The Farmington City Council Wednesday organized itself as the city's redevelopment agency and approved a $7,000 contract to study areas of the city for designation as blighted.
Under state law, an RDA is empowered to declare areas blighted, purchase or condemn property, issue bonds to raise funds and sign development agreements. A public hearing is required before an area is declared blighted, and affected property owners must be notified.The council named city manager Max Forbush as RDA executive director, mayor Robert Arbuckle as its chairman, and council member Marda Dillree as vice chairman.
The RDA will borrow money from the council to get started.
A $7,000 contract was approved with consultant Jonnalyne Walker to survey and designate an area as blighted. The survey will concentrate on the downtown business area.