Highland County Land Bank wrapping up site demolition, brownfield projects; hopes for future grant dollars discussed

As Mackenzie Edison marked her one-year anniversary as Highland County land bank coordinator, the Highland County Land Reutilization Corporation board discussed and celebrated the successes of two state grant programs throughout their Thursday, April 20 meeting.

Edison announced that all Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Grant projects have been officially completed. As previously reported, a total of 19 properties in Hillsboro (11), Mowrystown (five) and Lynchburg (three) have been cleaned up through this state grant program with the demolition of various structures, including houses and an abandoned barn.   

“I have submitted the quarter one report that was due on April 14, which included all of our properties, and then next week, I'll submit our final report for all the properties and that will be closed out,” Edison said. “That was successful.”

Although environmental consultant Matt Wagner was unable to attend to give an update on the two Brownfield Remediation Grant project, Edison reported that the first phase of the Rocky Fork Truck Stop project is “completed,” with the site cleared and “all the tanks removed.”

Board president Terry Britton said the property owners are “anxious to get started” on developing the site and asked if it was ready for them.

“The subcontractors were needing to submit invoices, and we still need to finish up,” Edison said. “I think there was something that Matt said they might have to do, but it was nothing that would interfere with their building.”

Britton pointed out that the county is also going to be “running sewer lines, basically through that property,” with that construction set to begin “very soon.”

Plans for that project have been ongoing for over a year, as commissioners voted in March 2022 to authorize a developmental agreement with the Greenfield Exempted Village Schools District for Rainsboro Elementary and the Rocky Fork Lake treatment and collecting system, as well as a contract with Environmental Engineering Services for “professional services” related to the project.

“We had to hook onto the Rainsboro school and put them in our sewer system at Rocky Fork Lake,” Britton said. “It’ll be coming up Route 50 there to 753 and then going into North Shore Drive, where they'll tie in there.”

The other Brownfield project, cleanup and remediation of the former East Monroe Mill, is slated to begin April 24, according to Edison.

“They were waiting on the subcontractors to do a few things, and so that's why that was kind of delayed,” she said.

Land bank representatives said they hope that the progress made with these state dollars can continue in the future, as Edison and legal counsel Todd Book said that initial budget talks indicate that both programs will again be included in the state’s budget, pending legislative approval.

“It still needs to be passed, but that’s exciting news,” Edison said.

Book said the governor is recommending $150 million for the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Grant program and $350 million for the Brownfield Remediation program for inclusion in the state budget.

“Well, we’ve got to commend the governor for doing this,” Britton said. “That worked out pretty well, I think, this last round, so he's committed to help clean Ohio up.”

Book suggested that HCLRC representatives submit written “testimony in support of the monies,” either in conjunction with another land bank or on “our own,” as the budget is being reviewed by the Ohio Senate.

In his legal update, Book also said he thought the land bank board should “be the tip of the spear” in planning for the grants in anticipation of the next round’s guidance.

“I would suggest trying to have a countywide meeting with folks, different authorities, to discuss that process probably right as soon as the budget’s finalized,” Book said. “We can start having those discussions and get people primed, and we can get lists together of what we want to target in the county to get cleaned up.”

During her property updates, Edison said that she is already compiling a list of potential parcels to target in the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization program, with properties in the Berrysville, Danville, Greenfield, Hillsboro, Leesburg, Lynchburg and Rocky Fork Lake areas already on her radar.

“I’m hoping we can build this list up and work through grant money to get these taken care of,” Edison said.

In other discussion:

• After Edison spoke about a need to amend the land bank board’s bylaws to reflect an issue with land appraised values, the board voted to lower the cost of two listed properties.

The HCLRC typically uses the appraised value of properties as a starting point when selling the parcels. However, Edison said that is proving to be a problem with properties donated to the land bank through the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program, where the houses have now been demolished and the land bank is selling vacant lots.

“The land appraised value on the auditor's website was still reflecting as if the structure was still on the property,” Edison said. “I went to the auditor's office to see how that process works.

