WHO Grant, Brownfield and Residential Blight Projects Highlight New Year in Paulding County
Paulding County Economic Development Press Release January 19, 2026
PAULDING – The Paulding County Land Reutilization Corporation (Land Bank) opened its first meeting of 2026 with updates on several major housing, brownfield, and blight-removal initiatives underway around the county.
The meeting began with a discussion involving a collaborative six-county Welcome Home Ohio (WHO) grant application. Estee Blair of the Maumee Valley Planning Organization (MVPO) is coordinating the regional grant request on behalf of Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Paulding, Putnam, and Williams counties. The joint application was submitted to the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) ahead of the January 16 deadline, with the goal of securing funding that would then be distributed to all participating counties through MVPO.
The conversation then shifted to open and ongoing WHO-funded projects already taking place within Paulding County. In 2025, the county was awarded $300,000 to complete ten residential rehabilitation projects before a June 2027 deadline. Three projects are currently active. Work at 714 N. Main Street in Paulding is nearing completion and will be the first of the ten required county projects finished. Additional rehabilitation efforts are underway at 108 S. Main Street in Cecil and 621 Sugar Street in Paulding. More projects are expected to begin as current projects complete.
Environmental consultant Matt Wagner of Tetra Tech reported that all remediation work is complete at the former JJ Ross Gas Station site in Grover Hill. The final step prior to sale is the issuance and receipt of a No Further Action letter from the Ohio EPA.
Wagner also confirmed that the Land Bank will submit new brownfield applications for the 2026 funding cycle. Proposed projects include environmental reviews at 126 S. Main Street in Payne, 501 North Avenue in Oakwood, and 495 E. Perry Street in Paulding. Additional site funding may also be applied for at the former Spartech Plastics facility, pending review of recent environmental data and coordination between the current property owner and the Land Bank.
MVPO’s Abby White then provided updates on the county’s 2025 Commercial and Blight Removal Program. Only a few properties remain in the open pipeline, and the program’s funds are expected to be fully utilized as those projects conclude. The committee then began reviewing the remaining 2025 projects that were not allocated funding and added newly submitted 2026 proposals. A finalized list will be submitted soon for the county’s $250,000 2026 allocation.
Additional committee business included:
- Reported a current account balance of $157,631.21
- Work updates on open brownfield projects at the Grizzley and Stokely sites in Paulding
- Establishing property maintenance plans for Land Bank-owned property ahead of spring
- Approving a meeting date change to February 4 due to member scheduling conflicts