“We’re taking this one step at a time,” said Montgomery County Treasurer Carolyn Rice, chairwoman of the land bank board. “The hope, in an ideal world, is that we will begin taking properties by late winter or early spring.”
About 50 people attended the meeting at Dayton City Hall, including officials from the city, several suburbs and developers.
The issue of abandoned properties isn’t one that stops at city lines, said Nan Whaley, Dayton city commissioner and a member of the land bank board.
“The key is that there is a lot of frustration about foreclosures. We feel that frustration,” she said. “We all have to work together.”
Representatives of JP Morgan Chase, Fifth Third Bank and Wells Fargo also participated. All said their institutions held a limited number of these types of properties.
“We’re here for the conversation,” said Jim O’Donnell, Chase’s senior vice president and community revitalization program manager. “We want to be part of the solution.”
Fannie Mae and Bank of America joined via conference call.
In Cleveland, The Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corp., the first land bank in Ohio, negotiated agreements with Fannie Mae, the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Wells Fargo, enabling the land bank there to acquire low-value properties at a reduced cost.
The agreements with Fannie Mae and Wells Fargo also include provisions to help fund demolition.
“We’ve got to make demolition a priority,” said former Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis, now director of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy’s Thriving Communities Institute.
While no deals have been struck with Montgomery County, several of the banks expressed a willingness to discuss the possibility.
Before that can happen, Rice said the seven-member land bank board will meet on Nov. 10 to develop operating policies.
Once those are in place, the board will reach out to municipalities within the county to negotiate specifics, Rice said.
In Cuyahoga County, cities and townships where a property is located decide the end use, not the land bank.
About the Author