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Morgantown Utility Board outlines Star City water and sewer acquisition, council moves item to agenda
Summary
Morgantown Utility Board chair Eric Carlson presented a planned acquisition of Star City’s water and wastewater systems, showing significant differences in tariffs and saying PSC review is complete; council agreed to move the proposal to a formal agenda for further action.
Eric Carlson, chair of the Morgantown Utility Board, told the Committee of the Whole that MUB has been in discussions to bring Star City’s water and sewer systems into the MUB service area and that those conversations began in spring of last year. Carlson said the utility board has approved referral to the Public Service Commission (PSC) and that PSC recently signaled support for the merger, which now returns to council for further consideration.
Carlson walked through tariff comparisons that he said motivated MUB’s evaluation. He reported MUB’s minimum water charge at $6.36 (per 1,000 gallons) while Star City’s minimum was described as about $19.32, and that sewer minimums show a similar disparity (Carlson cited Star City sewer minimum of about $20.66 versus Morgantown’s $10.69). Based on January billings, Carlson said Star City’s water produced approximately $15,000 extra per month (roughly $180,000 annually) versus the MUB tariff structure. He also said about half of Star City’s roughly 956 wastewater customers pay a minimum charge on a regular basis, which affects revenue calculations.
Council members pressed MUB on due diligence, capacity and staffing. Carlson said MUB’s engineering and maintenance staff performed internal assessments alongside Star City staff, and that current Star City staffing (noted in Star City’s annual report as roughly 1.5 full-time equivalents) is expected to be absorbed by MUB; he added that MUB will adjust staffing if operational needs require it. Councilors asked whether acquired customers remain on prior rates; Carlson said acquired systems are often retained at their existing tariffs (frozen) until any future system-wide rate decisions are made.
Carlson also noted the utility expects to present consultants’ work on long-term controls for combined sewer overflows (CSOs) at a forthcoming meeting and invited continued executive-session updates between MUB and the city manager on acquisition details.
After discussion, council members signaled support to move the Star City acquisition to a future formal agenda for first and second readings and formal action.
The next procedural steps: the committee moved the item to a council agenda for formal consideration; any change to tariffs or capital projects tied to the acquisition would return to council for required ordinance or rate-setting action.
