ASHLAND – About 10 months after the formation of Ashland County Land Reultilization Corporation, the land bank is preparing for its first demolition projects.
The land bank board authorized board president and county commissioner Denny Bittle to hire Lucas-based contractor Page Excavating to demolish vacant homes at 226 E. Walnut St, 1031 Arch St. and 515 Vine St. as well as a multi-unit apartment building at 118 W. 4th St.
According to Bittle, the land bank is not required to seek multiple bids for demolition projects and did not put these projects out for bids. Bittle said he does plan to bid out future projects, once the land bank has experience with the process.
“We want to be cost effective, and I think that’s the right thing to do,” Bittle said.
Bittle said Page provided estimates of approximately $10,000 and $7,000 for the Walnut Street and Vine Street projects, respectively. The excavating company has not yet provided quotes for the other two properties as the 4th Street property was a recent acquisition and the land bank does not yet have the deed for Arch Street property.
“My goal is to get them in here to do all four at one time,” Bittle said. “I think it would be more cost-effective for us if we get them in here to do them all.”
The land bank secured Neighborhood Initiative Program grants to fund all four demolitions, including $12,500 grants for each of the houses and $37,500 for the apartment building. The land bank also received $115,000 in private donations to purchase the apartment building.
Bittle said the anticipated end use for the 4th Street site is a parking lot for Come Alive Community Church. End uses for the other properties have not yet been determined, but a neighbor and a developer have each expressed interest in the Walnut Street property.
An airplane frame was found in the garage at the Walnut Street house, and the land bank board authorized Bittle to sell the frame, along with all other contents of the garage, to the Ashland County Airport for $500.
The land bank board also discussed, but did not take action on, a few other properties that have come to their attention. Properties included the former Eagle gas station on Claremont Avenue, the former George’s Place in Perrysville and a foreclosed house on U.S. 250 in Rowsburg.
If the land bank were to tackle project outside the city of Ashland and wanted to use grant funding to do so, it would need to establish new target areas as the only approved target area in the county is the area within city limits. Each target area would need to have at least two qualifying properties.
To demolish outside target areas, the land bank would have to use its own funds or private donations.
Ashland Mayor Matt Miller said the Eagle gas station was the subject of a recent forfeiture, which allows government entities such as the city or the land bank to acquire the property at no cost.
City leaders are confident they can acquire a grant to cover cleanup costs, Miller said.
Miller expressed interest in seeing the land bank acquire the property, saying the land bank would have environmental immunity during the cleanup process. The city would not have such immunity, he said.
“If the city took ownership and there was a release while the underground storage tanks were being removed, the city would be responsible to mitigate the release. However, the land bank would not,” Miller said. “We need to do more investigation, but I just want to you know it looks as if, for that property, there could be an advantage (for the land bank to acquire it). And we would be more than willing to extend our city engineer’s expertise to help complete the grant.”
If land bank officials are concerned about finding an end user, Miller said, the land bank could give the land back to the city after the cleanup.
Bittle asked who would be responsible for environmental cleanup if there was an environmental issue when the underground tanks were removed. Miller responded by saying he did not know.
616 West Main Street is in deplorable shape. Please put this house on the list.