LISBON — Bobby Ritchey is back as executive director of the land bank in Columbiana County.

Ritchey was appointed Wednesday to the post he previously held, after the resignation of Tad Herold was accepted by the board of directors of the Columbiana County Land Reutilization Corporation, also known as the land bank.

Herold explained that as part of a restructuring of the economic development department in the county, he was recently named as consortium director to help coordinate activities so county Economic Development, the land bank, the county Port Authority and the GIS office are all communicating  and moving in the same direction.

He suggested Ritchey as his replacement for the land bank, noting that he previously worked for county economic development and served as director of the land bank.

“He knows the ropes,” he said, adding “I look forward to working in my new role as consortium director.”

County Commissioner Mike Halleck commented that it was always the commissioners’ desire to have a one-stop shop in the county.

One of the big topics discussed by Ritchie and the board was the Fiscal Year 2024 Welcome Home Ohio Purchase Grant in Leetonia. The grant is $1.65 million to build new homes in Leetonia. He said they want to keep the dollars in Columbiana County and he wanted to possibly figure out options to make the program successful moving forward.

Herold said plans originally called for the construction of six homes at $255,000 each but the state wanted more match money, bringing the costs up to $300,000 each and the latest numbers are up to $360,000 to $370,000 per house for construction. He said that’s what the concern is, with board members having some hesitation about building houses at that cost and then only being permitted to sell them for $180,000.

Ritchey said it would not be a problem to get an extension for the grant to have more time.

Ryan Kelly of Pantheon Innovative Builders of Austintown shared his experience with the board 

regarding the program, noting they have two builds in East Palestine right now and he’s had projects in Mahoning County.

County Treasurer Bryan Blakeman, who’s a member of the land bank board of directors, asked how long a homeowner would have to wait before they could flip the house and make money off of it. The answer was five years. A question was also asked about the taxes, whether the property tax would be based on what the purchaser pays or on the true value. Initially it would be based on the purchase price, but he asked what happens when there’s a revaluation and the tax suddenly doubles.

Halleck questioned how Leetonia got involved and Herold explained that he let local mayors know about the program and Mayor Kevin Siembida came to him with a contractor and they put together the grant application.

For Halleck, he said the problem is explaining to taxpayers that the county’s selling a house built for $300,000 plus for just $180,000. Playing devil’s advocate, he said if he turns around  and he flips that house, he’s going to make a lot of money.

“I know the board’s been uncomfortable with the subsidy part of this,” Herold said.

He said the state set up this program to promote home ownership and does the county say this is a good policy or do they want to say they don’t want it. Other counties will take advantage of the program.

Salem Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey said this gets people into home ownership and she said “I think it’s good all around.”

 Hailey Taylor, executive assistant to Siembida, said the village has committed money to loan to the land bank, $140,000 for two homes, or $70,000 each. She said the goal is to get people to stay in the community.

She disagreed with the idea that people will flip the homes after five years, saying a family that invests in a home like this isn’t going to just pick up and leave or want to go through the hassle. After the meeting, she said the plan is for two homes at this point and after six homes, the developer, Landis Development, has plans to continue to build home. The location is land that behind some homes on the east side Walnut Street across from the school.

Ritchey plans to ask for an extension for the grant and said, “I’m going to look at all options and talk to the state to see how we can make this work.”

The homes will be for low to moderate income people. For a family of four, the income level would be $65,000.

In other business, board members gave permission for Ritchey to apply for two Fiscal Year 2026 grant applications, with $230,000 sought from the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program and $1 million sought from the Brownfield Remediation Program.

Ritchey said he’s looking at properties on the auditor’s auction list and working with communities to identify possible properties for demolition, with the possibility of doing at least two dozen next year. During his report, he said 35 homes have been demolished this year and he’s hoping to take to bid the demolition of a commercial property in East Liverpool, the site of the former Beacon of Hope as part of the 2025 funding. He’s working with the Community Resource Center in East Liverpool to take care of the property. Early estimates for the work totaled $80,000.

That will bring the demolition total to 36 for the year when it’s completed. Most of the demolitions were in East Liverpool, with some in Salem, Wellsville and Yellow Creek Township.

 The $1 million from the Brownfield Remediation Program will be used to clean up the former Miller Holzworth property at 450 W. Pershing St., Salem, which has been sitting vacant, for both demolition, removal of underground tanks and asbestos abatement.

“This is an area ripe for development,” Ritchey said.

The site is 2.8 acres and will be a shovel-ready site for development. Matthew G. Wagner, Brownfield Program Manager for Tetra Tech, attended the meeting and was introduced to the board. There’s already a remediation action plan put together for the property.

During the meeting, the owner offered the property to the land bank for $1 and the offer was accepted.

Ritchey is expecting to learn about the awarding of the two grants in February.

Also during his report, he said the brownfield remediation for a property at 31 Park Ave. in Columbiana was just completed. Also discussed was the brownfield remediation going on at 631 W. State St., Salem, which is next to Sharp Street, where storage tanks were removed. Julie Needs, executive director of the Sustainable Opportunity Development Center in Salem, said the cleanup allows for future expansion possibilities for the 5-acre property.