MORGANTOWN — Morgantown’s Land Reuse and Preservation Agency walked away from a recent planning session with a number of items on its to-do list.
Chief among those tasks is the identification of a potential revenue source, or sources, to help finance the agency’s mission of acquiring, managing and reintroducing to the market property suitable for conservation, water quality protection, public space, affordable housing and commercial use.
To initiate the discussion, members asked Development Services Director Rickie Yeager to provide data on how much money the city generates through relevant fees tied to permitting, rental inspections and the registration of vacant structures.
Part of that discussion, they added, could be looking at whether any of these fees could be used to help support the agency, either by dedicating a portion to the LRPA or through an increase that could be provided to the LRPA.
“I just think we need a couple scenarios for you guys to say, ‘Here’s the amount of money that’s coming in every year. Here’s a scenario where you pull off $5 or you pull a percentage, or whatever. What does that look like?” LRPA Chair Jessica McDonald said.
McDonald added she would like to see the numbers in order to determine if these ideas are worthwhile before engaging with Morgantown City Council about taking up fee increases.
“Before we would move on, I would be curious to know, what’s that fund of money look like, and how much would we generate by doing something nominal,” McDonald said. “I just feel like we should explore some options first and see.”
The creation of land reuse agencies, often called land banks, was made possible by the West Virginia Land Reuse Agency Authorization Act of 2017.
The formation of Morgantown’s agency was finalized in late 2018 and early 2019, making it among the first in the state.
The agency’s first action was the purchase of the building a stone’s throw from Morgantown City Hall, at 430 Spruce Street, now known as the Spruce Center. The LRPA financed the acquisition through a 15-year, $1.6 million loan through Community Bank.
The LRPA pays the bills by leasing space on the building’s lower floors to the city to be used as administrative office space. It’s currently marketing some 2,300 square feet on the building’s second floor as nonprofit or professional co-working office space.
While the body has spent the last year or so primarily focused on acquiring property to help turn around portions of lower Greenmont, it’s got its eye on a number of underused properties across the city.
Members have a meeting with representatives from city council and city administration in early April regarding nearly two dozen “odds and ends” parcels owned by the city but currently sitting unused.
The agency is hopeful the city will transfer some or all of those parcels to the agency.
“How do we fund ourselves? I mean, obviously we’re interested in flipping some of those properties if they give them to us. What I understand is a lot of agencies make money by flipping, and then sometimes get a designated funding stream,” McDonald said. “We could do a little of both.”
