The Highland County Land Reutilization Corporation (land bank) announced multiple updates on bids for various properties Thursday at its monthly meeting.

The land bank announced that it planned to accept bids for the following land bank-owned properties: 229 E. South St., 622 S. East St. and 453 E. Main St., all in Hillsboro.

Jason Johansen, land bank coordinator, said these properties previously had houses on them and were tore down during the previous round of the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Grant Program (BDASRGP).

Lauren Walker, Hillsboro’s representative on the land bank board, said that she believes all three properties meet the zoning requirements for the lot dimensions for a residential structure.

The land bank board announced that it would accept bids on all three properties until 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, with all properties requiring a minimum bid of $4,000.

In another bid process, the land bank announced it planned to publicly open bids for the final seven properties from the previous round of the BDASRGP at the land bank’s next meeting on Feb. 15. Those properties are: 9955 U.S. 62 in Leesburg/Samantha, 6747 and 6749 Heather Moor Trail in Hillsboro, 142 N. Fairfield St. in Leesburg, 8151 Fall Creek Rd. in Leesburg, 3479 Pleasant Rd. in Hillsboro, 140 E. North St. in Hillsboro and 212 N. High St. in Hillsboro.

For those properties, the land bank also opened bids for surveys for asbestos. The land bank awarded the service to the apparent low bidder, Ohio Technical Services.

Johansen said they were looking to expedite the process for the seven properties because they needed to be finished before May 1, 2024, the time when the leftover funding would expire.

For the asbestos surveys, Johansen said “we would go ahead and move forward with that same company” for the remaining properties for the next round of the BDASRGP if the surveys went well.

In other news, the land bank approved 12 additions to the next round of the BDASRGP: 8264 U.S. 50 in Hillsboro, 8293 U.S. 50 in Hillsboro, 8321 U.S. 50 in Hillsboro, 625 S. High St. in Hillsboro, 2580 S.R. 134 in Mount Orab, 2850 U.S. 50 in Lynchburg, 6950 Pence Rd. in Hillsboro, 4216 South St. in Hillsboro, 8151 Fall Creek Rd. in Leesburg, 6938 Beechwood Rd. in Hillsboro, 19 N. Main St. in Sinking Spring and 13535 U.S. 50 in Bainbridge.

The land bank approved five deletions from its previous list of properties for the next round of the BDASRGP: 110 E. South St. in Hillsboro, 216 Broadway St. in Lynchburg, 220 S. Broadway St. in Lynchburg, the Buford School UST on S.R. 138 in Sardinia and 204 E. Jefferson St. in Greenfield.

Johansen said the reason for the first three deletions is that they were sold and the new owners plan to rehab them. For the last two, he said they were moved to the Brownfield Grant Program list. He said the land bank thinks those two properties could go either way and “to save our funding” for the BDASRGP, they were moved over. However, he also said they could be moved back up until April 1, 2024, if necessary.

“It just seems like we have less Brownfield projects than we do the residential right now,” Todd Book, the land bank’s legal counsel, said.

In other BDASRGP news, the land bank approved the use of a $50,000 match from its own funds toward the next round of the BDASRGP, which would give another $150,000 from the Ohio Department of Development, totaling $700,000 that the land bank could use for the new round.

The four properties being looked for the Brownfield grant are: the former Buford School UST at 2471 S.R. 138 in Sardinia, The East Monroe Tank Farm at Monroe Road in Leesburg, a former gas station at 351 E. Main St. in Hillsboro and a former machine shop at 204 E. Jefferson St. in Greenfield.

Johansen said the application period for the program opened on Dec. 5, 2023, and they have until April 1, 2024, to submit an application. He said this was for the assessment phase of the program.

Alisson Young, Tetra Tech representative, said the Rocky Fork Truck Stop is nearing the end of the grant funding for the project. She said the owner had responses to Tetra Tech’s initial report which Tetra Tech is responding to. She said Tetra Tech would work on closing the grant and finishing the project. She said the soil looks good but the groundwater will need additional monitoring. Young also said the problem shouldn’t impact plans for redevelopment.

The land bank also gave updates on the following properties:

* For the Enchanted Hills Community Association, Johansen said the 11 parcels are currently in expedited foreclosure. He said there isn’t a time frame for it to finish, but the land bank does have “quite a bit of interest” to purchase some of the parcels.

* On Evelyn Road in the Rocky Fork Lake area, Johansen said tax foreclosure “might” be the best option. He said he and others tried to contact the owner and were unsuccessful.

* On 7690 Pence Rd. in Hillsboro, Johansen said the land bank hasn’t been able to find the owner’s obituary or anything, so a donation could be possible.

* Regarding 11410 Cathys Court in Hillsboro, Johansen said the owner was only interested in donating it if they were given something, so a tax foreclosure might be the “best option.”

* Concerning 10635 N. Shore Rd., Johansen said it’s a “good piece of property” but nobody has wanted to tackle the tax delinquency, which is $28,733. He said there looks to be a trailer on the property. Book said that other than the trailer, the owner is supposed to do some homework on affidavits before next month’s meeting. He said this could be a donation candidate after some of it cleaned up.

* For U.S. 62 in Leesburg, the land bank moved forward to claim ownership of the forfeited land under the code of forfeited land. Both Johansen and Book planned to meet with Highland County Auditor Alex Butler to discuss the move.

* On three Taylor Street properties, Johansen said the land bank talked to the Highland County Health Department about letting it clean them up. However, he said the health department wanted the land bank to bring more to the table before giving it access to clean the properties and put it into the Brownfield Grant Program. Book said that by bringing more to the table, the health department meant they wanted the land bank to make sure they have the authority to grant access. He said other counties, through their health departments, have granted access that allowed their land banks to clean properties after calling them a nuisance.

* Johansen said Fannie Mae has owned 222 McClain Ave. in Greenfield since 2005 and it is currently in “receivership.” He said it is now vacant, with Fannie Mae having hired a council that indicated they have the authority to quit-claim deed to either the village or land bank. He said that Greenfield officials told him there was an interested party that would want to buy the property following its clean-up. The land bank voted to move forward with the property.

* Johansen said 535 Pine St. in Greenfield is currently on village’s foreclosure list and that it would be good for the BDASRGP because the whole western wall has collapsed. Johansen, however, said there are extenuating circumstances with the property due to a foreclose that was started but then dropped, with the owner seemingly not aware of its drop. Book said the property has “kind of” been in limbo, so he would try and contact both the lender and the owner. The land bank made a motion to move forward with the property.

* On 1065 Lafayette St. in Greenfield, Johansen said the village believes it would be a good candidate for the Welcome Home Ohio Program. He said the repair was estimated at around $100,000 and Greenfield’s Community Improvement Corporation would demo the property. However, he also said he didn’t think the property would be good for the program. Johansen said that after reading the guidelines, he believes there was a $30,000 limit for each project for the program. Book said the land bank would investigate the process, but that there is a way that number can be moved up. The land bank moved forward with investigating the property.

The next meeting of the land bank is at 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 15.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.