Highland County Land Reutilization Corporation President Terry Britton (left) is pictured at Friday’s meeting with land bank administrator Jason Johansen.
John Hackley | The Times-Gazette
The Highland County Land Reutilization Corporation (land bank) held a monthly meeting Friday.
Highland County Land Bank Administrator Jason Johansen provided an update about the seven current Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Replacement projects. “They have finished all but the seeding and strawing on five of them,” said Johansen. “The only two left are the 140 E. North St. and 212 N. High St. properties.”
The other properties on the list are 9955 U.S. 62 in Leesburg, 6747 and 6749 Heather Moor Trail in Hillsboro, 142 N. Fairfield St. in Leesburg, 8151 Fall Creek Rd. in Leesburg, and 3479 Pleasant Rd. in Hillsboro. “They are going to get it done before the May first deadline,” said Johansen.
Johansen said there are 41 properties on the list for demolition. “We’ve added one to the replacement list,” he said. “It’s 1601 Orebaugh Road in Lynchburg, and he’s just looking to have it torn down, and I told him if we had any money left over at the end of the program that we’d reach out to him and let him know.”
The land bank board voted to approve 11470 Spruance Rd. at the next expedited foreclosure to go to the Highland County Prosecutor’s Office. The land bank board also voted to approve a request for proposals for asbestos abatement on Building Demolition and Site Revitalization (BDSR) Program projects.
Johansen said four properties have been put in the Brownfield Remediation Program. Those properties include the East Monroe Tank Farm in Leesburg, a former gas station at 351 E. Main St. in Hillsboro, a former machine shop in Greenfield, and the former Rocky Fork Truck Stop near Rainsboro.
Johansen provided a property update during the meeting. He said 11 Enchanted Hills properties sold in expedited foreclosure. “Those went to sheriff sale, and they all sold, and the county was able to recoup all of the delinquent taxes and pay off all of the lien holders,” he said.
He said the county auditor will need to reassess a property on U.S. Route 62 in Leesburg to determine if it is developable land or not.
He also said no decision had been made to decide if a property at 6747 and 6749 Heather Moor Trail is considered a side lot or a developable piece of property. “In our policies and procedures, neighbors are first dibs on side lots,” he said. The land bank board voted to classify it as a billable lot.
The land bank’s legal council, Todd Book, said current policy sets the price for side lots at $100, and he questioned whether the price should be increased. Terry Britton, the land bank board president, asked Book to come up with recommendations at the next land bank meeting.
The next meeting of the land bank is scheduled for May 16 at 9 a.m.
Reach John Hackley at 937-402-2571.
