Highland County land bank board submits application for new Building Demolition and Site Revitalization funding

The Highland County Land Reutilization Corporation (land bank) is one step closer to obtaining state grant funding, as an application has been turned in for the new round of the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program while the land bank continues to utilize funding from the program’s first iteration.

Land bank coordinator Jason Johansen updated the board on current and future work using funding from the state’s Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program. 

As previously reported, in a brief special meeting Feb. 22, the land bank board awarded demolition bids for seven properties to Evans Landscaping. A total of 62 bids, from 23 different contractors, were opened Feb. 15 for properties selected for demolition using leftover state funds, as the land bank has $77,895 in remaining funding from the last state budget cycle’s Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program, which they are still permitted to use.

“Clermont County contacted me, and they just wondered how we got so many demo contractors,” Johansen told the board Thursday. “That's just good to be noticed. I let them know what I did, and hopefully we get that many contractors for the next round of properties.” 

The seven properties include 9955 U.S. 62 in Samantha (Penn Township), 142 North Fairfield St. in Leesburg (Fairfield Township) and 8151 Fall Creek Rd. in Samantha (Penn Township) (first bid packet); 3479 Pleasant Road in Marshall Township and 6747/6749 Heather Moor Trail in Paint Township (second packet); and 140 East North St. and 212 North High St. in Hillsboro (third packet). 

In February, Johansen said with the discounted bids from Evans Landscaping ($60,000), plus the costs of asbestos surveys ($2,800) and subsequent abatement ($14,700) for four of the seven parcels, they came in $395 under budget. As of Thursday, he said that the cost of asbestos abatement will go down slightly, as it has now been determined that the Fall Creek Road property is “not going to need asbestos abatement.

“That's going to save us about $1,000 there that we can draw down as administrative funding or for any other costs that come up with this program,” Johansen said. 

Evans Landscaping has started work on the 6747/6749 Heather Moor Trail parcels, Johansen said, with the Pleasant Road property next to be cleaned. 

“We own that property on Heather Moor,” Johansen said. “It was quite a mess, and it's now cleaned up. All they need to do is put seed and straw down, so it's looking a lot better.”

Board president Terry Britton agreed that the lots are greatly improved.

“I don't know if anybody's seen that property or not, but it was an absolute disaster,” he said. “There were more couches piled up on that thing than you could count, besides the old house and trailer and all the other things.”

However, Britton said that contractors “did get into the electric on the grinder pumps” on the Heather Moor lots when they were doing demolition work.

“The engineering group for our county sewer system is getting us a quote to see what that looks like,” Britton said. “They hooked into where the electric goes into the grinder and tore the pole out, so it's going to have to be repaired. I think they're going to take care of it, but we'll see how it turns out.”

For the new round of Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program, which has not yet been awarded (although the county has a $500,000 set-aside from the state), Johansen said the county’s application has officially been submitted, with 41 properties on the list. The board approved another revision to the list of properties to target using this funding, including removing two parcels and adding three, on Thursday.

The HCLRC is adding one parcel in Madison Township (Wilson Road, Leesburg) and two in the City of Hillsboro (727 South High St. and 644 North West St.) for potential cleanup.

The current list also includes 16 properties in Liberty Township; six in Dodson Township; three each in Fairfield and Paint Townships; two each in Brushcreek, Madison, Salem and Union Townships; and one each in New Market and Clay Townships that were already selected.

According to Johansen, asbestos has been found in five of those properties (two in Liberty Township and one each in Union, Salem and New Market Townships).

“It looks like we're going to have quite a few hot demos as they're unsafe to abate,” Johansen said. “Those are the ones that are going to cost a little bit more.”

An underground storage tank in Buford, which was taken off the Building Demolition list in January and moved to the Brownfield list, then put back on the Building Demolition list in February, has now been removed again. Also taken off the list is a property on Huff Street in Leesburg that had been added in February.

“[The Huff Street] parcel is not going to be improved as it does not have a foundation, and that's a requirement for the program,” Johansen said. “In Buford, that's the school tank that's underground. It ended up just being a cistern, and it looks like the funding is not going to be approved for that either. It’s not a brownfield, and it's not going to be approved for the demolition as they want a structure being demolished. 

“We've gotten a quote on removing the cistern, but it wouldn't be grant-funded, so we’ll have to talk about that.”

Johansen is also maintaining a running list of other possible properties to clean up if they have leftover funds again, including two properties that are “pending ownership” by adjacent property owners. The prospective buyers — one on East Main Street in Hillsboro and one on North Shore Road in Paint Township — are interested in submitting the parcels for cleanup, Johansen said.

