Stories indexed with the term ‘land bank’

Less than a year after the county authorized the formation of a land bank, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners will consider dissolving the entity at its March 17 meeting.

At their administrative briefing on Wednesday, commissioners discussed the move with county treasurer Catherine McClary, who also attended the meeting. McClary had originally proposed the land bank as a mechanism allowing the county to take temporary ownership of tax- or mortgage-foreclosed land. The intent would be to give the county options for dealing with blighted property, other than selling it off at auction.

But anticipated federal funding didn’t come through, and a dispute among some commissioners about who would serve on the land bank authority board stalled the project. “It’s fair to say that the county was not sold on it,” McClary said at Wednesday’s meeting. [Full Story]

Neighbors gather at the Bryant Community Center to hear Joan Nassauer, a University of Michigan professor, talk about water drainage issues. (Photo by the writer.)

On The Chronicle’s first trip to the Bryant Community Center in December 2008, elected officials, the heads of local nonprofits, city and county staff outnumbered residents at a meeting for the southeast Ann Arbor neighborhood. The reverse was true last Thursday evening, when a room full of neighbors filled every seat, gathering to discuss the challenges they share.

Bryant is one of the few clusters of affordable housing in Ann Arbor. It’s also been hit hard by the mortgage crisis – a foreclosed property in the neighborhood at 2 Faust Court, vacant and boarded up, has been targeted as one of the first acquisitions for the county’s new land bank.

The land bank actually dovetails with a widespread problem that affects nearly all residents, which was the focus of Thursday’s meeting: Inadequate drainage and the chronic pooling of water in crawl spaces, basements, yards and streets. Joan Nassauer, a University of Michigan professor of landscape architecture, has remediated sites with similar problems in Flint, Chicago, St. Paul and other areas. She was on hand Thursday to talk about what Bryant residents might do to address their drainage issues. [Full Story]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting (July 8, 2009): In large part because the board has adopted a once-a-month summer meeting schedule, the agenda was full for Wednesday’s meeting. Commissioners asked – in some cases, grilled – the county treasurer about a proposed land bank project, which the board ultimately approved.

They also acted on several budget-related items, including 1) setting a public hearing for a proposed economic development tax, 2) passing the first phase of administrator Bob Guenzel’s recommendations to address a projected $26 million deficit, and 3) briefly discussing a proposal for changing the funding process for some nonprofits. Several leaders from the local arts community also turned out for a presentation on a countywide cultural plan.

But a large portion of the meeting was devoted to deliberations on the land bank, and that’s where we’ll begin our coverage. [Full Story]

Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners administrative briefing (July 1, 2009): The county’s administrative staff have rearranged their offices a bit, which bumped Wednesday’s administrative briefing into a new location – a room that, unlike their previous meeting place, had windows. “Oh, it’s so bright in here – we’ll need sunglasses!” commissioner Kristin Judge said upon walking into the room.

The briefing also provided a window into the agenda for the upcoming July 8 board meeting. County treasurer Catherine McClary was on hand to brief commissioners on a land bank proposal she’ll be bringing to the board. They also were updated on several state and federal grants the county is receiving or applying for, and discussed a proposed food worker certification program. And following the briefing, a discussion about the committee appointments process brought to light a practice that some commissioners questioned – and resulted in a decision to more strictly enforce application deadlines.

We’ll start with the land bank. [Full Story]