Evansville Land Bank Corporation Meeting - July 17, 2026
Evansville Land Bank Corporation Meeting - July 17, 2026
The Evansville Land Bank Corporation held its regular monthly meeting on July 17, 2026, at 15:45 UTC. The board approved routine financials, discussed progress on a major development in the 500 block of Baird Park Drive, ratified an emergency tree removal, and heard an intern's analysis of the land bank's performance and public identity.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The board unanimously approved the minutes from the previous meeting, which had been emailed to members.
- Financial Report: Jessica presented the June profit and loss comparison and balance sheet as of June 30, 2026. Key figures: $252,893.79 at Indiana Members Credit Union, $461,910.06 in regular business checking, and $501,035.51 in laddered CDs at German American Bank. The board approved the financials unanimously.
Discussion Items
- 500 Block Baird Park Drive (TrueVest Development): Developer Ryan Dement (TrueVest) reported progress on building eight modular homes using Champion Homes. The timeline is 90–120 days for each pair of homes, with foundations requiring only crawl spaces. Board members expressed frustration with past delays and proposed a development agreement extension. After discussion, the board voted to extend the agreement to the August 2027 meeting, requiring monthly status reports and that the developer pay all taxes and liens on time during construction. The motion passed unanimously.
- 1513 West Missouri: Staff provided a status update: the donation was approved in June pending a clean title report and demolition via fight blight funds. The donor is paying taxes while in possession. The status is awaiting demolition completion.
- Indemnity and Release Agreements: The board approved new indemnity and release agreements with the Evansville Fire Department and Police Department, allowing training on land bank parcels before demolition. The only change was removing the requirement for individual officer signatures.
- Ratification of Emergency Tree Removal: An email vote on July 6 authorized American Eagle Tree Service to remove a hazardous tree at 614 (cost: $7,160). The board ratified the vote unanimously.
- Acquisition of 29 Properties from 2025 Tax Sale: Staff announced the land bank will acquire 29 properties from the 2025 tax sale; six will require demolition using general land bank funds, and two using fight blight funds.
- Intern Andrew Howard's Presentation: Intern Andrew Howard presented data on land bank performance since 2017, noting that nearly 80% of acquired properties have been transferred back to productive use, with almost half going to nonprofits for affordable housing. He recommended increasing public awareness through dedicated branding and a separate website, comparing Evansville's land bank to those in Muncie and Indianapolis. Board members praised the work and asked Colby to share the presentation with the mayor's communications team.
Key Outcomes
- Development Agreement Extension: The 500 block Baird Park Drive development agreement was extended to August 2027, with conditions: monthly status reports and no tax or lien delinquencies. (Unanimous)
- Indemnity Agreements Approved: Approved for fire and police department training on parcels. (Unanimous)
- Emergency Tree Removal Ratified: Ratified the $7,160 expenditure. (Unanimous)
- Financials and Minutes Approved: Both approved unanimously.
- Next Steps: Staff will share intern's data and branding recommendations with the mayor's office; developer TrueVest will provide monthly updates on the Baird Park project.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Evansville Land Bank Corporation Friday, July 17th meeting. Thank you for joining us today. We'll begin with the approval of the minutes. Minutes were emailed to you by Jessica earlier this week. Does anyone have any uh comments, concerns, or adjustments to the minutes that were provided? Hearing none, would someone make a motion to accept these as um approved? I'll make a motion to approve. Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Uh Jessica, would you run through the financials, please? Okay. Yes. Okay. Uh, let's start with the profit and loss comparison from June. Um, in the income, you will see the May and June monthly installments of the allocation from the city. Um sale of properties was the sale of 106 Jefferson down to expenses. The April legal fees are reflected there. Um, the June land bank inspector payment of 2700. Lawn care and debris removal is around four mowing. 4,000. Uh the payroll you see there, that's the first payment to um action staffing for the summer intern payroll management and utilities include the internet service and Evansville Water Sewer Utility at 401 North Main. Any questions? Next page is the balance sheet comparison as of June 30th, 2026. Um Indiana Members Credit Union is still sitting at 252, 893 79. I am in the process of communication with both banks to move 200,000 to the German American money market account, which we have opened. Um the Indiana Members Credit Union regular business checking has 461, 9106 as of June 30th. And in those same discussions, we will be moving 285,000 to the German American Laddered Investments. So that will leave um 230,000 over at Indiana Members' Credit Union, which is a little bit below the 250 to give some room for monthly allocations from the city. Um the German American bank investments management account you see there has 501035.51 cents. Those are all laddered in CDs at various financial institutions and then over 200,000. And that is all I have to report on that. Any questions? Would someone make a motion to accept the financials as presented? Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All in favor of accepting the financials. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. All right. Old business. 500 block Baird Park Drive. We have it appears Ryan Dement in attendance today virtually to give any updates on the 500 block of bear park drive properties that were acquired from the land bank.
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