Land bank board moves forward with building demolition bids, Greenfield property auction
The Highland County Land Reutilization Corporation (land bank) board voted to award bids for 19 properties to be cleared under the state’s Building Demolition and Site Revitalization grant program during their Thursday, March 12 meeting.
After reviewing the bids opened in February, land bank administrator Jason Johansen recommended the board contract with the apparent low bidder on all but one of the 19 parcels.
Contractors who were awarded bids include:
• Aster Oilfield Services, Inc. (six properties): 11923 Elmhurst Trail ($3,000), 6833 Chimney Rock Corner ($3,000), 11428 Holiday Way ($3,000), 11410 Cathy's Court ($3,000) and 10635 North Shore Road ($3,000), all in Hillsboro, and 6400 Roundhead Road, New Vienna ($8,000).
• Funderburg Land Management, LLC (four properties, two pending state approval): 6835 Heather Moor Trail ($7,900), 6539 Spring Hill Drive ($3,850), 226 S. High Street ($9,000) and 246 E. South Street ($11,250), all in Hillsboro.
• Evans Landscaping, Inc. (four properties, three pending state approval): 219 E. Main Street ($15,450), 237 E. Lilley Avenue ($4,200) and 411 Trenton Street ($5,350), all in Hillsboro, and 3497 Edwards Road, Sardinia ($3,500).
• Howland Asphalt, LLC (three properties, two pending state approval): 21 S. Fairfield Street ($4,000), 111 Arch Street ($3,700) and 137 1/2 High Street ($3,900), all in Leesburg.
• Paul Williams Wrecking (one property): 27 Maple Street, Mowrystown ($4,200).
• B&B Recycling, LLC (one property pending state approval): 413 W. South Street, Hillsboro ($8,500).
The Evans Landscaping award for 219 East Main Street in Hillsboro is the only parcel that did not go to the apparent low bidder.
“[The low bidder] was not a preapproved contractor, and all I have is an email for them,” Johansen said. “I have reached out three times and have received no response, so we’ll have to move on to the second-lowest bidder, and that is Evans Landscaping.”
Of the 19 projects, Johansen said that 11 are “ready to be started.” Six have been approved by the state, while four parcels owned by land bank board have not been approved but could be covered by the land bank board with estimates of $3,000 each. The 11th parcel has a property owner who “has said he will pay in full to have the project started, and then when the project is approved, we’d reimburse the 75 percent owed back to him,” Johansen said.
“If for some reason the project is not approved, we will keep the full payment,” he added.
Johansen told the board that there are 10 properties, including seven in Hillsboro, two in Greenfield and one in Highland, that are potential contenders for future building demolition grant applications.
“We are still taking projects until April 30,” Johansen said. “Those batch of properties, as well as any additional ones we get from now until the end of April, will be bid out in May. Those projects would have a completion date of December 31 of this year.”
In other discussion:
• After months of debating options for selling a property at 222 McClain Avenue in Greenfield owned by the land bank, the board agreed to try to sell the property at auction.
The parcel was first listed at $20,000, then lowered to $10,000 in January. The Village of Greenfield had a similar vacant parcel that failed to receive any bids with a minimum listing price of $12,750, nor with a $8,925 minimum, Johansen said in January.
In February, Johansen told the board that Hannah Bivens advised that the village of Greenfield is “holding off on doing their third bid” in case the land bank decided to do a joint bid for the adjoining properties, as Johansen has previously proposed.
During their March meeting, board member David Daniels made a motion to approve selling the property at public auction with a minimum reserve of $10,000.
“[Bivens] has gone ahead and petitioned the court to allow [the Village of Greenfield] to sell their properties at public auction,” Johansen said. “They have invited us to join them in an effort to get the most we can out of 316 and 222 McClain Avenue. We have all pretty much agreed that selling them simultaneously, but still as two separate properties during the auction, would be the most beneficial to both parties.”
• The board approved the financial report as presented. Johansen reported a beginning balance of $300,525.25 and an ending balance of $330,686.55 for February.
In a separate motion, the board approved the payment of outstanding bills, including payments for legal fees, advertising, salary/expenses, rent, taxes, a credit card bill and a contractor invoice.
• A Highland resident attended the meeting and expressed interest in a Highland property owned by the land bank.
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