Future housing concerns, supply chain challenges, and other local issues are highlighted at convention

On Oct 15, 2022

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) – Professionals gathered at the Blennerhassett Hotel to talk about the homebuilding industry at the annual Home Builders Association of West Virginia convention.

Housing is a necessity. It’s where we sleep, eat, and relax if you’re lucky. It’s also the focus of a soon-to-be-published study.

Guest Speaker Mayor Rapp took the floor to highlight it.

“The Wood County Development Authority recently had a housing study done for the city of Parkersburg, the city of Vienna, and Wood County and the numbers of expected housing that’s needed were quite eye-opening to be honest,” he said.

To be specific, the area needs 2,056 new homes and 1,785 new rental units in the next five years to keep up with the area’s projected growth, according to the study.

“Those kinds of numbers one are very encouraging because that means we’re getting a lot more people in here but it’s also an alarming statistic because people won’t come if they don’t have a place to live,” he said.

Rapp also brought attention to how supply chain issues are impacting Vienna.

“…, and we’re having a hard time finding vehicles. Police cruisers are basically non-existent, work trucks for our employees – they’re very hard to come by,” he said.

This means city vehicles are being used much longer than what’s normal for the city, according to Rapp. Plus police cruisers are racking up what Rapp describes as ‘fairly high mileage.’

“…, so that’s a concern because you always want reliable transportation,” he said.

On top of supply chain issues, Rapp spoke on how challenging recruiting police has become.

It’s a nationwide struggle that hasn’t skipped over Vienna.

“In the old days, when we would advertise for a test for new police officers, we’d get 60 or 70 applicants. We get 10 now,” he said, adding that those are just applicants – not the amount of people who end up being qualified.

Rapp said the Vienna police department currently has three openings.

Saturday marks the last day of the Home Builders Association of West Virginia convention.