MANSFIELD — It’s going to be a banner time for Ohio contractors in the next 18 months as local governments compete to spend $500 million of state money in demolition and brownfield remediation.
And that may pose a problem — finding enough contractors to do all of the work by the end of June 2023, as required under the recently issued guidelines from the Ohio Department of Development.
The Richland County Land Bank board took the first step on Tuesday by approving applications for about $7.7 million worth of projects in the first round of funding, including former Westinghouse properties and the former Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center.
Each of the state’s 88 counties, as part of the two-year state budget approved this year, are guaranteed $500,000 in demolition funds and $1.5 million in brownfield remediation dollars.
That leaves $368 million that local governments can apply for on a first-come, first-served basis, though those entities will have to come up with a 25-percent match for any projects after the guaranteed funds are spent.
Proof of those matching dollars must be submitted with each project application.
“Lining up contractors and having all of this work done in the next year-and-a-half will be harder than coming up with the matches,” said Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero, a Land Bank board member.
Land Bank manager Amy Hamrick, who will be tasked with completing applications for the eight projects approved Tuesday, agreed it could be a daunting task.
“I just need to get our contractors lined up as quickly as possible (after project funding is approved),” she said.
“The sooner we get our applications in, the better our chances of getting the money,” Hamrick said.
Richland County Treasurer Bart Hamilton, who chairs the Land Bank board, said the key statewide is demonstrating a strong need for the work to be done, perhaps setting the stage for such funding in future state budgets.
“You want to submit as many of these things as you possibly can because you want to show the Ohio Department of Development how much need is out there. There is a ton of need out there, not just in our county,” Hamilton said.
“If you look at how this thing was designed, it almost looks like a one-and-done kind of thing. And I don’t think we want to see a one-and-done.”
The biggest estimated ticket items approved Tuesday were $5 million for brownfield remediation of the former Westinghouse sites, including the “A” building and the nearby 13-acre “concrete jungle” on the city’s east side and $2 million to demolish the former Ocie Hill building at 455 Bowman St.
The Land Bank is still working to obtain the “concrete jungle” from its owners, who are expected to donate it to the agency.
Demolition applications were also approved for the former Linden Pool (estimated cost of $40,000) in Mansfield, properties at 22 and 28 Summit Street in Shelby ($37,500). Brownfield applications were approved for 11-19 Broadway St. in Shelby and a former gas station at 474 Bowman St. in Mansfield.
The board also approved an assessment for vacant land at 111 Orchard St. in Mansfield, which may lead to a brownfield cleanup application.
The deadline is Jan. 31 for round one brownfield applications and Feb. 28 for demolition applications. There is no limit to the number of applications that can be submitted, though no single county can obtain more than 20 percent of the total funding.
