MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Projects in Monongalia County funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) will receive extensions for completion.
The Monongalia County Commission unanimously approved Period of Performance extensions for infrastructure projects involving the Little Creek Public Service District, the Ministers Run Water Association, the Clay Battelle Public Service District, and the Monongahela River Trails Conservancy. The extensions were granted after conversations with the entities regarding the current status of their projects, with a City of Westover-based project moved to be placed as part of the county budget.
“We had set a timeline that these projects (had to have) the money be spent, with projects completed by the end of the year,” said Commissioner Jeff Arnett. “And we’ve gotten assurances from these organizations that it will be completed by next year, which is a requirement for the (ARPA) funding,” he said.
The Little Creek Public Service District project will support a boost upgrade station along Smithtown Road. The Ministers Run Water Association project will fix an exposed line and creek crossing of Peter Eddy Road, and the Clay Battelle Public Service District allocation will support six improvements around the Jakes Run and Days Run areas. While the federal ARPA deadlines on Period of Performance are set for the end of 2026, the commission agreed to support a one-year extension to make sure the projects are completed in a timely manner.
“We just want to get these projects done,” said Commission President Seans Sikora. “So at this point, we’re only extending it a year, if we have to extend it further, we can, but we’d really like to get these things buttoned down,” he said.
A project involving the Mon River Trails Conservancy was also included in the ARPA Period of Performance extension.
A project involving the City of Westover and the Morgantown Utility Board will not be among the projects that will be granted the Period of Performance extension. This is due to the expansive nature of the approximately $6 million project that includes sewer line replacements along Holland Avenue and the replacement of the Dunkard Avenue lift station. With a firm timeline on ARPA funds set to expire in 2031 and state options to fund the project on the table, the commission felt it was better to have the project fully supported by the county, allowing for the project to be done in an efficient manner.
“We let them know that ‘listen, this doesn’t mean that we’re not honoring our commitment,’ we’re just not straining those dollars in ARPA,” said Sikora regarding the Westover project.
The commission is expected to receive updates on the other four projects before the end of 2024. This will include details on bid award contracts, the status of planning and development, and the eventual finish dates for the projects that have combined costs of just north of $2 million. The hope for the commission is that with the extensions in place, the four projects will have a firm 2025 completion goal.
“The last meeting of the year, on the 30th (of December), we’ll have an ARPA update on where everything landed, where we were, the investments, any of that stuff,” Sikora said. “So it is anticipated that we’ll do that in the last meeting of the year,” he said.