Newbury Trustees to Seek Moving Ohio Forward Funds
Newbury Township Trustees have decided to pursue state funding for demolishing two abandoned houses in the township during 2011 and 2012, and possibly…
Newbury Township Trustees have decided to pursue state funding for demolishing two abandoned houses in the township during 2011 and 2012, and possibly more, they said last Thursday.
Moving Ohio Forward is a program that will provide Geauga County communities with up to $432,000 in reimbursements for demolishing blighted residential properties in neighborhoods.
The money is part of a nationwide $75 million settlement between participating states and several of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders, and does not come from taxes or public funds, officials said.
Newbury trustees approved and paid for two demolitions during the past two years, including a house owned by St. Helen’s Church and the former home of R&B recording star Gerald Levert, who died in 2006.
Levert’s upscale Arbor Trail home was destroyed by a fire in 2010. Trustees said they had ordered it demolished in late 2011.
The Hillview Drive house, owned by St. Helen’s, was partially burned down as a training session for local firefighters and the remaining structure was demolished on Sept. 7, trustees said.
“We’d like to move on with Moving Ohio Forward,” Trustee Jan Blair said Thursday, adding Zoning Inspector Mike Joyce and Zoning Secretary Marge Hrabak will prepare the applications.
“When I submit the information needed for the reimbursement, you’ll go over it and verify it, then you’ll send it on to Bainbridge,” Hrabak told trustees.
Bainbridge Township is managing the program for Geauga County’s portion of the funding.
Ironically, the person in charge of the program, Bainbridge Zoning Inspector Karen Endres, served until recently as the Newbury inspector and Joyce had previously served as the Bainbridge zoning inspector.
“The nuts and bolts of it you’re really not involved in at all,” Hrabak told trustees. “You’re just the pass through.”
Blair said that Newbury’s share of the funding could be as much as $79,873, which represents the total amount for the county divided by the number of communities.
The money is available until Dec. 31, she said.
“We will sign this and get it over to Karen,” Blair told Hrabak. “How are you going about selecting the properties?”
Hrabak said she and Joyce will determine which properties will be included, and she will ask Endres whether she had a list of other abandoned properties left over from her tenure at Newbury.
“To my knowledge, no one else has applied,” Hrabak said.
Approval for reimbursement of the Levert demolition might be complicated by the fact trustees already have a lien on the property to recoup their costs.
The 9-acre property, belonging to the Levert estate, owes almost $17,000 in back taxes, according to county records.
Hrabak said she had asked the state auditor’s office if the property qualifies for the program, but told trustees she had not yet heard back.
“Let’s find out, but the state is probably confused about it themselves,” Trustee Glen Quigley said. “It’s worth a shot.”
Blair added, “All they can do is say no.”
