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A Washington County Commissioner met with a group proposing building tiny homes throughout the county on Wednesday morning.
Commissioner James Booth, Southeastern Ohio Port Authority Director Jessie Roush, Marietta Development Director Geoff Schenkel, The Right Path Director Cathy Harper and Washington County Behavioral Health Board staff member Tara Murphy met with AquaLegacy Inc.
AquaLegacy Inc. is a developer of affordable cottages. They offer construction design, property development, community development, cost oversight, and more, according to a company brochure. Their goal is to create communities throughout Appalachia and beyond to be known as the team that is addressing shortages in affordable housing, the brochure said.
Booth said representatives of AquaLegacy talked during the meeting about putting some 600 square foot to 800 square foot homes on different properties in Washington County.
"This was just a beginning conversation," Booth said of the meeting.
Booth said his philosophy for helping people is to help them get on their feet
According to Booth, there are people in the county who are homeless or have drug issues. There is help for these people in the county. They get help for things like resume writing and interviews to find a job through the Washington County Department of Jobs and Family Services and help with a hotel room through Washington-Morgan Community Action.
"The folks that maybe are homeless or have an addiction issue that need all of this, there still is a housing shortage," he said.
AquaLegacy talked about putting a tiny home on a quarter acre and even building communities in the county to provide housing.
Booth said he has some questions about the housing, like who would maintain the properties and provide security for them.
"I don't see the county becoming a landlord to be in competition with the open market. Government has its role, that's to take care of infrastructure. We don't make money," Booth said about the county being the one maintaining the properties.
Booth said the county would work with everybody involved with the tiny home.
"We just want to be a good partner. We've got a great working relationship with the city of Marietta, the city of Belpre. The county wants to be a good partner," Booth said.
Some of the ways the county could help in a project like this would be through the Port Authority or building departments. The Southeastern Ohio Port Authority could maybe help with sales tax saving on construction materials. The county, through the Building Department, could make sure if there are structures being built that they are built correctly, Booth said.
At this time there are no future plans for follow-up meetings regarding building tiny homes in Washington County, Booth said.