POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. (WV News) — Mason County will benefit from more than $11 million in Congressionally Directed Spending awards allocated by U.S. Sen. Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.Va., including direct funding for a sewer collection system pivotal to the Nucor development.
That $1 million grant for the Mason county Public Service District will help to fund the Apple Grove Sewer Collection System Project. The project will provide service for the Apple Grove, Mercers Bottom and Ashton areas of the county, including where Nucor will be built.
The direct funding also includes $470,000 for the Mason County Farmers Market. That money will cover the construction of a permanent, all-season farmers market. The project would fund the interior rehabilitation of the Lowe Boiler House and construction of a 3,000-square-foot market pavilion for use by the Mason County Farmers Market and managed by Main Street Point Pleasant.
Mason County is also part of a $10 million grant for the Environmental Infrastructure Section 571: Section 571 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-53) provides a program of Federal assistance through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) that allows for design and/or construction assistance to non-Federal entities for water-related environmental infrastructure and resource protection and development projects, including projects for wastewater treatment and related facilities, water supply, and surface water resource protection and development. The Section 571 Environmental Infrastructure Program covers the following central West Virginia counties: Berkeley, Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Hampshire, Hardy, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Mason, Morgan, Pendleton, Putnam, Randolph , Roane, Upshur and Wirt.
“Mason County continues to play a vital role in our efforts to move West Virginia forward, and as such, they were one of numerous entities who reached out to my office seeking federal support to advance projects that will help us in this goal,” Capito said.
“I am pleased that several projects I requested were able to meet the standards put forth by the Appropriations Committee and the various agencies that disperse these funds,” Capito said.
“Through the Congressionally Directed Spending process, I was able to secure resources for projects in the Mason County area that improve the Apple Grove Sewer Collection System, strengthen the county’s water infrastructure, and support the Mason County Farmers Market. I will continue to be receptive to the needs of West Virginians, and fight for important projects and priorities that meet the necessary parameters to receive funding.”