The demolition of the East Monroe Mill was awarded to Mound Waste and Recycling for $33,440.50 at Monday’s meeting of the land bank.

Matt Wagner, a certified professional from Tetra Tech, said he’d previously worked with the company when they won two projects he was involved with Athens County, saying that they “did a really good job.”

However, he also said that he also planned to speak with them again to make sure they have the “wherewithal to ensure that we do not impact the adjacent property owner because that building, literally, is being held up by a fire escape.”

Wagner said there were three other bids received for this project, with them being from Thompson Petroleum Service for $45,600, Evans Landscaping for $75,677 and Advanced Demolition Services for $77,076.58.

The project was described in a news release from Gov. Mike DeWine, “Located near the city of Hillsboro, this former mill property currently houses one vacant and partially collapsed building that is not suitable for use. Assessment of the property includes VAP Phase I Property Assessment, Asbestos Survey, and VAP Phase II Property Assessment. After assessment and remediation, the city hopes to demolish the building to prepare the property for redevelopment.”

In other Brownfield news, Wagner said the Rocky Fork Truck Stop has been completely demolished with the fuel tanks also out of the ground. He said they’re now working on the closing stages of this phase of the project. He said that includes sampling for the ground, “likely” some over-excavation along the dispenser islands and the pipe runs. Wagner also said that they found a water well that went to 130 feet that was properly abandoned. He also said that following these tests, the information will help them determine the next steps for the groundwater remediation phase of the project.

Wagner also said there’s been momentum and pushing at the state level for new rounds of funding for the “biennium.” He said that during the Department of Finance’s testimony hearings about the new budget, there’s been a push for more funding, which he also said would help the county.

He said Mackenzie Edison, the land bank coordinator, submitted a letter to the finance committee that is planned to be read. Terry Britton, a member of the land bank board, said that the state has previously talked about adding more rounds, with that being a good thing for the county. Edison said there were about three or four projects that she could submit should there be more funding.

For the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Grant, Edison said the project is “pretty much almost finished. She said properties in Lynchburg are down but haven’t had invoices submitted yet, with a property at 453 E. Main St. in Hillsboro still needing to have straw put down.

She said the entirety of the project needed to be finished by April 1, 2023, with it looking like it would get there in time. Edison also said the final report for the project wasn’t due until 2024, but the land bank would have it finished before the first reports were due.

Edison said that a Property Management System was a possibility following the Ohio Land Bank Association sending out a newsletter about an Innovative Approach Award that featured a $25,000 award. She said the award was planned to be awarded in April.

She said the system does all of the administrative things that she is doing in the office. She also said that the system could do anything that Zillow does as well with a GIS Map as she can put all of that information into the back end, with it then showing up on the land bank’s website.

“I find that it will relieve a lot of, right now, it will relieve a lot of time for me to work on other things,” Edison said. “I think it’s something that will also take the land bank and grow, it will grow with it and, say, for any reason, you know, I had to leave this position and then bring someone else in, I mean, all of this information is in one area instead of using an Excel spreadsheet, it’s all inputted into this system.”

She said the system costs $12,500 per year, which she said meant that the award would pay for the first two years of the system.

Edison said she only found out about the system recently, saying that it would help the land bank keep track of the properties it currently has and handle properties it wants to look into in the future.

Britton requested a price sheet for the system for the model where the land bank wouldn’t use the five-year contract.

Edison also gave updates for multiple properties, which are as follows:

* 6638 Wizard of Oz Way was sold for $7,000.

* The land bank board agreed to remove the deed-in-escrow designation for 6774 Heather Moor Trail in Hillsboro following the purchaser of the property suitably cleaning it up.

* Edison was working to put 622 East St. in Hillsboro on Zillow for a price of $10,600.

* Todd Book, the land bank’s legal counsel, received the title search for a small shed on S.R. 134 and it didn’t come back clean for its liens. Book said the liens were at both the state and federal levels and that he wouldn’t recommend taking it as a donation until the liens were cleaned up. He said the liens add up to “a lot.”

* 453 E. Main St. in Hillsboro will be ready for sale as soon as it’s finished in the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Grant Program.

* 6747 Heather Moor Trail is still at the hands of the prosecutor’s office going through processing.

* Enchanted Hills has been added to the docket of the prosecutor’s office and work started on it in February. Edison said it still might take a “little while” but that process has begun.

The land bank board also moved to extend its lease at The Scott House from July 1, 2022, to July 1, 2023, for $4,800.

The next meeting of the land bank is at 9 a.m. Thursday, April 20.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.