Land Bank Authority

Rome/Floyd Land Bank Authority Minutes Friday, May 5, 2023 8:30 AM Carnegie Building Training Room Committee Members Present: Others: Harry Brock Meredith Ulmer - City - Assistant City Manager Rob Ware Toni Rhinehart - City - Finance - Director David Mathis Dylan Nelson - City - Finance - Senior Accountant David Clonts Doug Walker - City – Public Information Officer Kevin Payne - County - Tax Commissioner Guest from the Community 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: Chairman 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 April minutes. Harry Brock motioned to approve the minutes, which was seconded by David Clonts. Motion carried. Financial Report: The financial report was distributed for review and presented by Toni Rhinehart. She discussed active properties, the cash balance as of March 30th and the 2018-2022 YTD property taxes collected. Community Garden: A guest from the community was in attendance. She stated that the local Food Bank’s supply is running too low to be sustainable. There are various gardens, clubs, and organizations that could be of assistance. She asked if the Land Bank could help with meeting this need. Options, such as the LBA providing land for another group to maintain a garden, were discussed. The Board advised her to first check with pre-existing spaces, such as the South Rome Community Garden, to see if they have any beds available for rent. Another alternative could be for Clonts to provide some land in East Rome that he already owns. Staff will give her Clonts’ contact information once she has organized the project further. The matter can be revisited in a future meeting. Discussion Items- Property Updates: Staff provided new build updates regarding 1 Orchid Place (J14O113) and 7 Forsyth Street (J13J165). 1 Orchid has been dug out. The water heater has been installed. Plumbing line tests will be run soon so the foundation can be laid down. More progress will be made soon on 7 Forsyth Street. Last month, the Board authorized Staff to reach out to contractors who perform rehabilitation on homes like 312 Kingston Avenue (J13I105). Staff looked at ways for the LBA to be more involved in the process instead of just selling. One option is to create a Deed-in-Escrow Program, similar to the one that is administered by the Cuyahoga Land Bank (CLB) near Cleveland, OH. Their program allows qualified buyers to purchase a home for a modest price based on an agreement to make certain renovations to the property, typically within four to six months. Fox and Carter should be able to directly speak to the CLB later this year at the National Land Bank Network Summit being held in Cleveland, OH. Staff will further investigate this program as an option for the LBA. The Board also discussed working with Beers Construction Partners (BCP), who are interested in completing minor repairs, demos, clean-outs, and rehabs. The Building Inspection Department will also provide Staff with another potential contractor’s contact information. Staff will reach out to all parties and provide updates later. A call for contractors will be posted on the LBA Facebook page. Staff and Attorney William Richardson are continuing to make progress on the donation of 303 E. 20th Street (J15X153). The property owner’s incarcerated son is still being tracked down. Staff did, however, receive a demo estimate of $16,399.00 from Estes and Sons, a grading and utility contractor. Staff have also reached out to BCP for an estimate but have not heard anything back. Updates will be given later. Carter led a discussion on possibly obtaining four parcels adjacent to 303 E. 20th Street: 305 E. 20th Street (J15X152), 307 E. 20th Street (J15X151), 309 E. 20TH Street (J15X150), and 311 E. 20th Street (J15X149). Building Inspection received the owners’ phone numbers after speaking with them about homeless people staying on the lots. The owner of the first three parcels is open to discussing a sale to the LBA, possibly at market rate. All agreed that acquiring the lots would help the neighborhood out and could even be a fitting location for a pocket neighborhood. The lots are heavily wooded but seem to have had homes on them in the past. They would need to be surveyed and cleared out. The future contract for these parcels would be contingent upon them having clear title. The Board authorized Staff to ask the homeowner what he would sell them for and then negotiate. The fourth lot is owned by three individuals, who seem to be sisters. Building Inspection attempted to contact everyone but was only able to reach one individual. Staff left them a voicemail. Decisions can be made when more Board members are present. The LBA previously discussed how Marcus Anderson from RAC Real Estate Acquisition Corp, based in Miami, FL, has expressed interest in buying multiple properties. His future plans are to create affordable housing for either rent or sale. Staff made contact with the Gadsden Land Bank Authority (GLBA), who confirmed that Anderson has built and will continue to build single-family homes in Gadsden, AL. Anderson has previously purchased clear title lots but is open to ones that are not. Staff will speak with Anderson about the LBA offering him a couple of clear title lots at market rate. If he remains interested after these two projects, Staff can then provide him with Attorney Allie Jett’s contact information where they can discuss future projects involving title clearance. Updates will be given later. Fox brought up a potential opportunity involving a vacant home located at 2781 North Broad Street Extension. Mark Stovall, of Walton Construction Services, LP located in Marietta, GA, wants to know if the LBA is interested in partnering with him to relocate the home to a LBA-owned lot. Stovall and Fox entertained various ideas as to which partner would accomplish which part of the process. Considering the home is large, it would need to be moved in pieces. There are a couple of North Rome LBA lots that could be a good fit. Updates will be given after the Housing Development Committee has had a chance to discuss the matter. Executive Session: Brock motioned to enter Executive Session, which was seconded by Clonts. The approval of donating the property located at 216 E. 20th Street (J15X204) to Trails for Recreation and Economic Development of Rome/Floyd Co. (TRED) was brought up again. Mathis and Brock chose to recuse themselves since they currently sit on the Board for TRED. Considering there would not be a quorum for this particular matter, the decision was tabled until the next meeting. The following applications were presented for property acquisition through the LBA. After discussion, the outcome is listed as follows: • 521 Branham Avenue (I14W466) The Board reviewed two applications submitted for the purchase of a vacant, wooded lot located at 521 Branham Avenue. Brandon Pilcher made an offer of $1,000.00 for parcel I14W466. His plan is to acquire the lot and build a low-income single-family residence for a minority family. Eddie Sublett also made an offer of $1,000.00 for parcel I14W466. His plan is to acquire the lot to park equipment on. He is open to future development as well. After discussing the two options, Rob Ware motioned to move out of Executive Session, which was seconded by Clonts. The Board acted as follows: o Ware motioned to accept Brandon Pilcher’s offer of $1,000.00 for parcel I14W466, subject to conveyance from Floyd County, which was seconded by Brock. Motion carried. Other Business: As previously mentioned, the first in-person National Land Bank Network Summit will be held October 16-17, 2023, in Cleveland, OH at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown. Fox and Carter will be attending. Board members are also invited. Registration opens this summer. Next month, the Board will review property purchase requests for 0 Billy Pyle Road (H13Y678) and 0 Payne Avenue (H13P200). Board group pictures will be taken whenever every member is present. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Friday, June 2, 2023, at 8:30 AM. There being no further business to discuss, Brock motioned to adjourn the meeting at 9:28 AM, which was seconded by Ware. Motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Logan Drake, Recording Secretary