PADD hosted brownsfield seminar

Discussion, led by the Panhandle Area Development District (PADD), addressed Kimball’s blighted and underutilized properties, at a meeting hosted by the City of Kimball at City Hall on Tuesday, Nov 10.

Kimball Mayor Keith Prunty, along with city council members John Morrison and James Shields, attended a zoning and planning seminar hosted by PADD last month. It was at that seminar they learned of the Brownsfield program and decided to set up this meeting.

Focus during this recent assembly was placed mainly on the empty and abandoned commercial buildings throughout Kimball and a Brownfields grant that may be available to the property owners for potential improvements.

Brownfields, as defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are real property, the expansion, redevelopment or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant, or simply put “A brownfield is basically a underutilized, idled and/or abandoned property.”

While there are several local properties that may be considered brownfields, according to the U.S. Government Accounts Office, there are between 400,000 and 600,000 brownfields throughout the United States.

The project team included Daniel Bennett, PADD Regional Planner, Mike Sarchet, Independent Consultant and long-time panhandle resident, Melissa Cervantes, PPHD Environmental Health Coordinator, and Dr. Sabine Martin, President of CTOR Solutions Brownfields Expert. Local representatives at the meeting included Prunty, City Administrator Daniel Ortiz and two members of the community.

Prunty said the meeting provided information property owners need to begin the work of making improvements for the city, in regards to commercial properties.

“The information provided in this meeting gave us, as a city, a direction to try and clean up the city,” he said. “That’s basically what the meeting was about.”

According to Prunty, the phase I and phase II site assessment services are free to the property owner. During the phase II assessment a sampling of the site is tested for asbestos, other hazardous materials, or molds and the owner is given a clean-up estimate.

The mayor admits that because he and the community are new to the program more will be learned of the process as local property owners go through the process.

“The property owners, if interested, can approach the city for the forms if they wish to start the process and to get more information on the Brownfields program,” stated the mayor. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be business owners, it can also be homeowners who have buildings that are run down or dilapidated.”

“We can not tear down, or do anything with the property until they have a site one assessment done,” Prunty said. “The bank will probably require you to have that done, even on a loan.”