“I fill out a destroy form, saying that we demoed the structure, and then they submit those forms to an appraiser, but that whole process is kind of like a year behind.”

Since the appraised values will not be updated “until next year,” Edison said that is “a concern,” as two donated parcels in Hillsboro are each appraised at over $20,000.

“We’ve had a lot of interest on these properties in town, but they've said no, because the land appraised value is so high,” Edison said.

Edison asked how the board would like to proceed.

“Well, I know our policy states that we have to go by what the auditor's website is, but they don't start working on it until January to change the reflection of those prices,” Britton said. “I think that we need to make some kind of amendment to our policies so that we can actually adjust those properties to where they really should be.”

Book said that the HCLRC could “definitely look at the policy about making it more tied to true value” and that he could draft an amendment for the board to consider.

“It's just easier to use the auditor’s value if you can because it saves money and you don’t have an appraisal done, but in certain situations, that auditor value makes it impossible to actually sell it,” Book said.

After discussing the parcels on 229 East South Street and 453 East Main Street, the board voted 4-0 to lower the asking price for each parcel to $12,000. Board member Lauren Walker said that a similar lot within the city was listed for the same price, and Edison said that potential buyers have indicated they may be interested at $12,000, but not at the $20,000-plus appraised value price.

• Edison also asked the board for guidance on how to proceed with a 0.056-acre lot in Buford.

As discussed in March, a title search by Book revealed “a lot” of liens on the property, including federal liens totaling close to $100,000 plus state liens. The property owner is willing to donate the property to the land bank.

Edison said she was able to get in touch with an adjoining business owner, who is interested in purchasing the property, but “obviously” not with the liens attached, Edison said.

“He said he would clean up the property if the liens were not attached to the title,” Edison said. “He also suggested turning it into public parking because it's so small.”

Edison added that a shed on the property “needs to be torn down no matter what.”

Walker asked if it would “look better” for the landowner to request the liens be released versus the land bank asking, as the HCLRC was successful in getting smaller liens forgiven on a different property earlier this year.

“It seems like if the land bank is asking, it has a little bit more weight,” Book said. “They're more likely to accept our discussion of this.”

Walker asked if another option could be having the property owner sign a memorandum of understanding for the next round of Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Grants for the HCLRC to remove the blight from the parcel, but “she’s still the owner with liens.”

Edison responded that she was not sure the lot would qualify, since the shed is “not a residential building, but I can do some more research to see.” Britton told her to look into it.

In other property updates, Edison said that she is targeting three possible properties for acquisition in Samantha and has been in contact with the owner of one of those parcels on U.S. Route 62. The property owner is willing to donate the parcel, and they are awaiting the results of a title search being conducted by Book, she said.

“It needs to come down,” Edison said of the structure on the property. “It’s not rehabable or livable.”

Another lot, on Harriett Road in Hillsboro, has also been brought to Edison’s attention in the past month, and she said she is trying to find the property owner.

Edison said she has also looked into two parcels in Greenfield — one on Lafayette Street and one on Dutch Street — that had been submitted by the village. In both cases, the properties need to go through probate court, and the families of the deceased property owners are “not financially capable” of starting that process, Edison said, although they are willing to donate the parcels to the HCLRC.

“I've been talking with Todd to see if there was anything we could do to maneuver this obstacle,” Edison said.

Book said that probate issues are “a common problem.”

“We’re talking with some folks about options, where people maybe can get the probate work done and delay being paid until the actual property sells and get paid at that point, but not everybody's willing to do that work,” he said.

Habitat for Humanity has also contacted Edison for assistance in finding a parcel in Mowrystown to construct a new house. Edison said she has identified a possible property and is “hoping I can help Habitat for Humanity acquire that property” on West Main Street.

A parcel at 622 South East Street in Hillsboro is listed for sale at $10,600, while 6747 Heather Moor Trail and all former lots of the Enchanted Hills Community Association are in the foreclosure process, Edison reported.

• In legal updates, Book asked the board to provide input on a “plan moving forward” for the HCLRC.

