Chautauqua County Land Bank Receives Property Donations By: Dennis Phillips, Post-Journal

The Chautauqua County Land Bank board recently met to discuss several issues, with one of them being the donation of two properties from Wells Fargo. The financial service institution is donating property in Kennedy and Gerry to the land bank.

''The one in Kennedy was in very bad shape, so they had it demolished and donated the lot,'' said Gina Paradis, Chautauqua County Land Bank administrative director. ''The other home in Gerry needs some work. They're (Wells Fargo) donating it with money to help with the repairs. Once we acquire it, we will have it assessed and appraised and look to dispose of it. It will probably go into our sales for a rehab program.''

Through the program, the land bank sells a run-down house at 60 percent of its assessed value, so the purchaser can use the money saved on buying the property to put toward renovation costs. Paradis said this is the fourth donation the land bank has received from Wells Fargo. She said it is happening as part of the National Mortgage Settlement Program.

''Banks have been asked by the government to do some restitution to communities because of the mortgage crisis,'' she said. ''Because of that a lot of banks are starting to look at donating properties to the community. Wells Fargo has been great with us. They have been a forerunner in putting a program together.''

In other business, Paradis said the land bank board has nominated two new members, Hugh and Lee Butler, who now need to be approved by the Chautauqua County Legislature. She said both nominees had been recommended by County Executive Vince Horrigan. Paradis said in March, the land bank board will vote for new officers - president, vice president, secretary and treasurer.

Paradis said the board also discussed property marketing and proposals. She said the board has decided the review process for the sales for rehab program needs to be quicker.

''We talked about some different things we can do to shorten the timeline, to shorten the process,'' she said. ''This way we let people get a response in a quicker timeframe instead of having them wait.''