Land bank accepts offers to purchase properties in Cambridge, Senecaville

The Guernsey County Land Bank recently accepted a $14,200 offer for a property in the 200 block of North Eighth Street that it owns.

The offer was reportedly submitted by a former Cambridge resident looking for a place to build a home when he returns to the city upon retirement.

“I plan to, at a minimum, to hold and maintain the land as an investment and eventually develop it by building a house,” said the potential buyer in a letter. “As Cambridge is my hometown, I take pride in its history.”

Land band member Conrath reported the lot has been owned by the city for more than three years.

“After establishing the land bank, we razed it with our first demo money,” said Conrath.

Board members also passed a motion to accept a $1,500 offer for property in the 200 block of Church Street in Senecaville once the land bank has acquired the deed.

The land bank also plans to request ownership of a Second Street property in Derwent scheduled to be included in the next auditor’s sale scheduled for June 14.

Conrath reported preparations to sell a property at 731 South Eighth St. in the city are nearly finished. At the February meeting, the board approved a motion to accept a $1,500 offer from Scott and Rebecca Bishard, owners of a neighboring property.

The land bank has received the deeds for three properties on Broad Street, South 10th Street and Cambridge Street in the city.

Conrath said the agency has contracts for purchase of the South 10th Street lot that includes a garage and the Cambridge Street location. A potential buyer has also expressed interest in the Broad Street property that includes a house.

The house on Broad Street is one of the properties included with a Building Demolition Program grant application submitted at the end of February.

“We put that on the demo list and it does need to come down, so he is willing to wait until the demolition,” said Conrath.

Guernsey County could receive as much as $500,000 through the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program grant through the Ohio Department of Development.

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“Eighty-five of the 88 counties applied for the demolition grant, but not very many counties applied for the brownfield money,” said Kim Haught during an update regarding the demolition grant program. “We are just waiting to hear from them.”

Guernsey County was one of the counties that did not apply for the grant.

The board also discussed potentially obtaining some of the demolition, if approved by state officials, to assist with two downtown Cambridge buildings destroyed by fire.

Local officials are seeking assistance from Ohio Rep. Adam Holmes (R-97th District) and Sen. Tim Schaffer (R-20th District) to obtain the funds for the downtown demolition due to safety concerns.

Conrath said the land band Land now has a designated staffer at the Guernsey County Auditor’s Office who will be responsible for handling requests and paperwork from the agency.

Board members briefly discussed the $25,000 offer for three lots at the corner of Beatty Avenue and Clark Street that the buyer plans to convert to a park that will be maintained by the city.

The potential owner was unable to attend the meeting, so board members expressed an interest in having them attend the next meeting in April.

In miscellaneous business:

• The land bank’s current bank balance is $41,926.92, down slightly from $42,063.92 as of the February meeting.

• Director Jim Caldwell was authorized to sign a lease with Utica Resources for a drilling project.

• A tree on land bank owned property in the 600 block of Grant Avenue in Cambridge has been felled after a portion fell onto a neighbor’s roof. Conrath said she is awaiting the bill for the work.

The land bank will next meet at 11 a.m. April 27 in the County Administration Building.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Land bank to sell properties in Cambridge, Senecaville