HERMANN – A detailed housing study could be in the works for the Hermann community, a project of the Chamber of Commerce as part of its overall strategy of preparing for the expected demand from the development of an industrial megasite in Montgomery County.

Hermann Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Melissa Lensing last Tuesday morning told the board of the Hermann Regional Economic Development (HRED) Corporation that a task force is being formed to work on a housing study. One proposal already has been received from an outside firm that conducts such a review, she said.

RDG Planning & Design of Ohio has expressed interest in the effort, Lensing, a member of the HRED board, said at the group’s regular monthly meeting April 7. She mentioned the task force after HRED Vice President Raylene Hollrah said a committee should be formed to work on a housing study.

“I would go on it,” Hollrah said, referring to an oversight panel.

“We are starting to recruit members to that task force,” Lensing said.

A cursory study of the housing needs of the county seat community was performed as part of the recent update of Hermann’s Comprehensive Plan by Meramec Regional Planning Commission. But HRED members said a more specific study is needed to help provide guidance to potential developers — such as what type of housing units will be needed, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms and so forth.

Hollrah, who has been involved with others in fostering housing development in the community, strongly endorsed such a study.

“I think this is very important,” she said.

Also related to the Montgomery County megasite project, Lensing said Google, which will operate one of the two data centers announced recently, plans to provide significant funds to the Montgomery County Port Authority to use as grants for various projects within the authority’s district. That could bode well for Hermann, she noted, considering that the municipality is within the Port Authority District. Those grants are scheduled to begin in 2027, she said.

“They do not want it to be a hard process,” she said of the grant program.

And, she added, Amazon, the operator of the other data center, has plans to provide funds to emergency service agencies in Montgomery County. Believed to be prepared to make available about $3 million to those agencies, Lensing thinks Amazon might be willing to consider Hermann Area District Hospital and its Associated Medical Arts Clinic in Montgomery City for some of those funds as being crucial to the workforce of the data center.

“We think we have a very strong case for our hospital and our clinic,” she said.

Meanwhile, Gasconade County R-1 Superintendent Geoff Neill, a member of the HRED board and a member of the Montgomery County Economic Council, said the data centers — which are set to receive tax abatements from Montgomery County on personal property items such as the equipment that will be needed to operate — will provide PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) funds to adjacent school districts. That includes Gasconade County R-1, he said, adding that the funds it receives could amount to $500,000 a year when the data centers are fully built out.

Neill represents R-1, HRED and the city of Hermann on the Montgomery County Economic Council.