WAYNE COUNTY, PA — A Wayne County Commissioners meeting on July 23 oversaw discussion of a county housing study and how to spend $1.9 million in agricultural innovation funding from the state.

Housing

On Thursday, a housing study by Urban Partners was presented to the commissioners. The study is an update to a previous Wayne County housing study completed in 2022. 

Amy Cunniff, associate at Urban Partners, explained that the average household income in Wayne County is $62,000 and that employment has remained “relatively stable”

She added that most residents of Wayne County also work in the county.

Population data, which was indirectly taken from the census, showed a 1.4% population decrease from 2010 to 2024, yet a 7.8% increase in demand for households. Cunniff added the increase in demand is partly due to decreasing household sizes.

Senior households are usually smaller on average, and an increase in them can contribute to decreasing household sizes, according to Cunniff.

"Aging housing is going to continue to rise within the county,” she explained.

While the demand for housing increases, the pricing of those homes also increases, according to Isaac Kwon, principal at Urban Partners.

”In 11 years, the price for homes doubled in the county,” he remarked.

Though housing has gotten more expensive, Cunniff clarified that the county has not gotten too expensive for county residents yet.

In attendance was also the Wayne Tomorrow! Housing task force and Pike-Wayne Association of Realtors.

“The cost is more expensive to purchase; it’s also more expensive to build. So these are just the realities. They’re not good or bad, they’re indifferent and the realities we have to face,” a representative from the housing task force said, adding that this study will be discussed at committee meetings they will have in the fall.

An attendee from the Pike-Wayne Association of Realtors stated that this study correlated with his experience with clients. 

“We’re not crazy. What we’re being told by buyers and sellers is true,” he commented.

After the housing study, Stacey Mizwinski, administrative officer, requested to file an application for an Emergency Solutions Grant for $83,740.

The grant, which is the maximum amount the county could apply for, would help costs for “emergency housing, rapid housing, homeless prevention and emergency shelter” Mizwinski elaborated.

The motion was approved and the application, which is something the county has applied for previously, will be filed again this year.

Agriculture Innovation Center (AIC)

The AIC is a proposed building that would promote local agriculture and provide services such as a food pantry, greenhouses and a food pharmacy. The original plan was estimated to cost $10 million and be built in Cherry Ridge Township along with a proposed YMCA.

The commissioners were recently granted $1.9 million from the state to put towards this project.

On Thursday, chairman Brian Smith addressed what would be done with the grant money.

“We did pull our project from the project location up in Cherry Ridge township,” he remarked.

Smith cited high costs as a reason the project got dropped, commenting that parceling the money out would be “more palatable and doable for everybody.”

Smith expressed a want to show farmers innovative techniques such as putting a tarp in the ground to create heat early, which extends planting seasons. Smith also proposed teaching residents about how apples grow at an already-existing orchard. There are also some buildings, such as barns, that need maintenance, according to Smith. 

Other ideas included expanding the kitchen at the Park Street complex and helping out local food pantries.

“We were very lucky to get this, it’s a great deal of money,” Smith said, thanking the legislators for the grant.

The next Wayne County Commissioners meeting will be on July 30.