Education, affordable housing, bringing new business to Wareham and bolstering existing businesses were all discussed in the course of a Thursday Wareham Community and Economic Development Authority public forum.

The Oct. 24 CEDA forum was intended to solicit input from the community on how CEDA's 2014 $900,000 Community Development Block Grant ought to be spent, and to present a strategy for community development.

Wareham resident Susan Noonan expressed concern that the vision being presented was a bit "myopic."

"It seems to me that sometimes you seem to make decisions based on one viewpoint," Noonan said.  "I think, really, the crux of a lot of our issues is the decision-making process."

CEDA Director Salvador Pina said that the plans he presents and carries out are based on plans that have existed for years including the 2003 Regional Transportation Plan, a plan from 1999 called Designs for Wareham Village and the 2010 Open Space and Recreation plan.

"You've done a lot of planning," said Pina. "What you haven't done is implement [the plans]."

Some of the goals of the community development strategy presented by Pina are improving transportation services, revitalizing Wareham Village and Onset Village, addressing Wareham's housing needs and establishing satellite locations for colleges in town.

One man at the forum, who preferred to remain anonymous,  asked  with regard to the entire strategy: "When you get down to the cold cash, what do you think this would cost?"

Pina responded that it's possible to implement the strategy by using a mix of state, federal and private grants.

"There is no state or local government that can do this by itself," said Pina.

The man noted that he believed many people would not argue with the vision presented for a better Wareham, but people want to know how it will be paid for.

Pina also discussed the connection between education and employment. He emphasized that education is vital to producing and maintaining an effective workforce, and that having such a workforce can attract businesses to the area.

"The value of education cannot be overstated when you're looking at the economy," said Pina.

According to the statistics presented by Pina 22.1% of Wareham residents have attended at least some  amount of college, compared to 49.6% statewide.

Another topic Pina touched upon was affordable housing, noting that the rents considered "affordable" in Wareham are, to some extent, out of line with Wareham incomes because the town is part of the Boston Metropolitan Statistical Area. Because of this, housing units that are constructed with the stated purpose of increasing the town's stock of "affordable housing" come with Boston prices -- putting them out of reach for Wareham residents whose incomes qualify them for affordable housing.

"Even though you've got some big numbers on one end, you've got some small numbers on the other," Pina noted.

Conservation Committee member Sandy Slavin asked what it would take to be part of the same statistical area as New Bedford.

"It would take an act of Congress," said Pina. "The federal government determines where communities are."

Pina pointed out that even though Wareham is part of the Boston Metropolitan Statistical Area, it is possible to negotiate the price of rent with developers.

"We can say 'we want you to have rents that are compatible,'" with the population in Wareham. For example, is a developer want to put in X amount of units a certain amount could be restricted to being affordable, while others could be priced at market rate.

"There's room for negotiation because developers want things," Pina said.

As with anything, there is always some give and take.