HERMANN — The Meramec Region’s planning agency will be focusing its attention on a problem of primary importance to the Hermann community: The need for more housing.

Bonnie Prigge, executive director of the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) last week said her agency would begin studying the housing needs in the eight-county region.

“One of our goals is to take a harder look at our housing needs,” Prigge told the directors of the Hermann Regional Economic Development (HRED) Corporation Aug. 1 at its regular monthly session.

Prigge was attending the gathering to outline the various programs and services MRPC offers to help businesses start and grow. For HRED, which is tasked with fostering economic development as a way to increase enrollment in the Gasconade County R-1 School District, the biggest hurdle to overcome is the lack of available housing in general and the lack of affordable housing in particular.

HRED Vice President Raylene Hollrah is perhaps the most ardent advocate for increasing the community’s housing stock, speaking with potential developers who have an interest in building units in the Hermann area. Indeed, she said the interest shown by HRED to increase housing sparked several calls recently from potential developers.

The efforts of HRED have not gone unnoticed, Prigge said.

“I’ve been watching what you guys have been doing over the last few years,” she said. To this point, MRPC’s involvement in housing mostly has revolved around renovation work and weatherization efforts. But recent business developments have nudged the planning agency to shift its focus somewhat to the broader issue of housing availability in general.

She noted that Quaker Windows, located in a neighboring county, decided to place its expansion facility in Eldon near the Lake of Ozarks because of a lack of available housing for workers near its existing facility — a problem faced by any employers looking at Hermann as a possible site. Prigge said that decision by Quaker Windows — which provided the new windows on the Gasconade County courthouse — prompted the shift in thinking within MRPC.

“That is an area we’re going to be more involved in this year,” she said, regarding housing availability.

MRPC is one of 17 Regional Planning Commissions (RPCs) — there are two Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), one in Metro St. Louis, the other in Metro Kansas City — and it is the largest-staffed rural planning agency in the state, Prigge noted, working on behalf of eight counties and more than 30 municipalities. The agency does the paperwork on behalf of local governments for grant applications and other matters and it has been busy in the last few years administering the counties’ CARES Act and ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding from the federal government prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The agency most recently has become involved in researching possible funding sources for the proposed Career Center project in the Gasconade County R-1 School District. As envisioned by Superintendent Geoff Neill, the center would prepare students for careers in the vitaculture, culinary and hospitality industries, allowing them to be employed by local companies and remaining in the community. Hermann High School’s Agriculture Department is set to provide its first vitaculture course this fall as part of its curriculum and there is at least one student interested in taking the course and working in an internship with a local company in the vitaculture industry.

“We’ll be looking at some opportunities for the culinary school,” Prigge told the HRED board.

In other matters during the board meeting, Hermann Area District Hospital Administrator Bill Hellebusch noted the hospital did well on an on-site U.S. Department of Health & Senior Services survey.

“You should be proud of your hospital,” he told fellow directors. Hellebusch said his efforts continue to be encouraging use of HADH for “swing bed” patients — those who have completed their medical treatment but might be in need of additional therapy treatment before returning home. Increasing the number of swing bed patients is seen as a key in the hospital’s drive to become financially sound.

“We really want to capitalize on that,” he said.