“What do we want to target?” Book asked. “Do we want to get into the rehab operation, for example? A lot of land banks around the state do that kind of stuff, where not only do they get the properties, but they do some of the rehab work. Maybe we don't want to do that, but that's something for us to think about.

“What lanes do we want to have some involvement in?”

Book added that he wants the land bank to determine their “potential — what we can do, and then we can focus on what we want to do well.”

• In the finance report, Edison said the land bank had a balance of $339,969.39 as of March 31. That included $70,162.89 in checks and payments cleared as well as $22,168.74 in deposits, from the sale of a property and a reimbursement from the Ohio Department of Development for a grant project.

A list of payments for approval included Edison’s salary; a payment to SOS for ink; Ohio Land Bank Association fees; legal fees for Book as well as Greg Van Zant for previous title searches; and four different contractor payments for demolition work.

Also listed for approval was a request from the Village of Greenfield for the land bank’s share of the Elliott Hotel demolition, totaling $41,323.50.

As previously reported, after five months of correspondence from the Village of Greenfield, the land bank board agreed in January to pay $50,000 toward the demolition of the former Elliott Hotel building in Greenfield. The hotel building partially collapsed more than a year ago, in August 2021, and the hotel was among the projects receiving funding in the first round of the Brownfield Remediation Grant program last year.

“We actually appropriated $50,000, but they ended up deciding that they wanted us to split it with them,” Book said Thursday. “That's a reduction of what we agreed to, so that's all good.”

In addition to her usual finance report, Edison provided the board with a 2023 budget, using 2022 data as a basis for comparison. The 2023 budget lists projected revenues of $789,356.38 and expenses of $221,388.08, compared to $529,554.36 in revenues and $64,984.58 in expenses for 2022.

“I was actually waiting until I was here a full year to see how things went,” Edison said. “I think I've covered everything that we’ve paid for in the past year and any revenues that we had.”

Britton said the budget “looks good” and reminded Edison that “first-round budgets are due the first part of June.”

• Fayette County Community Action Housing Director and Fayette County Land Bank Administrator Steve Creed attended Thursday’s meeting to discuss a potential partnership with the HCLRC.

Creed said he oversees the Mutual Self-Help Housing program through the United States Department of Agriculture, and they are looking for “affordable lots” in different counties to build new homes for qualified individuals.

“We're able to take low-income people, 80 percent or less of the area median income, and work with them to get a mortgage to the USDA Rural Development, and then build their own home,” Creed said. “By working with the land bank, we've been able to get some really affordable lots for them.

“As I'm sure you all know, material costs have skyrocketed in the last few years, so the cheaper we can get building lots, the better and more cost-effective it is for the clients.”

Creed said they have constructed over 400 ranch homes in Fayette, Highland, Clinton, Greene and Ross counties through this program.

“We'd really like to be able to work with the land bank and be able to bring that program, because I know housing is a problem everywhere,” Creed said. “That's one reason we got to a good relationship with the [Fayette County] land bank was because lots were becoming harder and harder to find to build on.”

Britton invited Creed to leave brochures with information about their program with the HCLRC for their review.

• Richard Counter of Greenfield also addressed the board with concerns about blighted properties in Madison Township. He said he sent “a packet” to HCLRC board member Randy Mustard, while he had also spoken to previous land bank administration in 2021 with similar concerns.

Mustard said he could share the packet with the board.

“I’m interested in pursuing, and hoping that the land bank will pursue these properties, to get them back in the tax base,” Counter said. “These properties are laying idle. They’ve actually changed title, and the taxes weren’t paid when they changed title. I find it a little bit unusual.”

Board member and county treasurer Vickie Warnock pointed out that “delinquent taxes follow the property,” and individuals purchasing those lots “accept those delinquent taxes.”

“Most of the time, during the closing the taxes are taken care of, but the delinquent taxes follows the property,” she said. “If they're willing to take that responsibility, then it's their responsibility.”

Counter responded that the county is “not pursuing the taxes to be paid, and it just continues to go on and on and on.”

Britton said they would look into the addresses provided by Counter.

• Edison reminded the board and community that she will be out of the office during the week of April 24 for the Ohio Land Bank Association Conference.