Vienna approves $75,000 economic development agreement; WCDA details grants and ITC investment plans
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Summary
The Vienna City Council approved a one-year $75,000 agreement with the Wood County Development Authority. WCDA representatives outlined recent grant wins (including a $1,000,000 remediation grant) and investment and job projections tied to the ITC and related projects.
Vienna — The Vienna City Council voted to accept a one-year economic development agreement with the Wood County Development Authority (WCDA), authorizing payment of $75,000 in quarterly installments.
A WCDA representative presented the agency's work over the past year and outlined funding and project details tied to local redevelopment. The representative said WCDA secured $400,000 in unmatched industrial access grant dollars and $150,000 in matched funds for a 12th Street road expansion, totaling, they said, $800,000 in unmatched and $300,000 in matched dollars allocated to related projects across Wood County. They also reported a separately secured $1,000,000 federal earmark to remediate concrete and rebar at the former Johns Manville site (referred to as Spencer's Landing), with grant paperwork expected this summer.
On a local development project called ITC, the presenter stated the total planned investment is $38,000,000 with $24,000,000 secured to date. The presentation included education and workforce elements: a vocational/ITC facility (numbers cited for students and seats), a VN Elementary School project estimated at $27,000,000, an on-site employment projection of more than 200 jobs at full activation, and a 15-job, $5,000,000 investment tied to an additive manufacturer expected to provide equipment access to ITC students.
Council members asked a clarifying question when student counts were discussed; the WCDA representative clarified that the 609 and 900 student figures referred to the ITC, not Vienna Elementary, and corrected the record in response to the question. The agreement before the council authorizes the mayor or designee to execute documents as necessary; the council approved the resolution by voice/hand raise with no recorded roll-call vote in the transcript.
The WCDA presentation also noted ongoing grant and federal earmark applications to support build-outs such as a second-floor cyber range, esports facilities, incubator space, and expanded classrooms.
