Morrow County staff outline demo-grant projects, warn that owner consent is required

County staff told commissioners that the governor recently announced a state demolition grant program that allocates $320,000 per county and that Morrow County has submitted projects for consideration.

An Agency official said the county currently has two demo projects in the pipeline — sites near the corner of 95 and 28 and a distressed house backing into a county parking lot on Ridge Street — which together account for roughly $100,000 of the county’s allocation to date. Staff said program managers will visit the sites to perform sampling and testing required by the state before remediation work can begin.

The official emphasized a key limitation: landowner registration and consent are required before the county or Land Bank can proceed with demolition or remediation on private property. "You don't have to pay anything, but you're hands off and you have to let the program management go through because there's a lot of testing required," the official said, stressing that the program cannot move forward without that consent.

Staff also noted funding changes from previous rounds: earlier multi-year funding for demos was larger overall (staff cited roughly $1.5 million across the program's first four years), and the county's per-county allocation has declined in the most recent cycle. Commissioners acknowledged the update and asked staff to continue coordinating with townships, villages and the Land Bank to identify eligible properties and secure required owner agreements.

Staff said they will keep the commission informed as sampling and project development proceed.