Land Bank Authority

Rome/Floyd Land Bank Authority Minutes Friday, April 5, 2024 8:30 AM Carnegie Building Training Room Present: Members: David Clonts, LaDonna Collins, J.R. Davis, David Mathis, Rob Ware Staff: Amanda Carter, Logan Drake Others: Harry Brock, Dylan Nelson, Kevin Payne, Joe Smith, Meredith Ulmer Welcome and Call to order: Chairman David Mathis called the meeting to order at 8:41 AM. A quorum was established. Approval of Minutes: Mathis asked for any corrections to the February minutes. Hearing none, David Clonts motioned to approve the minutes, which was seconded by J.R. Davis. Motion carried. Financial Report: The financial report was distributed for review and presented by Dylan Nelson from City Finance. He gave information on the following: active properties, the cash balance as of March 31st and the YTD property taxes collected. Property Updates: Land Bank Authority (LBA) Manager Amanda Carter provided updates. A lot of interest has been shown in purchasing the home located at 1 Orchid Place (J14O113). Staff have been in contact with several potential buyers, but no one has put in an offer yet. That will likely change since the home is being added to Zillow. The open house was a success and the option of hosting another one is being explored. Staff will provide updates later. The home build at 7 Forsyth Street (J13J165) should be completed in a couple of weeks. Progress is being made on the home builds located at 411 Superba Avenue (K13X195) and 604 Pennington Avenue (I14W563). Jett Law Firm is working on clearing the titles for 151 Agnes Street (I15W175) and 14 Morningside Drive (J14L251). Quiet Title has been filed. The LBA plans to build on Agnes, which is in the County. Updates will be given later. The first Neighborhood Beautification Grant has been completed. 421 E. 15th Street (J14O115) received new gutters and soffit. Purdy Land Pros cleared the four E. 20th Street lots for $5,886.54. The lots look great. The LBA will maintain them. Executive Session: Mathis motioned to close the meeting and enter into Executive Session, which was seconded by Clonts. Motion carried. The following items were presented to the Board. After discussion, Clonts motioned to enter regular session again, which was seconded by Davis. Motion carried. No votes were taken in Executive Session. The outcomes are listed as follows: • Heard Street Applications The Board recently reviewed and approved three offers submitted by Shanice Wiggins Goodrich for the purchase of County-owned lots located on Heard Street. She made the following offers: $2,818 for 0 Heard Street (J13O264), $1,312.50 for 19 Heard Street (J13O265), and $1,935 for 0 Heard Street (J13O266). Goodrich paid the 10% down payment of $606.55. The County transferred the deed over to the LBA. Paperwork for closing was being prepared when Goodrich emailed Staff requesting to instead only purchase Parcel J13O266 due to hardship. She recently had to pay for a funeral and unfortunately felt like she could no longer afford all three parcels. Discussion was had. If Goodrich is not interested in the Board’s new offer, they have already approved the $1,935 offer for Parcel J13O266 and will honor it. Parcel J13O266 is 0.12 acres, Parcel J13O265 is 0.08 acres, and Parcel J13O264 is 0.28 acres. The Board acted as follows: o Davis motioned to give Goodrich the option to purchase Parcels J13O266 and J13O265 for a combined total of $2,500 or purchase all three parcels for a combined total of $4,000, which was seconded by Clonts. Motion carried. • 7 Forsyth Street Sales Price The sales price for 7 Forsyth Street (J13J165) needs to be set. This home will end up costing a little less to build than 1 Orchid Place (J14O113). Like Orchid, the LBA would pay closing costs and set a $2,500 realtor fee. The Board agreed that they should stay close to market rate and put back into the neighborhood as well by using Neighborhood Beautification Grants. After discussion, the Board acted as follows: o Rob Ware motioned to set the sales price for 7 Forsyth Street at $190,000, which was seconded by LaDonna Collins. Motion carried. Action Items: • 2024 LBA Budget The Board recently reviewed and discussed the 2024 LBA draft budget and its line items. The Board also received a copy of the 2023 budget for review and comparison. No revisions were suggested. If there is ever a line item or issue that needs to be addressed, Staff will bring it before the Board, ask to amend the budget, and then approve it. After discussion, the Board acted as follows: o Clonts motioned to accept the 2024 budget, which was seconded by Ware. Motion carried. • Purdy Land Pros Estimate Staff received an estimate from Purdy Land Pros to clear 712 E. Boundary Street (J14O314). The lot is located in the County and the LBA plans to develop it. The unit price is eight hours at $170 an hour. The line total is $1,360. The dump fee is $100 per load plus $38 per ton. An additional cost, however, will be implemented due to the inability to see all debris. The receipt from the landfill will be applied to the bill. After discussion, the Board acted as follows: o Ware motioned to accept Purdy Land Pro’s bid of $1,360 with a maximum of $2,500, which was seconded by Clonts. Motion carried.  • South Rome Alliance Properties South Rome Alliance (SRA) met with the City Manager’s Office and Staff to discuss having the LBA take some of SRA’s properties. Staff researched their list of properties and determined that the LBA could either develop or sell the following: 15 Landrum Place (I14W039), 224 Pennington Avenue (I14W539), 24 E Glover Street (J14L175), 410 Nixon Avenue (I14W245), 201 Wilson Avenue (I14W184), 411 Wilson Avenue (I14W161), and 314 Wilson Avenue (I14W120). SRA wants to transfer the deeds over to the LBA thus the LBA would not have to buy them. Carter provided the Board with the list of potential properties along with a description of each. After discussion, the Board acted as follows: o Ware motioned to transfer the listed properties from SRA to the LBA, which was seconded by Davis. Motion carried. Discussion Items: Staff received a proposal from Southern Engineering & Surveying, Inc. (SES) to survey 712 E. Boundary Street (J14O314). Staff initially spoke with SES about surveying the E. 20th lots as well but decided to wait until the Georgia Tech plan is complete. The budget to provide services is $1,600. SES would complete the survey within 30 days dependent upon the Board agreeing to terms and notice to proceed. Discussion was had. It was agreed upon that the property would benefit from a single, shared driveway and that it should be noted during the survey. It will be discussed with SES. The Board acted as follows: o Clonts motioned to approve the $1,600 quote from SES to survey 712 E. Boundary Street and to confirm the notation for a single, shared driveway, which was seconded by Davis. Motion carried. Staff recently took Aaron Fortner from the Georgia Tech Planning studio opportunity on a tour of Rome. They showed him the trail system, pocket park location, E. 20th lots, and other areas the LBA is working in. Fortner was particularly interested in the E. 20th lots so Staff will send him information on those properties. Fortner will have his students work with the LBA and City on a couple of projects during the fall semester. Students will provide a plan. Fortner invited the LBA to view other projects Georgia Tech has worked on. Some from the Studio group may attend an upcoming LBA meeting as well. During the tour, Staff and Fortner discussed the possibility of acquiring 0 E. 20th Street (J15X243), which is adjacent to the pocket park. The lot is 0.14 acres and zoned H-T-R. The Board agreed that the lot would be beneficial to have. They authorized Staff to reach out to the property owner and gauge their interest. Carter provide an update on the situation involving 10 South Blanche Avenue SW (J14L144). The property owner went to court and will continue to resolve the issue with Code Enforcement. The owner put up for-sale signs but has not listed the property yet. The Board previously agreed to make her an offer for the home if it is not listed or sold within 60 days. The 60 days will be up by the next meeting. Staff will provide updates. Code Enforcement informed Staff about an opportunity regarding 4805 Calhoun Road (M10Y099). The property is 0.83 acres, zoned S-R, and valued at $54,152. The property owner called Staff and offered the property to the LBA for $3,000. The owner is unable to afford the needed adjustments to the property and is seeking help. The County owns the adjacent parcel (M10Y100). Discussion was had about the costs of demolition versus salvaging due to the poor condition of the property. The property was previously bought in a tax sale but has unpaid taxes now and a clouded title. The Board decided to table the decision for now. County Manager Jamie McCord reached out to Staff. The homeowner of 0 Lee Street (F13W067) told McCord that they want to donate the property. The lot is in the County, wooded, 0.16 acres, zoned S-R, and valued at $2,046. There was concern as to whether the lot was developable due to the lack of infrastructure. After discussion, it was decided that Carter will first speak with the homeowner to see if they would be interested in donating the parcel to a neighbor/adjacent property owner. A decision can be made in May. Carter provided a brief snapshot of the work accomplished by the LBA in 2023. Adjourn: The next regular meeting was scheduled for Friday, May 3, 2024, at 8:30 AM. There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 10:09 AM. Respectfully submitted, Logan Drake Recording Secretary