MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Morgantown Utility Board (MUB) appears ready to accept another municipal utility into their coverage map.
MUB board members unanimously approved a proposal from the Town of Star City to take over the town’s water utility after a presentation was shown to the board during their regular meeting Tuesday. Star City Mayor Sharon Doyle, along with the town’s legal representation, was on hand to present details on the proposal, which would account for just over 875 customers and would follow similar moves taken by smaller municipalities in the Morgantown area.
“The town proposes to combine water, sewer and stormwater enterprises for the Town of Star City residents and businesses into the Morgantown Utility Board operations,” said Doyle in her presentation to MUB.
According to Doyle, the need for MUB to take over the Star City water utility stems from a combination of economic and efficiency factors. This includes the eventual need to upgrade water systems supported by the town’s water utility, which in turn would inevitably prompt the need to raise rates for the third time in less than a decade. With rates already higher for the Star City water utility versus for similar services provided by MUB, Doyle and other Star City representatives felt it was best for their residents to have the smaller utility merged by the larger water service provider.
“The town council and the administration has determined that due to the small size of the Town of Star City, the town is unable to generate sufficient revenue to finance significant water, sewer and stormwater capital projects,” said Doyle.
The Star City utility will enter into the MUB umbrella with no debt or equipment inventory transferred as part of the agreement. The utility itself consists of around 10.5 miles of water main that accounted for approximately $493,000 in annual revenue last year with a projected budget of just over $300,000 for this year, separate from a gross plant value of approximately $557,000. With the proposal presented to MUB by Star City officials as well as the lack of required funds needed to take over any bad debts, the proposal was made easier with the endorsement of Doyle and other Star City public works employees.
“Morgantown Utility Board would bill and receive Star City service fees, the Town of Star City remains the governing body, no equipment or inventory would be transferred, and there’s no debt transferred,” said Doyle.
The decision to merge the water utility of the Town of Star City into the MUB system was supported by all members of the MUB board with no pushback. The merging of the utility into MUB’s over 10,000-person customer base follows similar decisions that were taken by the Town of Westover and multiple small municipal water utilities in the Morgantown area in recent years. With a potential upgrade needed to a system that would make providing water independently in Star City nearly impossible, the MUB board was more than happy to accept the request from Star City officials.
“I think this is a wonderful opportunity and why MUB was created and spun off the way that it was,” said MUB Board Member Erik Carlson. “To be able to bring our community together,” he said.
MUB will handle direct billing for the Star City customers and Star City MS4 service fees. The Town of Star City will remain the governing body for the utility.