Public Forum Held for Brownfields Assessment Grant

Several dozen residents and City of Lamar representatives were on hand for Project 101, EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant on March 9^th at the Lamar Community Building.

Keeley Campbell and Mark Christiansen from Ayres Planning and Development led the come and go session which presented several maps of the city where attendees could highlight their choices for various forms of commercial, industrial or residential development or even a hybrid for mix-used buildings and businesses.

Lamar received $500,000 in grant funding which can be used for assessing sites to determine the presences or absence of contamination, identification of relocation sites, redevelopment planning to identify feasible land uses; 3D visualization to generate understanding about opportunities, cleanup redevelopment planning and community engagement.

A brownfield site is real property that the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. Lamar’s project kickoff was this recent meeting and will be followed by information gathering on selected sites for environmental concerns, revitalization planning, clean-up and reuse planning and project finalization by the summer of 2026.

Some of the more general goals of the project include:  quality places for downtown vitality and creating connections to adjacent neighborhoods, an improved tax base for new businesses on vacant land, increased land values for surrounding neighborhoods, increased tourism, general environmental health of an area, safer neighborhoods and community pride.

By Russ Baldwin