How much does it cost to keep a town pool that was already called 60 years old in 2025 open until Paden City decides what comes next? According to a repair estimate given to council on Oct. 5, about $9,325 covers five more years. For a city budget, that's a small number. The harder question came right after it. Before any repair work can start, Mayor Clyde Hochstrasser said the city has to measure the pool's water flow to make sure all of the water can be turned over every eight hours, as state code requires.
The repair money is only part of the answer. The other part is whether the water moves through the system the way the code requires, and circulation and water treatment were central to the problems that kept the pool closed in 2025.
A small number on a busy agenda
The Wetzel Chronicle's report on the Oct. 5 council meeting says Rodney McWilliams of the Paden City Foundation told council the Foundation may be able to help keep the pool open for the next five years. That would give the community time to reach a permanent decision about the pool. The report called the help possible, not promised, and it records no vote on the repairs.
To see how big $9,325 is, compare it with other money that moved through Paden City government this year.
| Item | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated pool repairs for five more years | $9,325 | Reported Oct. 5, 2026 |
| New security cameras for the city building, approved the same night | $15,000 | Oct. 5, 2026 |
| General fund carryover, after the earlier projection of $200,000 | $364,920 | Reported July 6, 2026 |
| Share of that carryover put into contingencies | $103,842 | July 6, 2026 |
| Parks & Rec budget line, original budget before a $490 cut | $4,500 | July 6, 2026 |
At the meeting where the pool estimate came up, council approved camera replacements that cost more than half again as much. The repair figure is also about twice the city's original annual Parks & Rec line, and that line was cut by $490 in July after the coal severance carryover came in at $30 rather than the $1,500 projected. A five-year repair bill doesn't fit in the parks line, but it's within reach if a charity covers it. That's why the Foundation's offer matters, and why the flow test, not the fundraising, comes first.
Why the water has to move before the work starts
The eight-hour turnover rule is about circulation. The full volume of the pool has to pass through the pumps and treatment system often enough to keep the water clean. Circulation and water treatment were among the problems behind the last closure.
In February 2025, Hochstrasser told council the pool would not open that summer, citing low attendance and needed repairs. By May, the Wetzel Chronicle reported a longer list: sanding and repainting the pool bowl, sewer line work, a hot water heater, a skimmer and two drains, plus a chlorination system the Wetzel-Tyler County Health Department said apparently wasn't working properly.
In June 2025, the mayor told council that chlorine levels apparently had not been checked properly, and he described a mechanical failure, which the Wetzel Chronicle quoted:
"We had a pump go bad previously when we painted the pool, and some of the paint peeled off and got into one of the pumps. We've replaced that now so it should be good."
He said one of the pumps had gone out, so the water couldn't circulate properly. That pump has since been replaced. Circulation has failed at this pool before, and that history gives the flow test its weight. If the system can't turn the water over in eight hours, a fresh coat of paint on the bowl doesn't get the pool through inspection. Measuring the flow first tells the city whether $9,325 is enough or whether a bigger job is waiting underneath.
What the county checks each season
The health department's role is narrower than people may assume, and that shapes how the city has to prepare. In May 2025, health department Administrator Ashley Guiler explained to the Wetzel Chronicle that the department doesn't inspect the inner workings of the pool house, and that a specialty pool company would need to look at that equipment. Guiler listed what the sanitarian is required to check:
- Water quality.
- A water testing kit kept on site.
- Correct chlorine and pH levels.
- A clearly visible bottom in the deep end.
- Rescue gear in place outside.
- Lifeguards on duty.
Guiler added that the pool's permit can't be renewed until it passes inspection. Several items on that list, including water quality, a visible deep-end bottom and correct chlorine and pH, depend on equipment the department doesn't inspect. The flow test checks that equipment directly before the county sees the results in the water.
The pool's on-and-off record
This isn't the first time Paden City has had to bring its pool back.
- 2019: last season before a long gap. When the pool and splash pad reopened in June 2022, the Wetzel Chronicle's headline called it the first time since 2019. Then-Mayor Steve Kastigar credited the Park and Pool Commission, Friends of the Pool and the city maintenance crew.
- The year before the 2025 closure: the park spent $40,000 on upgrades, according to the February 2025 council report, which described the spending as "last year." The report doesn't say how much of that went to the pool.
- 2025: closed all summer. In March 2025, the pool was described as 60 years old and in need of many repairs. Maintenance superintendent Josh Billiter said his five-person department would have a hard time doing all the work.
- 2026: open again. At the July 6 council meeting, members reported the pool was open and busy over the holiday weekend, and thanked the city crew for getting it running.
Each comeback has rested on the same small group of people: the city crew, a volunteer commission and local donors. The five-year proposal tries to set up a schedule so the pool isn't handled one crisis at a time.
Who has been paying all along
The Paden City Foundation has backed the pool for years, not just this fall. The Foundation was incorporated in 1987, and a 2019 Tyler Star News report listed the city park and pool among the causes it supports, along with the Paden City Museum, the public library, the local fire company and scholarships. In March 2025, McWilliams told council that the Foundation gives the park and pool a check every year and was willing to help raise community support.
The October offer is that same yearly support aimed at one specific goal. If the Foundation covers five years of upkeep, the town's long-range pool decision doesn't have to be made under the pressure of an empty summer.
The bigger park plan behind the five-year window
Some of that long-range thinking is already on paper. On Jan. 14, 2025, Thrasher Engineering showed residents two improvement concepts for the city park at the Paden City Public Library. Both came out of a resident survey. The Wetzel Chronicle's coverage listed three new fishing piers, an improved RV area with a shower house, a new parking lot closer to the pool, new picnic shelters, riverfront bench swings, basketball and volleyball courts, shade sails near the performance stage, more restrooms and a potential pool expansion.
Thrasher landscape architect Marcus Carnegie said a final plan with cost estimates would follow, and that the plan was long-range and would probably be built in phases. The Paden City Development Authority secured a grant that paid for the concept work, but money to start construction still had to be found. The council reports since then don't show a final, priced plan. That gap explains the five-year proposal. The current pool needs to last until the town knows what the pool in the park plan would cost.
What to watch this winter
These are the open items heading into the off-season:
- The flow test. It's the first step the mayor named, and its result decides whether the $9,325 estimate still holds.
- A formal Foundation commitment. As of the Oct. 5 meeting, the Foundation had said it may be able to help, and council hadn't voted on anything.
- Council meetings at the Jess Brown Building. Council scheduled its next regular session for Monday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m. That was the next chance for the pool to come back up, and the Wetzel Chronicle has covered these sessions all year.
The City of Paden City's Park and Pool page says the division handles pool maintenance, lifeguards, swim programs and pool party rentals, and that it welcomes resident feedback on park and pool conditions. Families who were at the pool over the July holiday weekend can tell the city through that page if they want next summer to look the same.
Town amenities like the park and pool are part of what makes a street in Paden City feel like home. If you own one of those homes and want to know where its value stands this fall, Pathway Real Estate Professionals can put together a free home valuation built on local sales, not a national estimate.
