Monroe County Treasurer Taylor Abbott, chairman of the county land bank, center, speaks to fellow board members during Monday’s first meeting of the group. Also pictured, from left, are Commissioner Mick Schumacher and Prosecutor James Peters. T-L Photo/CARRI GRAHAM

WOODSFIELD — The Monroe County Land Reutilization Corp., aka the newly formed land bank, held its first organizational meeting Monday and is working to finalize a list of blighted properties for demolition.

The land bank, established in August, plans to make improvements to communities throughout the county by razing blighted and abandoned buildings.

The board of directors held its first organizational meeting Monday morning to appoint members and discuss funding, properties and the guidelines for the land bank.

County Treasurer Taylor Abbott, chairman of the board, said the board is made up of himself, Commissioner Mick Schumacher, Commissioner Bill Bolon, Woodsfield Mayor Mike Ricer, Prosecutor James Peters, Auditor Denise Stoneking, all of whom were present, and Jason Hamman, economic development representative for the county and director of the county port authority.

Prior to the board getting down to business, members voted to appoint Abbott as the land bank president as well as the board chairman and Bolon as vice chairman and vice president of the land bank. Stoneking will act as the board secretary.

Abbott said they have identified eight properties in Woodsfield, Sardis, Beallsville and Clarington for the land bank to take on; however, there are more than 50 others that are listed as abandoned that must go through the foreclosure process before becoming eligible for the land bank to assume responsibility for. He said they need to go through the potential properties in an attempt to add additional sites to the list of eight already selected. They include the former Clarington elementary school at 205 Church St., Clarington; a former gas station at 38880 Ohio 800, Woodsfield; 42165 West Union Road, Sardis; 52729 Main St., Beallsville; two properties located at 48106 Cat’s Run Road, Beallsville; 481 Market St., Clarington; and 457 Market St., Clarington. The eight eligible properties meet the qualifications of being both abandoned and forfeited.

As for the other properties in question, Abbott said they need to decide how they are going to handle each of them by either foreclosing on the property or approaching the homeowner to see if they can obtain consent to demolish the building.

“We don’t own anything on here (list of properties) yet,” he said, adding that receiving consent from the property owner would be much faster than the forfeiture process.

The land bank has secured $500,000 in funding from the Ohio Department of Development for demolition but must submit its application with a finalized list of intended properties for demolition by Feb. 28. Abbott said they are hoping to secure additional funding of around $1 million through the agency to raze more blighted buildings in the county. He said some of the properties, such as the school and gas station, will cost more to tear down than an average building.

Abbott said they initially thought they could use the funds for rehabilitating the properties; however, that is not the case.

“We can do that if we raise the funding ourselves through sales or what not, but this money specifically cannot be used for rehabbing. … That money is restricted for demolition purposes only,” he said.

Abbott said to complete the application, they must list all the properties they intend to demolish. This will help determine the amount of funding they are awarded. He said they have not been informed as to when they will actually receive the funds.

In preparation for when they receive the funds, the board is accepting bid qualifications from contractors so they can begin tearing down the buildings as soon as they are able to do so.

The board will next meet at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 14 at the courthouse in Woodsfield, where members will finalize the list of properties to be demolished by the land bank.