For an update on the other state grant program — the Brownfield Remediation Program, for which the county has a $1 million set-aside — Johansen and consultant Matt Wagner of TetraTech also spoke about current and future projects, while Britton stressed the need to find additional properties.

So far, the land bank board has identified three parcels for the new round of funding: a parcel containing an underground storage tank in East Monroe; a former gas station in Hillsboro; and a former machine shop in Greenfield. 

“Phase one [assessments] are complete, so Matt and I will be working together to submit that application as it is due April 1,” Johansen said.

It was hoped that the former Gross-Feibel and Emerson Electric properties in Hillsboro could be cleaned up through this program as well, but as they are still “tied up” in litigation, Britton said he fears the land bank won’t be able to make use of the full $1 million.

“Without those projects, we've got some extra money that we're going to be leaving on the table if we can’t find another property or two to fit into this category, and that’s got to be done before April 1 so we can get it filed,” Britton said. 

He encouraged the board to let them know of “any other projects that you guys know that could be looked at by Matt, and get them into this program.”

Board member Randy Mustard had one suggestion, but Johansen said it was a property he had already tried to target and the owner was not interested.

The county’s Brownfield project at the former Rocky Fork Truck Stop, which was part of the first round of Brownfield grants, is still not officially complete. 

“We're waiting on the final report for that to draw down some money for our December and January invoice,” Johansen said. “Once those are in, we can move forward with that project. They're still injecting chemicals into the groundwater out there and things of that sort. That takes time, of course.”

Wagner said that he has been in contact with Blain Bergstrom, one of the property owners, to discuss the brownfield progress.

“He's planning on doing his investment in there, which is going to be more of almost like a convenient grocery store for the lake where you can drive your actual vehicles through, instead of having to unhitch,” Wagner said. “You can come through with your boat, get what you need and keep going. It's pretty exciting. I think he mentioned he's looking at over a $1 million investment out there. 

“We’re going to be meeting with his partners to talk about kind of the plan layout in terms of how that would work, so that he's not impacting our wells that we have that we need. We're working through that.”

Britton asked if the original Brownfield grant covered the costs for the site. Wagner said, “We're going to talk about that.” 

“If we don't [have enough funding], we could probably put this back in,” Britton said.

Wagner agreed and said the property owners “would be welcome for additional support.” 

In other property updates not associated with grants, the Enchanted Hills Community Association — which had been in expedited foreclosure for roughly a year — are now going to sheriff’s sale, following a judgment order out of Highland County Common Pleas Court.

The land bank board has been discussing ways to acquire the 11 parcels for close to three years. The association no longer exists, and no taxes have been paid since 2017.

“Those will not be coming to the land bank,” Johansen said. “Those are going to go to sheriff sales on April 11 and April 25.

“After both sheriff sales, if they do not sell, they would be considered forfeited land, and then the land bank has the opportunity to acquire what does not sell.”

Johansen said he already contacted the individuals who have expressed in purchasing the parcels to “let them know.”

Land bank attorney Todd Book also said they are still trying to find a way to access three parcels on Taylor Street in Madison Township, as previous attempts to partner with the Highland County Health Department were unsuccessful. A Greenfield resident has reported the parcels are a “dump,” with debris and abandoned tires. 

“The avenue that we're working on now is through the estate/probate process,” Book said. ‘I feel that we're making some headway and hopefully will have something where we can get authority to access the property and do the necessary cleanup.” 

Although no action was taken yet — as they plan to engage in further discussions in April — Johansen asked the board to begin thinking about prices and selling methods for the 6747/6749 Heather Moor Trail parcels as well as a small landlocked vacant swale parcel on U.S. 62 outside of Leesburg that the board has acquired. 

The land bank board has also officially acquired a property on McClain Avenue in Greenfield, Johansen said, which is among the parcels targeted for cleanup in the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program.

In other action:

• The board approved the financial reports as presented. Johansen reported an ending balance of $419,075.68 for the month of February. Credits included a $13,391.80 deposit for the sale of three properties in Hillsboro, while debits included the processing of 10 checks for payments for title searches, advertising, utilities, office supplies, asbestos surveys, property maintenance, Brownfield work, Ohio Land Bank Association membership dues and Johansen’s salary/expenses.

The board also authorized a list of unpaid bills for Johansen to take care of, as that list included invoices for legal and auditing fees, property maintenance, a utility bill, asbestos surveys and payments to TetraTech for phase one Brownfield assessments as well as Johansen’s salary/expenses.

• The board changed their next meeting date to Friday, April 19 at 9 a.m., instead of Thursday, April 18 as previously scheduled.

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