Land Bank Authority

Rome/Floyd Land Bank Authority Minutes Friday, December 2, 2022 8:30 AM Carnegie Building Training Room Committee Members Present: Others: Harry Brock Kevin Payne - County - Tax Commissioner J.R. Davis Lowery May David Mathis Rob Ware Staff: Bekki Fox - City - Community Development - Director Suzanne Parris - City - Community Development - Grants & Housing Administrator Logan Drake - City - Community Development - Administrative Program Assistant Welcome and Call to order: Chairman David Mathis called the meeting to order at 8:39 AM. A quorum was established. Approval of Minutes: Mathis asked for any corrections to the November minutes. Hearing none, Rob Ware motioned to approve the minutes, which was seconded by J.R. Davis. Motion carried. Financial Report: Representatives from the City Finance Department were unable to attend, so no financial report was given. Discussion Items: The new construction Request for Proposals (RFP) for the properties located at 1 Orchid Place and 7 Forsyth Street was sent out. Unfortunately, no proposals were submitted for around 30 days. Staff, however, has been in contact with the owners of Pro-Active Contractors, Inc. (Pro-Active), who have provided potential development options. The first choice is cost plus, meaning pro-Active would complete the project with a certain percentage added on. The other option is for the LBA to pay cost with Pro-Active being in a project management/ general contractor/overseer role. At the end of the build, Pro-Active’s fee would be 5%. There is both a two-bedroom and three-bedroom option. Pro-Active would give the LBA the same deal with rehabbing a home, such as 312 Kingston Avenue. Staff will also confirm whether or not the LBA is tax exempt. The Board were under consensus that staff should move forward with the second option and draft a contract with Attorney William Richardson. In order to move forward by January or February 2023, staff will try to have that completed and sent out before the next Housing Development Committee meeting. Updates will be given in future meetings. Authority Updates: The Finance Committee will meet on Tuesday, December 13 that 8:30 in order to review and discuss the 2023 LBA budget. The proposed budget and meeting reminders will be sent out ahead of time. Fox provided copies of the 2022 LBA Snapshot, which summarizes the annual accomplishments, numbers and progress made. The following properties have been sent over to Attorney Allie Jett for her to clear title on: 411 Superba Avenue, 0 Spring Creek Street, 2 Blacks Bluff Road, and Line Street. Jett is making progress. Discussion was had on sold properties, contracts, and closings. Attorney William Richardson is preparing closing documents on the following properties: 0 Saint Mary’s Avenue (J13W277) and 0 Saint Mary’s Avenue (J13W283). The contract for 0 Miller Mountain Road (H19129) was sent over to Floyd Farless but has not closed yet. The deadline has been extended and will close soon. 0 Smith Avenue (I16X038) and 0 Smith Avenue (I16X039) both closed on November 9 th. Fox informed everyone of updates regarding the acquisition and rehabilitation of the property located at 312 Kingston Avenue. Mathis signed the contract. Richardson is currently working on a title search to confirm it is clear. The owner’s son was given power of attorney in order to sign on her behalf. Staff is working on giving Richardson the remaining needed documents. Staff is confident it will close before or in January 2023. Updates will be given later. At the previous Board meeting, a motion was made to accept the donation of the property located at 303 E. 20 th Street contingent upon the satisfactory resolution of issues regarding taxes and bankruptcy. This matter was supposed to be on the docket with the Bankruptcy Judge, however, staff has not received confirmation that it went through. Accepting the property would be dependent upon having clear title and being released from the bankruptcy court. Updates will be given later. Progress continues to be made on the LBA website using Wix, and the new property management software purchased from EProperty Plus (ePP). Staff completed training provided by ePP and will continue to update properties in the software. The website should debut early 2023. Users will be able to complete such tasks as viewing properties, filling out applications, and learning about programs. Action Items: The LBA By-Laws were edited to reflect the one change in Subsection iii of Section B in Article III desired by the Board in the previous Board meeting. Since then, LBA Manager Amanda Carter had sent out the amended By-Laws for the Board to review. Physical copies were provided for those in attendance. After discussion, the Board acted as follows: • Ware made a motion to accept the LBA By-Laws as presented, which was seconded by Davis. Motion carried. The nominations/election for officers to serve in 2023 was postponed to January 2023 since not all Board members were present. Property Purchase Requests Fox reasoned it was unnecessary to enter Executive Session for the following request . The following application was presented for property acquisition through the LBA. After discussion, the outcome is listed as follows: • 14 Morningside Drive SW (J14L251) The Board reviewed an application submitted for the purchase of a vacant, overgrown lot located at 14 Morningside Drive SW. Esmeralda Garcia made an offer of $2,000 for parcel J14L251. Garcia is the adjacent property owner of 12 Morningside Drive (J14L252). She plans to clear, clean, and maintain the lot. The property would be used as green space with the possibility of building upon it in two years. After discussing the redemption price amount and Garcia’s offer, the Board acted as follows:  o Ware moved to accept Garcia’s offer of $2,000 for parcel J14L251, subject to conveyance from Floyd County, which was seconded by Brock. Motion carried. Other Business: The next regular meeting is scheduled for Friday, January 6, 2023, at 8:30 AM. Adjourn: There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 9:27 AM. Respectfully submitted, Logan Drake Recording Secretary