Razing a home half a mile southwest of Iola started this morning, the second of five scheduled demolitions as part of Allen County’s Flood 2007 buyout program.
“We’ve torn down a house just west of the (Neosho) river along Highway 54,” said Bill King, director of Public Works. County crews began work this morning at the Sutherland farm.
“The other three — two just south of Iola along State Street and the third south of Humboldt — won’t be done until later. They have asbestos issues that we have to deal with first,” King said. Asbestos, a carcinogen, must be disposed of separately from other construction debris, King noted.
By the time all five houses are gone and the voids they’ve left are filled and leveled, about $200,000 will have been spent, County Counselor Alan Weber said at Tuesday’s commission meeting.
“That’s the estimate we got earlier from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency),” he said.
King said cost of demolition was a moving target, because demands at each property were different. A cistern or two can make a big difference. “We might think it will take a couple of loads of dirt to fill one in and end up hauling 15 or 16 loads,” he said.
However, the county won’t be out much money, maybe none at all. FEMA will pay 75 percent of the cost and Kansas 20 percent. If the cost settles out at $200,000, Allen County’s share will be 5 percent, or $10,000, with the county meeting its responsibility with in-kind contributions from machinery and labor costs, Weber said.
Razing begins
