MAHANOY CITY — The first land bank in Schuylkill County held its first meeting in the borough Wednesday night.
Instead of holding an organizational meeting, as was planned, the eight members of the Schuylkill County Land Bank, a public, nonprofit organization, decided to form a committee to discuss by-laws and consider the appointment of three additional members.
Appointed to the Ad Hoc Nominating Committee were Gary Bender, Schuylkill County’s director of community development; Kenneth Karlavage, chairman of the board of supervisors at Delano Township; Daniel L. Lynch, borough manager, Mahanoy City; and Carl McBreen, superintendent at Minersville Area School District.
“They’re nominating three additional members of the board and they’re also suggesting terms,” Chris Gulotta, a blight consultant with the Gulotta Group, Carlisle, said.
Other members of the land bank present Wednesday were Clyde C. “Champ” Holman, chairman of the Northern Schuylkill Council of Governments; John J. “Jack” Hurst, business administrator at Mahanoy Area School District; Sean MacLeary, assistant business manager for Shenandoah Valley School District; and Ian Mahal, council member, Minersville borough council.
Others there included Chris Riedlinger, an attorney from Pottsville who works with the Northern Schuylkill COG and numerous municipalities in Schuylkill County; and Mary Beth Dougherty, staff assistant to Sen. David Argall, R-29.
“We do need to appoint the final three members of the land bank board. If you recall, the county has a seat on this board. The by-laws talk about four municipalities having seats, and three school districts having seats. So that’s eight. The way the by-laws read is those eight appoint the final three. And those three will be qualified professionals in areas such as real estate, planning and financial management. So what I’m going to suggest is that an ad hock nominating committee be formed with four representatives of the board. And that board will discuss nominees for those additional three folks,” Gulotta said.
The group decided to hold an organizational meeting at 7 p.m. March 2 at Mahanoy City borough hall.
A land bank is a public or community-owned entity established to acquire, manage, maintain and repurpose vacant, abandoned and foreclosed properties, according to the website for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Schuylkill County Land Bank will be the first land bank established in the county since the state House and Senate approved Act 153 of 2012, which enabled municipalities in Pennsylvania to create them.