Land bank targeting structures for teardown

SOUTH POINT — A set of structures that has been deemed blight by many in South Point may soon be gone.

Tom Schneider, deputy director of Lawrence County’s land bank, addressed the village’s council on Tuesday and said the Otter Property is being targeted for demolition.

Schneider said the set of four former apartment complexes, located at North Kenova Road and Lawrence Avenue, have been abandoned for some time and have been going through bankruptcy.

Village solicitor Randy Lambert said the land bank is in the process of getting the liens cleared off the property and getting it cleared of bankruptcy.

Schneider said if the court will release the property then the land bank is willing to take it over.

“The only hurdle is getting the bankruptcy court to confirm it,” he said.

Mayor Jeff Gaskin welcomed the news.

“We’re very excited about this,” he said. “We’ve been working on this for years. It’s been an eyesore for 10 years to the village.”

Schneider said the land bank is working on a number of properties in the village and, once a property is named for demolition, there is a process leading up to the event, including asbestos inspection, a competitive bid process and a 10-day waiting period to notify the Environmental Protection Agency.

He said it easy to get tax information on a property, proving it is delinquent and qualifies for the land bank, but a challenge is proving a structure is abandoned.

“If there’s a squatter there, it’s considered occupied,” he said.

He encouraged village leaders to share any leads they have on blight in the area.

Once a building is demolished, steps are taken to bring it to development standards.

“If you tear it down, you’ll fill it in, grade it and sow grass?” Gaskin asked.

Schneider replied in the affirmative and said “clean, quality topsoil” is brought in and compacted to construction grade.

In other business, the council:

• Addressed a recent retirement of a village employee and a new hire by voting to modify the salary of the position and fix a rate of compensation.

• Voted to rebid the project of replacing the clarifiers on the sewage system after the estimate of the cost came back higher than originally anticipated. Gaskin said the village has expressed its concerns to E L Robinson Engineering on the matter.

• Discussed the installation of school crossing two signs for the new STEM+M Academy on Solida Road. Village adminsitrator Russ McDonald said the signs are now in place and any additional signage would not be paid for by the village. The first day of classes at the school is Aug. 14.

• Heard from police chief Chris Mahjer, who shared details of a July 19 arrest on Solida Road from a controlled traffic stop, in which officers seized approximately $7,000 in crack cocaine, as well as oxycodone pills and cash. Mahjer said he is pushing for possession of the vehicle to be forfeited to the village.