Earlier this month the county commissioners decided to allow a business or individuals access to the site of a former grain elevator business in Manilla to clean it and remove the buildings. It was further decided by the county leaders that those who undertook the process would receive any and all of the salvage fees of scrap metal recovered as payment for the cleanup.

So the county would not be held liable for any injuries a wavier was required to be signed by any individual working on the project.

At the June 3 meeting a group of individuals from the Morristown area in Shelby County expressed interest in undertaking the project. After agreeing to the conditions set forth by the county leaders, the project began.

Two weeks later the cleanup is continuing.

“The process is not going quite as fast I had hoped, but it is progressing and I am pleased with that,” Rush County APC director Bill Todd said.

He continued by saying that he had no concerns that the work will be completed and the property cleaned to the county’s satisfaction.

The foreman of the cleanup crew, Tom Karnes, said the project is a big undertaking and will take longer than he and his crew initially anticipated.

“I feel the cleanup is going pretty good. It would go a little faster if we could get a backhoe. We have only taken two days off since we started, so we are getting there,” Karnes said.

When asked when they anticipated completion of the effort Karnes said he was unsure.

“I can’t say. It is going a little slower than we first thought,” he said.

As for removing the grain bin that still towers over the property, Karnes and the crew said they are still working on how to get it down.

A nearby resident and adjoining property owner, Jim Koby, has been working on removing another nearby structure on the property. According to Koby, Karnes is allowing him to raze the building under the same conditions Karnes made with the county leaders.

The county is providing disposal dumpsters during the cleaning process in order to collect and remove wood scrap and other items deemed unsalvageable.

Frank Denzler can be contacted at (765) 932-2222 ext. 106 or via e-mail at frank.denzler@rushvillerepublican.com. To add a comment to this story visit our Web site at www.rushvillerepublican.com.