Endicott Considers Entering Land Bank

By Gordon HopkinsThe Village of Endicott has indicated their interest in possibly joining into a Municipal Land Bank (MLB) with the City of Fairbury.Deputy City Attorney Kurth Brashear of Rembolt Ludtke LLP provided and update at a meeting of the Fairbury City Council on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, “So the village of Endicott has indicated that they are willing to talk with Fairbury about entering into land bank together. You may recall that in our class size, cities in the second class, you can’t do it by yourself. You need to have another municipality engage. So, we are working on a draft interlocal agreement with Endicott that would set forth the rules for this land bank. This would be a separate local agency and a separate body politic.”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.Fairbury Mayor Spencer Brown hopes a land bank can address both issues of much needed workforce housing and well as dilapidated and rundown properties. He first approached the Village Board of Endicott on September 11, 2023, to discuss the possibility of partnering in a Land Bank.“You have to have at least seven voting members on a land bank board of directors and those voting members are approved by both municipalities, said Brashear. “So what we’re also looking at in the interlocal agreement is identifying who those initial seven directors might be for that land bank.”No action was taken at the Endicott meeting.

11.15.23 Court/Real Estate

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