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WESTOVER - With the utility work beneath Holland Avenue in the rearview mirror and the project to replace the city's primary lift station substantially complete, Westover City Council has initiated the process to finalize the Morgantown Utility Board's acquisition of the city's sanitary sewer system.
MUB has been responsible for customer service, billing and collecting fees, system infrastructure maintenance and upgrades, service of all debt and all other ongoing operations of the system since October 2024 through an operations and maintenance agreement approved by both parties and the West Virginia Public Service Commission.
The O&M agreement was put in place with the understanding that once the aforementioned projects were completed, the parties would initiate the process of transferring ownership over to MUB.
Westover City Council approved on first reading the asset purchase agreement finalizing the acquisition on Sept. 7. A second reading of the agreement is among the body's agenda items for Monday's meeting.
All told, the transaction will require a third reading and a public hearing on the city's end as well as approvals from MUB, the WVPSC, the West Virginia Water Development Authority, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and, ultimately, Morgantown City Council, which will be asked to approve the debt transfer and MUB tariff for Westover rate payers.
The process is similar to the one undertaken by Star City, which finalized MUB's acquisition of its water and sewer facilities in February.
"The smaller systems just don't scale, in that they are unable to marshal the operational or fiscal strength to meet the many increasing challenges of aging sewer systems, and the associated customer service and water quality protection needs," attorney Tim Stranko explained. "A watershed-wide approach led by a strong, publicly owned utility is the best approach for these tasks so essential to the protection of public health and prosperity, and for the future of the entire community."
At the time the 2024 O&M agreement was finalized, there were about 2,300 sewer customers in Westover and the city's sewer utility saw an annual revenue of about $870,000. The utility included about 21 miles of gravity sewer and one mile of force main.
Prior to the agreement, MUB provided water service to Westover, but the city managed its own sewer and stormwater systems. MUB then billed Westover's 2,300 customers for water, sewer and garbage and remitted the sewer and garbage fees back to Westover. MUB then billed Westover for its flows into the utility's treatment plant in Star City.
Stranko said everyone benefits from the consolidation.
"MUB's strategic capital planning, engineering management and preventative maintenance programs will improve the operation and development of the Westover system," he said. "MUB's new, larger customer base will increase the fiscal strength of the utility and can spread the fixed costs of the utility among more ratepayers, resulting in the lowest possible share of fixed costs for each ratepayer. MUB will control the sanitary sewer system throughout the urban core and watershed, allowing for the most efficient system development and water quality protection."