Highland County Land Bank Board Selects More Properties for Demolition, Clean-up
Industry Update
September 22, 2023
Source: The Highland County Press
The Highland County Land Reutilization Corporation is continuing to make headway in their fight against blight in the county, as the land bank board selected a tentative list of new properties to target using state cleanup funding during their Thursday, Sept. 21 meeting.
As discussed by Land Bank Coordinator Jason Johansen in August, among the announcements this summer was the passage of the 2024-25 state operating budget, which includes another $350 million for the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program and $150 million for the Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program.
A total of 19 properties in Hillsboro (11), Mowrystown (five) and Lynchburg (three) were cleaned up through the first Building Demolition and Site Revitalization grant, with the demolition of various structures, including houses and an abandoned barn. For the Building Demolition and Site Demolition grant, Johansen said that there is “$77,895 left over in additional funding that we didn’t spend for those projects” that the county will now be permitted to use.
Two projects — the former Rocky Fork Truck Stop in Rainsboro and the former East Monroe Mill — were also funded in Highland County through the Brownfield Remediation grants.
On Thursday, the board voted 5-0 to approve a preliminary list of potential properties for the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization grant, including leftover funds from the current program as well as to plan ahead for the upcoming next round. The list is “subject to additions/and or deletions,” Johansen said.
Two of the properties on the list are owned by the land bank — one in Samantha, on U.S. 62, and two adjoining parcels (counted as one property) on Heather Moor Trail that the HCLRC recently obtained via tax foreclosure. Overall, the list includes 10 properties in the city of Hillsboro, two in Paint Township and one each in Brushcreek, Clay, Fairfield, Marshall and Penn townships.
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