A Medaryville blight elimination project continues to cause headaches for Pulaski County Building Inspector Doug Hoover. “Well, the saga of the blight . . . It just got worse,” he told the county commissioners Monday.
He said the house in question has been torn down, and the debris is in the process of being removed. But now, he says the demolition contractor is asking for $1,800 for asbestos handling.
Hoover and the commissioners believed that work was included in the contract, but they want the county’s attorney to double check. “I may have to ask Mr. [Kevin] Tankersley to look into this,” Hoover said, “but I ain’t payin’ nothin’.”
Commissioner Mike McClure added that he wants to see more documentation, before any payment is made. “I want to know what landfill it went to and everything else,” he said. “I mean, if it’s in the contract, it don’t make any difference.”
The cost of the demolition is set to be covered by a blight elimination grant from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. But for that to happen, Hoover said there are still several steps to complete, and a limited time in which to do it. “We’ve got to close by, have everything done by, the 20th of December,” he said. “Today’s the 20th of November. That’s one month, and you know how things go. They ain’t very fast. And I’m starting to get real nervous.”
Hoover said he hasn’t been very happy with the demolition contractor, Freedom First Excavating and Demolition of Kokomo. “I’ve talked to the blight people, and they never had no problem with these people until just recently,” he explained. “They drag their feet. They don’t get started until 11 o’clock, noon. This should’ve been done. Way done.”
Freedom First was hired for the project back in August, but preparations have been underway since April.
