The land is bordered roughly by Eldean Road to the north, railroad tracks to the west, the county transfer station to the south and the Old County 25A / junkyard driveway to the east. It does not include the land or homes just east of there along new County Road 25A.
The $299,991 assessment grant was among nearly $60 million in state support to help clean up and redevelop 51 hazardous brownfield sites in 27 counties.
The state Department of Development is awarding the funding as part of the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program. These grants include approximately $57.7 million for 43 cleanup/remediation projects and $1.7 million for eight assessment projects.
“The property was purchased by the (county) commissioners with the intention of removing a longstanding aesthetic issue along one of the county’s main transportation corridors,” said Dan Suerdieck of the county Department of Development.
“The possible future use of the property for an expansion of the transfer station is under consideration, but the property needs to be assessed and possibly remediated before moving this forward. The potential expansion would result in approximately five new transfer station jobs, if approved.”
This project will conduct environmental site assessments. The property includes five existing structures and environmental concerns dating back to the 1950s. The assessments will evaluate soil, groundwater and vapor conditions to determine remediation needs.
The county land bank is a nonprofit entity created by the county government to pursue revitalization and rehabilitation of properties. A land bank provides counties with development advantages such the ability to hold properties in tax-exempt status while they are under development and immunity from environmental issues while under land bank ownership.
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