Land bank will pay $50K toward Elliott Hotel demo

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An agreement was made for action on the Elliott Hotel — the more than 130-year-old Greenfield structure that partially collapsed in August of 2021 — at Thursday’s monthly meeting of the Highland County Land Reutilization Corporation.

Todd Book, the land bank’s legal counsel, said that after discussions with the village of Greenfield, it was decided that the land bank should be responsible for paying for some of the expense of the tear down of the Elliott Hotel, with that payment being set at $50,000.

Book said the land bank would not be a signatory to the tear down contract and would only be assisting with the payment and entering into a cost-sharing agreement. He also said that the $50,000 payment was to be made to the contractor following the completion of the project due to bookkeeping reasons.

The description of the tear down project by JWM Excavating, LLC is for the “demolition and removal of demolition debris. Basement floor to be broken to allow water drainage. Basement backfilled with fill material and topped with topsoil to match surrounding grade” and was estimated to be $97,777. Book said that estimate could change as the project moves forward depending on what happens during the tear down process.

“Lots of issues around, you know, the history of this and our land bank’s involvement,” Book said. “This is an opportunity, I think, for the land bank to really step up and show their value to the community and be part of fixing problems, which I think, Mackenzie’s (Edison, the land bank coordinator) been pointing out, all the different properties we’ve already demoed and the way we’re trying to help. The Elliott Hotel is an eyesore, it’s a problem in Greenfield. It needs to be cleaned up and part of this discussion is how can we be helpful and we’ve been working towards a cost-sharing agreement with the village.”

The land bank approved the payment and entered into the cost-sharing agreement with the village of Greenfield.

In other news, Matt Wagner, a certified professional from Tetra Tech working with the land bank, announced new updates on a Brownfield Grant program.

He said that later on Thursday a pre-bid meeting was scheduled for the Rocky Fork Truck Stop, where he anticipated a “very good” turnout. He said there’s been a lot of interest judging by the advertisement of bids, with those bids to be due by Friday, Jan. 27, at 5 p.m. He said that after the bids are in, he would return to the land bank with an itemized list separating the bids and a recommendation for which one the land bank should pick.

Because of the timing of the bids, the land bank scheduled a special meeting at 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 30, to discuss the bids and make a determination.

For the East Monroe Mill, Wagner said that he planned to have the bid packages ready by next week. He said the project would be put out for bid next week, with the bids likely to be due by the first or second week of February.

Concerning the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Grant program, Edison said the S.R. 73 barn demolition was scheduled to start on Jan. 23 depending on the weather. For the other 17 properties involved in the grant, all four Mowrystown properties were finished, the three Lynchburg properties still need to be completed and three of the 10 Hillsboro properties still need work.

The land bank board also gave updates on multiple singular properties.

Edison said that pertaining to 6638 Wizard of Oz Way in the Rocky Fork Lane area, the land bank has an interested buyer. She said she had to follow up with them before bringing it fully to the board, adding that she hoped to have something to bring to the February meeting.

For 6774 Heather Moor Trail in the Rocky Fork Lake area, Edison said she would be getting the title transfer for the mobile home on the property later on Thursday. She said that by the end of this week and into next week the property would be in the land bank’s name.

With 453 E. Main St. in Hillsboro, Book said he reached out to the Ohio Attorney General’s office to discuss possibly having the income tax lien removed from the property, with the owner wanting to donate it to the land bank. He said pictures would need to be sent showing disrepair and also a statement from the current owner where they said they wouldn’t be seeing any benefits from the transaction. Following receiving those, he said the office would decide whether to release the lien or not.

The next regular meeting of the land bank is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 16.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.

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