Efforts to boost housing development in Starke County were shared with the Oregon-Davis School Board last week.
Superintendent Dr. Don Harman says housing was a major discussion topic, during an update from Starke County Economic Development Foundation Special Projects Coordinator Ron Gifford. “When we look at housing, a lot of our houses are older, and there’s not a lot of new houses or renovated houses,” Harman says. “I know that Ron talked a lot about different initiatives. There’s different properties around the Hamlet area that they’re looking at trying to develop.”
The Hamlet Town Council wants someone to build a home on a piece of vacant land at the corner of Lincoln and Pearl streets, with the hope that it will encourage further development. Housing is also a priority in Hamlet’s new comprehensive plan and Constellation of Starke’s regional development plan.
Superintendent Harman has cited the lack of housing as one of the major barriers to reversing O-D’s enrollment decline, which, in turn, would bring in more state funding.
