MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Improvements to the drainage system in the Popenoe Run area are in danger of not being completed due to issues between the city of Morgantown and MUB.
In June and July of 2021 torrential rains overwhelmed the drainage system and caused damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure. After an investigation of the existing system the city of Morgantown and the Monongalia County commission agreed to allocate $1 million each of American Rescue Plan funds and enter into a partnership with MUB to upgrade the system in hopes of avoiding future flooding.
The city of Morgantown is currently in negotiations about recreational amenities at the Flegal Dam and Reservoir with MUB and commission president Tom Bloom believes Popenoe Run improvements are being used as a bargaining chip. Bloom fears the negotiations could turn to a drawn out affair similar to the license agreement reached for the raw watermain through White Park.
“To me it was a very simple solution to a very simple problem,” Bloom said. “Unfortunately, it’s eight months later and we’re still no where because there seems to be a problem between the city of Morgantown and MUB adding all these other issues.”
Commissioners are now looking at other potential options for the $1 million dollar commitment made to address drainage in the Popenoe Run area, according to commissioner Sean Sikora.
“We need to either move forward or find another use for those dollars and we have plenty of requests,” Sikora said.
The Popenoe Run agreement to allocate $1 million was reached in December when groups and municipalities were presenting ideas for potential uses of American Rescue Plan funds to the commission.
“If we don’t see a resolution in the next four weeks I’m going to ask that we put it back in a work session and consider other cities that may want to use our funding,” Bloom said.
A response from the city of Morgantown will be included when it is received.