The Wetzel Chronicle spoke with Senator Shelly Capito’s office on Friday, August 2, 2019, in an effort to learn more about Paden City’s efforts to secure funding for the communities water problems. This is the information we received, along with a general timeline of the process that tracks Senator Capito’s efforts to make the grant possible for Paden City.

Capito’s office first became aware of the Paden City issue on April 2, 2019. On April 4, 2019, her office reached out to the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Council for further information on the issue and the city’s USDA Community Water Assistance Grants application.

On April 17, the application was submitted to the USDA and Senator Capito’s office spoke with the USDA staff to highlight it’s importance. From April 17 through July 18, 2019 her office tracked progress of the application with the USDA staff, and on July 18, 2019 funding for the project was approved.

On July 25, 2019 Senator Capito called Paden City Mayor Hochstrasser to congratulate him on the funding and learn about the city’s proposed long-term fix. Capito said their office is in the process of working with the city on aquiring funding for a comprehensive water system upgrade.

“Clean drinking water should be a given in any community,” Senator Capito said. “Paden City has had a particular problem with some of their wells that they draw their water from, but after our office became aware of this problem, we worked together with Mayor Hochstrasser, USDA, and community leaders to secure a grant to ensure Paden City’s drinking water is clean, safe, and reliable. I had the chance to deliver this news to the mayor personally over the phone when it became official, and I commend him, as well as the city leaders for facing this very difficult and expensive problem head on. I know this funding is a huge relief to the city, and I was glad I could help them along in this process to deliver this critical funding,” stated Senator Capito.