T-L Photo/J.D. LONG U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, visits Cadiz to speak about the $2 million federal grant he helped secure for the village to go toward its sewer line project.

CADIZ — Village leaders got the chance to express their appreciation Thursday when U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson visited the community after helping to secure funding for a major infrastructure project.

Trunk line collection sewer projects have been in the works for several years. Cadiz already has dealt with the south and center trunk lines and is now moving on to the north trunk line collection phase.

In February, the village officially was awarded a $2 million Federal Community Project Funding Program grant with Johnson’s help. This grant will go toward the north trunk line project only.

On Thursday morning, Johnson, R-Ohio, paid a visit to Cadiz at the request of Mayor John Migliore who wanted to thank him for his efforts.

Johnson was joined by Lt. Col. Albert Butler of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Ohio Rep. Don Jones, R-Freeport, and many others.

Migliore spoke first and gave some background on the process, which involved Jeannette Wierzbicki, executive director of Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association, notifying Bob Allen of the E.L. Robinson engineering firm of the funding opportunity on the very day the application was to be submitted. This took place in April 2021, and Allen was able to submit it on time.

“When it did go through, I got a call from the congressman himself, and as soon as I heard his voice I knew we had good news for this community,” Migliore said.

The congressman’s help is not the only aid the village is getting, as Migliore added that another $1 million is being received through the Pittsburgh office of the Corps of Engineers as well. On top of that is a $250,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant, and OMEGA also had a hand in contributing.

Migliore also talked of when the village fell under Findings and Orders several years ago by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, thereby forcing the village to act regarding its sewer system.

“One of the things that’s bad about those findings and orders is that whenever a new business or new home is built, then we have to go get permission from the EPA to be allowed to tap onto our sewer system so they can proceed,” the mayor told the crowd.

Butler spoke about his love for Ohio and his district, which covers the Ohio Valley, and the large portfolio it is involved with. He said project costs range from less than $1 million to around $1 billion.

“Our district has a very diverse program to include projects of all sizes,” Butler said. “It’s oftentimes the ones that are seemingly smaller in dollar value that end up impacting communities in very real ways and are truly important to us. And I can’t tell you how much it brings us just absolute joy in working those where we can see our communities truly benefit from that federal investment in local communities.”

Johnson said he was happy to help meet the needs of the village.

“Well you’ve got to convince people that these projects are worthy of taxpayer funding,” Johnson later told The Times Leader. “So, we have to go before those appropriation committees and make the case: ‘Why does Cadiz need the money more than 435 other districts?'”

Johnson described the process of writing letters, delivering information packets and his staff working with the appropriations committee. He said he feels more should be done for such small communities.

“And so, I think we need to be doing more of these kinds of things where we identified the real, no-kidding needs of our communities rather than it just going to the chief executive then they dole it out,” he said. “And they don’t know rhyme from reason about what’s going on down on Main Street. We do, because we’re out in those areas.”