Land Bank Authority

Rome/Floyd Land Bank Authority Minutes Friday, March 4, 2022 8:30 AM Carnegie Training Room Committee Members Present: Others: Harry Brock Cindy Reed - City - Accountant, Grants/Internal Auditor Rob Ware Toni Rhinehart - City - Director of Finance Lowery May Kevin Payne - County - Tax Commissioner David Mathis Staff: Bekki Fox - City - Community Development Director Amanda Carter - City - Community Development - Rome/Floyd Land Bank Authority Manager Logan Drake – City – Community Development Administrative Program Assistant Welcome and Call to order: David Mathis called the meeting to order at 8:31 AM. A quorum was established. Approval of Minutes: Mathis asked for any corrections to the minutes from the meeting of February 4, 2022. Rob Ware motioned to approve the February 2022 minutes, which was seconded by Harry Brock. Motion carried. Authority Updates: Bekki Fox welcomed Amanda Carter as the Community Development Department’s newest staff member. Carter will serve as the Rome/Floyd Land Bank Authority Manager where she will assist the ongoing efforts of the LBA in a full-time capacity. Fox stated she is still working with the Center for Community Progress on finalizing an Authority planning session. Fox asked if everyone could meet in the Sam King Room of Rome City Hall/Auditorium on April 21, 2022. All agreed they could. The session should last from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Lunch will be provided. Fox stated that one upcoming guest might have a scheduling conflict but would inform everyone if that date had to change. Fox moved on to pending property transactions. Carter gave a detailed update from Andy Garner’s law office regarding quiet title action. She explained that the property owners of 712 E. Boundary Street have been served. The adjacent property owners of 7 Forsyth Street have not been served yet but the attorneys feel confident they can do so. Carter said that while 330 Ross Street is on hold, the attorneys would like to meet with staff to discuss options on how to move forward. 410 Hardy Avenue has been served. The check for 414 Hardy Avenue has been cut, as that parcel was redeemed by the previous owner during the quiet title process. Staff recently requested action on 420 Branham Avenue for either the LBA or a separate developer to build on. Updates will be given later. Carter also provided updates on closings regarding recent property transactions. The contract for 0 King Bee Circle will expire soon. Staff has repeatedly asked Sherrell Smith, the would-be purchaser, to come in and sign her contract. She has said she would more than once but never has. If Smith does not come in to sign her contract before it expires on April 1st, the property will be reposted and marketed again. All agreed. 303 Ross Street will close once James Mitchell, one of two individuals comprising Middleman Management, LLC., comes back from his overseas trip in mid-March. 0 Nixon Avenue will close once the Mayor has signed off on the City transferring this land over to the LBA. 106 Brookwood Avenue will close soon. Teresa Tizol, originally the only applicant on the application, will now sign with her daughter, Jenifer Sajche. Updates will be given later. Financial Report: The financial report was distributed for review. Report attached. Toni Rhinehart stated that the 2022 property tax numbers will be updated later. Discussion Items: Mathis brought up the need to fill Roger Smith’s seat on the LBA Board. Smith’s term expired in December 2021. Smith agreed to stay active until June 2022, but will leave sooner if a replacement can be found. Mathis reasoned that filling Smith’s seat and amending the previously discussed Intergovernmental Agreement by adding two board members, needs to be done at the same time. He claimed it would be beneficial to already have recommendations to fill the new seats before making the ask. Fox agreed, also adding that the two additional seats should have minority representation for a well-rounded approach to future LBA activities. Fox stated that David Clonts is staff’s recommendation to fill Smith’s vacancy (City of Rome appointed member). Clonts has gained relevant knowledge due to his experience in developing, historic preservation and building. All agreed he is an exceptional, qualified candidate and acted as follows: • Brock made a motion to go before the City Commission to recommend appointing David Clonts so that he may start now and thus replace Roger Smith, which was seconded by Lowery May. Motion carried. Discussion was had on who should potentially fill the two new seats if approved by the Rome City and Floyd County Commissions. Several different candidates were discussed, as were their individual knowledge and strengths that could be a complement and help to the Land Bank’s mission. After discussion, the Board acted as follows: • Ware made a motion to recommend appointing J.R. Davis and LaDonna Collins for the two additional seats, with staggered terms for not only them but David Clonts as well, so that they may drop off at different times, while acknowledging that these two issues would take an amendment by the City/County Intergovernmental Agreement, which was seconded by May. Motion carried. While Board members have the choice to roll off if they so desire, the LBA should ask the City’s General Administration Committee for term limits to be removed. It takes a considerable amount of time to learn how the LBA operates due to the unique nature of the work. Finding the right candidate who wishes to help is a challenge. All agreed that the respective City and County Commissions should strongly consider staggering the appointees to avoid too many Board members leaving at once. Options for term limits, such as two-to-four- year time increments, were brought up. There was discussion and support for a push towards more extensive and consistent training for Board members. This would not only help the new members but existing ones as well. Options can be discussed on a later date. Fox acknowledged that all present, but May, were able to attend the recent bus tour of City neighborhoods that the LBA is active in. Fox and Carter suggested that they could take May and the guests from CPP on a tour later if they so desire. Brief discussion was had. All agreed that the outing was a success by providing everyone with a firsthand perspective on the neighborhoods the LBA serves. House plans, with options for both single-families and multi-families, were distributed for review. Fox and Carter researched price ranges for building these potential homes. After speaking with some builders, they believe the market rate for an entry level home is $140k – 160k. Final decisions will be made on a later date. Fox stated that there are three CHIP build single family home projects out to bid soon through the City and South Rome Alliance (SRA). Once that take places, construction prices will become clear. Fox brought up an issue regarding the properties located at 1 Orchid Place and 604 Pennington Avenue. She reminded everyone that the LBA voted to donate these two properties to SRA so that they build CHIP homes on them. Building prices have only increased since that decision took place. The properties have not officially been transferred to SRA yet. There may be an option for the Land Bank to retain these parcels to develop them timelier due to the varied rules on the CHIP funding source. More discussion to follow. Property Purchase Requests: No offers were submitted thus no discussion or executive session was necessary. Other Business: Being that the meeting had reached the average time of duration, some in attendance needed to leave. While there was still other business left to discuss, such as the LBA’s website and implementing a mission statement, Fox reassured everyone that the topics could wait until the next meeting. The next scheduled meeting will be held on Friday, April 1, 2022, at 8:30 AM. Adjourn: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 09:42 AM. Respectfully submitted, Logan Drake Recording Secretary