Judge hears Brooke sewer arguments

WELLSBURG - An administrative law judge with the West Virginia Public Service Commission heard arguments Tuesday about whether Wellsburg or Follansbee should serve hundreds of customers to be added to the Brooke County Public Service District with the extension of sewer lines along Eldersville Road, Bruin Drive and Mahan Lane.

Representatives of the two cities and the public service district gathered in council chambers at Wellsburg City Hall to present their cases before Judge Sunya Anderson.

The hearing is slated to continue on Aug. 5 in Charleston, after which Anderson is slated to make a recommendation to the state Public Service Commission.

The Brooke County PSD is awaiting approval from the public service commission to proceed with a project that has been delayed since 2001.

Wayne Mielke, the district's legal counsel, said Anderson had been slated to make a recommendation by Sept. 12, but in light of the hearing being continued until August, that's not likely to occur.

Also on hand for Tuesday's hearing were representatives of the villages of Beech Bottom and Windsor Heights, which have raised concerns about a rate increase proposed to offset the project's costs.

Attorney Joseph Barki III, who represents the two villages, said if the Brooke County PSD pays Wellsburg $2.44 per 1,000 gallons to treat the sewage, as the state Public Service Commission has proposed, it will mean higher bills for residents in the two villages, many of whom are retired and on fixed incomes.

Terry Bonaventura, chairman of the Brooke County PSD's board of directors, testified a lower rate was what led the district to turn to Wellsburg to serve the new customers.

Randy Watson, an engineer with Thrasher Engineering of Clarksburg - which designed the project - said Follansbee initially had proposed the district pay the city $3.10 per 1,000 gallons for sewage conveyed to the city through the new lines.

The rate and others cited below reflect the amount the district could pay to have the sewage treated and don't reflect the rate that will be paid by the district's customers, which must generate revenue needed to pay off loans taken for the project.

Bonaventura noted the district considered taking the sewage to Mingo Junction, Ohio, via a line that would have been extended under the Ohio River, but that proposal didn't meet the approval of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

He confirmed that later, after the district approached Wellsburg, Follansbee offered a lesser rate of $2.34 per 1,000 gallons, 20 cents less than what Wellsburg had proposed.

Robert Rodecker, a Charleston attorney representing Follansbee, asked why the district didn't consider Follansbee's second proposal.

Bonaventura said they'd already initiated an agreement with Wellsburg and had been negotiating with Follansbee since 2001.

"We just wanted to move forward with it. These people are waiting for sewers. We had a chance of losing the money," he said.

Last July, Bruce Smith, a project officer with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, encouraged the Brooke County Public Service District to seek an extension for the project, which is being funded in part by $9.8 million in EPA funds secured by Congressman Alan Mollohan, D-Fairmont, in 2001.

Bonaventura testified the cost to extend lines to Wellsburg were less expensive than they would have been for Follansbee because the latter would involve obtaining rights-of-way along a railroad in the Cross Creek area.

Rodecker asked Bonaventura if he would support Follansbee serving the new customers if it were shown that construction costs and rates would be less than with Wellsburg.

Bonaventura said he would if Follansbee agreed not to raise its rate for at least the term of bonds sold for the project.

Another issue that was raised was that Follansbee had based its rate of $2.34 per 1,000 gallons on an estimated daily intake of 149,700 gallons of sewage from the district. Watson said the daily intake for either city has been estimated at 200,000.

Questioned after the hearing, Rodecker acknowledged the discrepancy and said that's an issue that will be key in determining which city will provide the service.

The agreement reached by the Brooke County PSD and Wellsburg involves 428 homes and businesses along Mahan Lane, Eldersville Road from Mahan Lane to Cook's Hill and several lanes off it; Brooke High School and others along Bruin Drive/Cross Creek Road; and about 608 on Eldersville Road from Mahan Lane to St. John's Road, St. John's Road and the community of Louise in the project's second phase.

The district has applied for a $1.5 million grant from the West Virginia Infrastructure Council for the second phase, which Brooke County PSD officials hope to pursue soon after the first phase is completed.

John Auville, an attorney with the state Public Service Commission, asked Watson if the Wellsburg wastewater treatment plant had the capacity to serve the customers in the first phase.

Watson said the plant is operating at 30 percent of its capacity and can serve the new customers.

(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com)