Flint Mayor Dayne Walling and Doug Weiland, Executive Director of the Genesee County Land Bank unveiled the details of the partnership during a press conference today.
Under the partnership the Land Bank will conduct weed and trash abatement activities throughout the City of Flint at no cost to the city. The City of Flint will provide, at no cost, the use of the pole building at the Oak Businesses Center for storage of equipment and as a central work site for the Land Bank to conduct weed and trash abatement.
Mayor Dayne Walling says the partnership will be a great help to the City of Flint during a time when resources are stretched and maintenance demands remain steady. “This is great for our community. This partnership with the Genesee County Land Bank is going to make our neighborhoods cleaner and more attractive this summer and it’s not going to impact our budget,” said Mayor Walling.
Funding for the weed and trash abatement program is provided through federal stimulus money. The program will run through October 29, 2010. Under the program the city of Flint has been divided into 21 service areas. Work crews will go through these service areas three times each during the length of the program. They will perform trash and weed abatement activities that include: trash and weed removal; vacant lot maintenance, including mowing; and boarding and securing homes citywide on a complaint basis.
“The real beneficiaries of this partnership with the City are the residents of Flint. While this is tough, dirty work, our crews are rewarded by the appreciation they see on the faces of the residents every day,” said Doug Weiland, Executive Director, Genesee County Land Bank.
Since its inception in 2002, the Genesee County Land Bank has taken the lead in applying the economic tools created under this new system by playing an active role in stabilizing neighborhoods and revitalizing the City of Flint and the surrounding areas.
The Land Bank encourages re-use of more than 4,000 residential, commercial and industrial properties that it has acquired through the tax foreclosure process. This is accomplished through partnerships with public, private and non-profit partners as well as with the proceeds from the tax foreclosure process, proceeds from GCLB sales and rental programs, grants, loans, and bonds.
The Land Bank has 10 programs: Planning and Outreach, Brownfield Redevelopment, Development, Adopt-a-Lot, Clean and Green, Demolition, Housing Renovation, Sales, Side Lot Transfer and Foreclosure Prevention.
For more information contact Dawn Jones, City of Flint Communications Director at (810) 237-2039 or dfjones@cityofflint.com or the
Genesee County Land Bank at (810) 257-3088.
No comments:
Post a Comment