Debris pictured last year in the village of Falconer at the site of a fire later ruled arson. P-J file photo by Jordan W. Patterson

The Chautauqua County Land Bank Corporation is stuck between a pile of rocks and a hard place.

On Wednesday, Gina Paradis, land bank executive director, discussed the request from village of Falconer officials for assistance removing the debris from the scene of an arson fire at 29-31, 33-43 W. Main St. that occurred last March. She said land bank officials haven’t made a commitment to help village officials with the debris removal because they haven’t been told the exact cost. She added the matter is complicated by the fact there were two different owners for the building and neither had fire insurance.

Paradis said funding is already tight for the demolitions the land bank has planned for 2018. Last year, the land bank received $1.1 million in Round 3 funding from the state Attorney General’s Office. For 2018, the land bank has budgeted using $550,000 of the $1.1 million they received from the latest state grant toward demolishing blight. She also said land bank officials have already assisted Falconer officials with another large demolition project.

“I’m nervous about spending all of our money in one place,” Paradis said.

The massive blaze that struck a commercial and residential building is one of the 12 fires allegedly started by Jonathan Young last March. Young is awaiting trial in Pennsylvania on separate charges.

In other business, Paradis discussed the closing of Round 2 grant funding the land bank received from the state Attorney General’s Office. In 2014, the county received $1.3 million from the state during the second round of funding. The first round of funding was in 2013 when the land bank received $1.5 million.

Through the first three rounds of funding from state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, the state has made a total investment of $57 million in land banks throughout the state since 2013. The funding for state land banks has been secured through settlements from the nation’s largest banks over misconduct that contributed to the housing crisis.

Paradis said the majority of the first two rounds of funding has gone toward demolitions. She said last year they were able to demolish 13 rural properties instead of just the nine that were originally planned. She said the work of the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency has added to the land bank’s capacity to demolish rural properties.

Since November 2015, the land bank has contracted with JURA to handle demolitions in rural communities that aren’t equipped to handle services like asbestos testing, asbestos abatement and identifying properties that need to be demolished. The land bank and JURA have a contract for rural demolitions through 2018.

“Having JURA on board was a huge gain for us,” Paradis said.

Paradis also discussed the land bank’s annual report. She said since 2013, when the land bank was formed, it has received $4.4 million in state grants that has been used to leverage $3.2 million in private investment. Since 2013, the land bank has been able to renovate or demolished 173 properties that were either abandoned or vacant.

In 2017, 17 properties were obtained for the Rehab 4 Sale program, of which, including housing stock it already had acquired in previous years, the group sold 20 houses, Paradis said. The land bank’s Rehabs 4 Sale program is used to acquire abandoned, foreclosed houses that are structurally sound that are sold at below market value to community members and organizations who will commit to renovating the property.

In 2017, the land bank acquired 14 properties to demolish. Including properties it already had acquired to demolish in previous years, the land bank brought down a total of 30 dilapidated properties last year. Paradis said last year the land bank returned $1.2 million in assessed property value to the county tax rolls and leveraged $1.1 million in private investment toward renovating properties.

In 2017, $40,500 was paid to the county in property taxes from renovation projects the land bank has assisted in, with a total of $256,000 paid in property taxes since 2013.