MUNCIE — The city has paid more than $2.5 million to just two contractors since 2013 for work that includes Muncie Sanitary District demolitions.
Some of that work was done on a North Elm Street house that cost $10,000 more to demolish than its assessed value when it was standing.
The claims for RCM Excavating and Barber Contracting have been reviewed by the FBI, which is conducting an investigation of possible wrongdoing in city government.
Although demolition and other claims to two companies affiliated with Muncie building commissioner Craig Nichols have brought FBI scrutiny, those Nichols-related claims — paid to Advanced Walls and Ceilings and Capitol Consulting and Property Management — total $793,689 since 2013.
That number pales by comparison to the totals paid to the two other contractors.
Since 2013, city records reflect that Barber Contracting has been paid $1,260,542, while RCM has been paid $1,354,234.
Many local demolitions in recent months have been of houses on properties that Muncie Sanitary District officials say are needed for large, multiyear projects including combined sewer separations and White River levee recertification.