Paulding County Economic Development Press Release August 15, 2025
PAULDING – The Paulding County Land Bank committee has been awarded the opportunity to receive $300,000 in grant reimbursements from the Welcome Home Ohio program through the Ohio Department of Development.
The reimbursement opportunity is available through 10 projects reimbursing $30,000 per project, but projects must be completed by July 1, 2027. Each project must be owned by the Land Bank. The project can be and can be rehabilitating an existing home, by spending $30,000 or more on upgrades, or it could be a new home build, with $30,000 reimbursed toward the cost of that build. In the current grant, the home cannot be sold for more than $180,000 to a low-moderate income (LMI) purchaser. Some additional stipulations must be met and will be covered with a potential buyer prior to a sale.
The Land Bank Committee has meetings coming up with realtor representatives and financial representatives to understand if there are already pre-qualified buyers waiting in hopes of these types of homes.
Additionally, a pre-vetting process is already happening with interested contractors that have an interest in bidding on these rehabilitation or new build opportunities. The Community Housing Impact & Preservation (CHIP) team at Maumee Valley Planning Organization (MVPO) will help establish the guidelines and make sure the structures are built to code.
Following initial discussion, the committee went into executive session to discuss potential properties around the county to review as projects. Coming out of executive session, one decision was made to change the project at 621 Sugar Street in Paulding from a demolition to a rehabilitation project. Bids will be advertised through MVPO on the project in the future.
The group was also updated on projects around the county, including:
- Former Grizzly Brake property, both the manufacturing site and the residential sites
- The Stokely Pond remediation project
- Former site remediation at the JJ Ross Gas Station in Grover Hill
- Asbestos removal in the former Winkle Chevrolet building, owned by the Paulding Village and located on the square
- The new Vantage Career Center home is starting in Latty Village this school year
- Created and shared a list of current Land Bank-owned properties around the county
- Noted a current Land Bank account balance of $239,861.58
- Approved a two-night stay and event registration reimbursement to PCED for Tim Copsey to attend the Fall Land Bank Conference in Marietta, Ohio, October 22/23
Wagner then reminded the committee that the Ohio Department of Development awarded Paulding County $85,074 in funding for asbestos removal in the Paulding Village-owned former Winkle Chevrolet building, located on the square. The building has asbestos-wrapped pipes and flooring that will be remediated to make the building safer to work in and allow a seamless future sale if the opportunity arises.
Wagner finished by providing brief environmental updates on the former JJ Ross gas station in Grover Hill and the former Stokely pond property in Paulding.
Paulding County Economic Development Director Tim Copsey noted that zoning changes have been completed on a Land Bank-owned property within the Village of Cecil. This will allow the group to move forward with selling a designated parcel to Patriot Railroad for a potential future transload site.
Copsey also provided the committee with information about the former Grizzly property. It is now under the EPA consultant oversight of T&M Associates in Cleveland. They will continue to collect data with the end goal of providing a clean property to the Land Bank in the future.
In addition, Copsey shared that a recent blighted residential property, purchased in Paulding at 621 Sugar Street, is currently being mowed and maintained until demolition takes place later this year.
Committee discussion then turned to the Welcome Home Ohio (WHO) grant funding. With the help of MVPO, the county has been awarded $300,000 to use for residential blight rehabilitation projects over the next 24 months. The current Land Bank financial balance is $63,904.08, but it was decided that with the influx of funds expected from the previously discussed property sales, the committee will begin looking for one or two residential home rehabilitation projects to purchase and target using these grant funds on. Additional discussion will now begin with realtors, financial groups, and contractors to develop a plan to use the funds accordingly.
