WHO PROGRAM … Estee Blair of the Maumee Valley Planning Organization gave a presentation about the Welcome Home Ohio Program at the Williams County Port Authority Meeting on Wednesday, November 12.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
The Williams County Port Authority met in regular session on Wednesday, November 12, in the Port Authority conference room.
In attendance were Bill Martin, Dawn Fitzcharles, Dave Newcomer, Tyson Stuckey, Sean Rupp, Ashley Epling, Joe Kimble, Tyler Sailer, Cheryl Andres, and Rachel Walz.
Following the approval of the meeting minutes from October 27, a discussion was held regarding the process for accepting multiple offers involving houses built under the Port Authority.
Board member Dave Newcomer commented that he had an interesting experience over the weekend regarding multiple offers on a piece of property.
“I feel like we ought to be a little more formal about how we can proceed from this situation,” said Newcomer.
“We’re not in the business to try to run an auction or solicit bids. We want to encourage contractors to show they would build these houses. That’s not what we want, but we still need a way on what bids to accept.”
Andres commented that in situations where there are multiple people submitting offers, setting a clear deadline can help reduce stress and pressure for everyone involved.
“Last Friday, we had the three offers coming, and we would say Saturday or maybe Sunday, all offers are due by noon on Sunday, send us your highest invest,” said Andres.
“That takes the pressure off of anybody feeling like ‘I got to hurry up and make a quick decision’. The last thing is we want our buyers to make a quick decision. They re-think it and then they back out, and we haven’t gained anything.”
Approval was given for the sale of the Sacher Street house in Edgerton at $190,000. The appraisal for the house was done on November 7, but the paperwork hasn’t been returned yet.
“We were supposed to close the property on October 31,” said Andres. “Hopefully, we can close by mid-week (November 19). We would like to do an open house before that.”
An offer has been made for the house located on Empire Street in Montpelier. The house, which is being offered at $185,000, includes a $5,000 seller’s credit; thus, the final cost is $180,000.
Approval was also made for a house located on Bryan Street in Bryan. The cost of the house is $183,600, including a $3,600 seller concession; thus, the final cost is $180,000.
“I’m surprised that we’re not doing this in executive session with the purchase and sale of property,” said Martin. I don’t think we should be putting our negotiations in the press, but someone can use that against us down the road.”
Estee Blair of the Maumee Valley Planning Organization (Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Paulding, Putnam, and Williams Counties) gave a presentation regarding the Welcome Home Ohio Program, which assists qualified residents with rehabilitation or the construction of new homes.
She explained the Welcome Home Ohio Program (WHO) has many program requirements and stipulations with the end goal of assisting low to moderate-income families to establish home ownership.
Among the 2026 updates, which Blair told the Port Authority includes livable housing must be at least 800 square feet, and houses can be stick, modular, or manufactured, but no mobile homes.
The program also raises the income eligibility threshold to purchase WHO-funded property from 80 percent to 120 percent of the median income of the county in which the property is located. Individuals who make 120 percent of the median area income are qualified to purchase homes.
In Williams County, for a family of four, the 120 percent median income is $102,240, compared to the 80 percent median income of $68,150.
There is an increase in the maximum grant for land banks and qualified nonprofit developers to construct or rehabilitate qualifying residential property from $30,000 per home to $100,000 per home. It also caps the grant amount for acquiring a qualifying residential property at $100,000 per home.
It also allows up to $2,000 in each WHO grant to be used to fund financial literacy counseling, which has been reduced to six months.
The program allows homeowners to live in the home for three years and must remain in possession of a qualifying individual for 15 years.
The meeting then adjourned at 2 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 24, at 1 p.m. in the conference room.