Commission approves redirecting unused ARPA money from mountaintop sewer project to Chaplain Hills sewer work

Monongalia County commissioners on Feb. 26 approved a supplemental memorandum with the Morgantown Utility Board (MUB) to apply unused federal ARPA funds originally allocated to the mountaintop sewer line extension to the Chaplain Hills sanitary sewer project.

The action, taken during new business, aligns project budgets after the mountaintop extension was completed under budget. County Administrator Renata Mclore said MUB had placed the surplus funds on deposit and credited expenses against Chaplain Hills as the county and MUB reconciled the two projects.

"What had happened is when we did the original sewer project in the industrial park, the value of that was 3,400,000.0. It came in at 3,100,000.0, and at that time, we were entering in negotiations for the Chaplain Hill project. So MUB just put those funds on deposit and has been crediting those funds for expenses against the Chaplain Hill project," Mclore said. She described the memorandum as paperwork to make both projects’ accounting "accurate and documented."

Commissioners moved and seconded approval and the vote was recorded as unanimous. No additional conditions or dollar amounts beyond the described accounting adjustment were included in the commission discussion.

The memorandum updates the county’s recordkeeping so that the mountaintop project’s reduced final cost and the Chaplain Hills project accounting match MUB’s deposits and credits. The commission did not discuss changes to project scope or timelines at the meeting.

The commission is expected to include the memorandum in its regular records; staff will track implementation and any subsequent budget reporting.

Notes: The discussion and vote occurred during the Feb. 26 meeting’s new business agenda item concerning intergovernmental memoranda and ARPA fund use.