City of Fairbury Considers Land Bank

City of FairburyConsiders Land BankBy Gordon HopkinsTo address both issues of much needed workforce housing as well as dilapidated and rundown properties, the City of Fairbury is considering participating in a Municipal Land Bank (MLB).A land bank is an entity created by a municipality which generally allows for the acquisition, maintenance, development, and disposition of real property for the purpose of returning it to productive use. The Nebraska Municipal Land Bank Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 18-3401 et seq. (Act), was first passed in 2013, applicable primarily to Omaha and Lincoln, and subsequently amended in 2020, expanding application to the remaining classes of municipalities. The League of Nebraska Municipalities (LONM) has created resources for setting up land banks, including templates for formation and organization, which are provided with this memorandum for reference.Deputy City Attorney Kurth Brashear of Rembolt Ludtke, LLP, gave a presentation at a recent meeting of the Fairbury City Council on June 6, 2023, “The city has certainly been talking about ways to develop residential property.” Brashear explained, “The land bank is created by the municipality to do acquisition and maintenance development of disposition of real property. The key part is, it's all about returning it to productive use. So that is the objective not for the land bank can be a long term property when that is done whatever is needed to get something that is not being productively used now, and then gets it back into productive use. It is a separate public corporation and political subdivision once it's created. So this is done through the land bank, not through the city of Fairbury.”Brashear emphasized the flexibility of a land bank.“What a land bank can do,” said Brashear. “Designing projects, developing projects, constructing projects, demolishing projects, reconstructing projects, clearing locks, information, relocation. Really, it is everything related to real property to return it to productive use, with very few limitations. It can lease property, including leases of up to 12 months. It can be either the tenant or the landlord.”For any municipality other than Omaha or Lincoln, the creation of an MLB requires the cooperation of at least two municipalities through an interlocal agreement. The public policy rational for this requirement is that MLBs require significant resources to operate and maintain, which the Legislature viewed as potentially burdensome for cities of the first or second class or villages to manage on their own. Therefore, as a city of the second class, Fairbury must partner with another municipality to create and operate a MLB. Brashear indicated there are currently three MLBs outside Omaha and Lincoln which have recently been created or are in the process of being created: Norfolk with Hader, Scottsbluff with Gering and McCook, acting as the “anchor community” with several surrounding municipalities.Fairbury Mayor Spencer Brown said any possible MLB is only being considered at this time. No action was taken at the meeting.

Gage County Supervisors Vote on Solar Energy Regulations

City Demands Repayment of Fairbury 23 Apartments Loan

Related Articles

Primary Election Is First With New Voter ID Law

Little Blue NRD Stays All High-Capacity Irrigation Wells

Postmaster Postpones Changes to Processing Network

Medicare Fraud Attempt Reported