A dilapidated Medaryville home is finally set to be torn down this week.
Building Inspector Doug Hoover told the Pulaski County Commissioners last week that demolition of the house formerly owned by Don Foust is scheduled to start tomorrow. “It should be a two-day deal,” he explained. “They claim it will be around two days. The first day will be tearing down, and then the second day, finishing it up, putting the dirt back in.”
The nearly $12,000 demolition cost will be covered by a blight elimination grant from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. That means there are several state regulations that need to be followed. “For example, all the concrete has to be out, asbestos, and there’s a couple cans in there of paint. It all has to be documented,” Hoover said. “There’s a lot of stuff that goes to this, but I think I’ve got all my ducks in a row. About every time I think I’ve got it, they throw a wrench in it. Something different needs to be done.”
Once the home is torn down, the next step will be for the commissioners to sign the land over to Starke/Pulaski Habitat for Humanity, who may build a new home there.
Also during last week’s meeting, Hoover addressed concerns about a Medaryville house that’s being built on stilts. He said that while it may be unusual, it is up to code. “What happened, he had an old house there and it burnt down, and it had a concrete pad,” Hoover explained. “So he wants to keep that concrete pad. That’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with it. But some of it is post in the ground, and then some of it where the pad was, he puts on stilts. He had one way of blocking; I said, ‘No, you’ve got to at least turn it, so you’ve got the strength of it.'”
Hoover pointed out the homeowner is doing the work with help from a local home builder. He said he’s doing his best with limited resources.
