NOVA — The Ashland County Land Bank plans to eventually fund the demolition of a Nova house that the board has long sought to demolish.
The property is located at 919 U.S. Route 224, and its an eyesore to the land bank and Troy Township trustees alike.
“It’s come up before many, many times over the last couple of years,” Land Bank President and Ashland Mayor Matt Miller said. “The township trustees have repeatedly called us and asked us if we can help take care of it.”
Miller said in previous discussions, the board members have agreed to fund the demolition and allow the property owner to maintain ownership, with a five-year lien.
That five-year lien means the property owner could not sell the property in the next five years, or the owner would owe the land bank the demolition cost.
The board did not act on that agreement before because of perceived restrictions in Ohio Revised Code preventing the land bank as acting as an agent of the township.
But Miller found a way around the legislation. After speaking with the Richland County Land Bank’s chair person and executive director, Miller found a loophole.
The land bank can enter into a contract for services with the township, where the township will hire the land bank for demolition services. Miller prepared a sample contract for the board to review at Wednesday’s meeting.
“I’ve talked to their representative, and all three of them (the trustees), as of this morning, agreed that they would absolutely enter into a contract with us to do it,” Miller said.
After demolition, the property would become a private parking lot, still owned by Lora Callihan.
There is no demolition estimate yet, so the land bank waited to vote on approving its involvement in the demolition until there is a set dollar amount, which is expected to be ready at the March meeting.
“Five years from now, that’ll be pretty valuable piece of property. There’s a lot of traffic there,” County Commissioner Denny Bittle said.
Other business
The board also discussed the Carter Lumber building at 610 Miller St. The abandoned building partially collapsed at the end of January after heavy snowfall.
Ashland’s engineering department approached the board about demolishing the building. Miller said he has consistently received complaints about the property over the years.
County Treasurer Angie McQuillen said she doesn’t think it’s worth it to take the property to foreclosure, which could not happen for another year anyway.
Bittle said the land bank would need to pursue a grant to tackle the project, because it will be costly due to the size of the building.
The board agreed to table discussions for now, and board member Tiffany Meyer will contact the owner.