of an agreement at that point to move forward with whatever that surcharge would have been if they were to pay lock, stock, the whole lot. We would be comfortable to know that we should be able to proceed forward with that if the bids come in higher."
In addition to the financing described above, MUB is anticipating providing approximately $30,500 as a required local contribution, and the Monongalia County Commission has committed $52,000 to help cover tap fees for the new connections.