MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Morgantown City Council will consider purchasing 105 acres of land surrounding the Morgantown Municipal Airport to facilitate the runway extension project.
Council advanced the ordinance that calls for the city to pay $1,572,450 for the property during its committee of the whole meeting Tuesday night.
“With the current runway extension, we need a piece of land to make it possible,” said Morgantown Municipal Airport Director Jonathan Vrabel in a presentation of the agreement Tuesday night. “And that entire parcel that they would like us to purchase kind of aligns with the future goals of the runway.”
The current property owners, James L. Laurita Sr. Family Limited Partnership, were not interested in selling only the portion necessary for the runway extension, offering an all-or-nothing transaction. Vrabel believes acquiring the entire tract would be advantageous for the city and open the possibility of more future development and expansion around the airport.
“Even though some of the parcels aren’t directly aligned with the runway, they would be contingent on the runway,” said Vrabel. “Which would allow us further aviation development.”
“Being closer to Sabraton and closer to I-68 is the perfect location to build a new facility,” said Vrabel. “Or even additional aviation expansions, such as cargo development, maintenance facilities, or anything of those sorts.”
Changes to the City of Morgantown’s vacant structure code were also moved to the agenda, which would establish a multi-tier system to fine owners of vacant structures that are not maintained within city limits. Morgantown City Attorney Ryan Simonton detailed that structures accounted for in the city’s vacant building registry will be required to go through a compliance determination by the Morgantown Fire Chief or Building Official. Any problems discovered in the inspection are required to be fixed or face various fines of up to $500 each. Structures that pass inspection will only be required to pay the base $100 structure registration fee.
“Looking for more certainty in finding what constitutes a vacant structure versus an occupied structure, as well as looking to lower the fee for structures that are vacant but remain well maintained,” said Simonton on the goals of the code changes.
Both items are expected to be discussed at Morgantown City Council’s regular meetings in June.
**CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the city of Morgantown was considering the purchase of 14.6 acres.